Five Commitments
Andrew will work on these five things if Stratford elects him. Open any one to read where he stands.
Three budgets in a row have gone up, and one of them only balanced because the council pulled money out of reserves. I'm going to work toward a freeze for households and businesses, and I won't pretend that's easy. I will promise you two things: you'll know exactly what you're paying for, and every large project gets a value-for-money review before it gets a cheque.
Kids grow up in Stratford and then can't afford to live here. Council doesn't build houses, but it controls approvals, city-owned land, and who it partners with. I'll push to speed up approvals for attainable and missing-middle homes, put city land to work where the site makes sense, and build on the city's own affordable housing at Britannia Street. On homelessness, I'll back what we can measure: temporary support that bridges to permanent housing, with honest costs reported in public.
We have a world-class season and a very quiet six months. The Festival matters, and it isn't the whole economy. I'll champion more patio and pedestrian space in our busiest blocks, designed with the businesses and with a parking plan attached. I think converting the core to one-way traffic and adding a roundabout can cut congestion and open room for both patios and parking, and I'll put that to a proper traffic study with downtown businesses at the table. When the city buys design, photos, writing, or video, it should hire people who live here, pay them properly, and credit them by name.
Stratford has big projects on the table and a habit of letting them drift. I'll support the Grand Trunk hub, because families in this city need the space, and I'll insist it lands on budget, with the parking, transit, and policing questions answered before anyone breaks ground. The money has been pledged. Now it has to be delivered with discipline. The same goes for the everyday things people notice: roads, water, transit, rec space, and getting a doctor. “That's provincial” isn't an answer a family without a doctor can use.
You shouldn't have to file a request to find out what council decided, or why. I'll back plain-language summaries after every meeting, real notice before major votes, and a straight answer when the answer is no. Because I'm a Realtor, I'll tell you when I have a conflict and step out of the room, declared in public rather than discovered later. You should expect that from everyone at the table.
