Will our new city council be the game changer for Windsor?
Anne Jarvis seems to think so. In todays Windsor Star, Jarvis goes on to share her impression that some of the candidates for Windsor City council appear to “get it“;
Anne Jarvis: Making Windsor vibrant
The arts, bike paths, urban gardens, markets — wow.
For the first time, some candidates for city council are talking about the things that make a community a great place to live. They get that cities are more than roads and sewers. They get that a great place to live draws people, and people draw business and investment.
And they’re not just mouthing the words, like much of our current council, which has largely been less than enthusiastic about a proposed arts hub and doesn’t spend the budget for bike paths some years.
Some candidates, however, are leading by example.
They’re young (for the most part), and they’re progressive. They know all about fiscal responsibility, too. A couple of them run their own businesses.
I’m impressed with Ward 3 candidate Tristan Fehrenbach. He’s a 34-year-old employment counsellor at the YMCA with an extensive background in public policy. He helped bring the farmers’ market downtown again and helped revive the city’s bicycling committee (he cycles to work most days).
Windsor has tremendous potential, Fehrenbach says, but we haven’t maximized it.
“We have been blessed,” he said, “with the types of neighbourhoods that North Americans are going to be looking for in the 21st century — compact, with tree-lined streets, close to water, well-situated for public transit. We have a great starting point to work from, but we need to build the political consensus to make that happen.”
He’s right. Windsor has wonderful traditional neighbourhoods, but I cringe when I think of the unfulfilled potential in the core and the west end.
Fehrenbach sees a revitalized downtown with an arts hub anchored by the historic armouries and Capitol Theatre. He wants to invest in the market, too. And he sees the downtown as a place for pedestrians.
Amenities like markets and bike paths are a big deal. They’re what people want in communities today.
Fehrenbach registered for the election in January.
“I saw this as an opportunity to change the conversation we’re having,” he said, “so I wanted to have a long lead-up to talk to lots of people, to really explore some of the ideas that I’m interested in and that people on the doorstep have been talking about.”
Adriano Ciotoli in Ward 4 is another interesting candidate. The 30-year-old originator of windsoreats.com runs popular bicycle tours to local wineries. (There are few better ways to spend a weekend afternoon.)
Windsor, with its burgeoning solar and wind companies, could become a centre for green industry, he says. To nurture the industry, new and renovated municipal facilities should be sustainable buildings with green roofs, he says. The city should offer incentives for the private sector to do the same.
With Windsor’s long growing season and the popularity of local food, he’s also proposing community gardens throughout the city.
Community gardens are also a big deal in other cities.
As for councillors who think the city shouldn’t spend money on an arts hub, “there are certain aspects of community-building that you can’t put a dollar figure on,” Cioltoli said.
“I’ve never met anyone who moved to the area because it had great infrastructure,” he said.
There are other candidates, too.
Antun Peakovic, the 32-year-old mechanical engineer and lawyer running in Ward 9, includes in his platform pedestrian promenades and artist studios downtown, redeveloping existing neighbourhoods to combat urban sprawl, neighbourhood markets and urban gardens.
Angelo Marignani, the 44-year-old owner of the hip downtown arts hangout Milk Coffee Bar, envisions the Ganatchio Trail extending across Windsor, a museum devoted to industrial art, the automobile or the rumrunners.
That’s what we need — innovative thinking.
Marignani, who hosted cyclists at Milk after Bike to Work Week, is running in Ward 7.
For the first time, candidates are being asked to take a stand on the arts and cycling in online surveys by community organizations. Bike Friendly Windsor is even asking them to commit to riding a bicycle to four council meetings a year.
“When I’m in downtown Toronto and I see all the bicycles streaming by me, I think, this is a city that’s alive,” said Steve Konkle, chairman of Bike Friendly.
Some of these candidates are up against veteran incumbents.
But now, maybe the incumbents will have to start looking at these issues, said Chris Holt, who operates Scaledown Windsor, a website that promotes livable cities.
“Make them answer these questions,” he said.
It’s true. Never before have I heard so many mentions of the words “livable” and “walkable” than during this election campaign, seemingly spurred on by Fehrenbach, Marignani, Ciotoli and Peakovic mentioned in the article as well as Rino Bortolin, also running in ward 3. Watch the council meetings. Even the incumbents have found religion and are using the terms (I even saw Fulvio use them recently! This is the guy who wanted to “green” the east-end Wal-Mart expansion by adding three trees!) when anyone who has paid even minimal attention know that Halberstadt has been the lone voice touting Scaledown’s vision of the city. During the debate on outdoor patios, it was almost gag-worthy that these same incumbents were tripping over each other to be seen as “getting it” by their desire to develop Windsor’s cafe-culture.
If anything, this should just piss people off even more, knowing that the incumbents have been hearing the message that progressive folks have been delivering to them for years, yet ignoring prior to seeking re-election.
All the more reason to really scrutinise the voting history of your incumbent. Are they walking the walk, or just posing as someone who “gets it”?
Post Feedback
Good points, Chris. The problem with the voting history is that unless you’re looking for a specific issue and you remember at which meeting it was voted upon, it’s hard to track. Furthermore, for the majority of voting decisions, the minutes don’t record the names of who voted for or against; that’s only done on request.
There is no summary to my knowledge (I even checked with the Clerk’s office) that lists councillors’ voting history.
This is why I find it so disingenuous when incumbents urge the public to check their voting record. It sounds nice and transparent on the surface, but unless they actually list the details on their websites, this information is unavailable to all but the most dog-nosed sleuths or those who happen to spend their Monday evenings following the meetings.
You’re absolutely right, Philippa. I guess I have a clear understanding of where each candidate sits on various issues because I have no life on Monday nights. But that knowledge wouldn’t hold up in court, nor does it help others come to educated conclusions about voting histories.
Just for a frame of reference, I pushed this article from the Star onto our candidates (the few that have declared) here in Charlottetown. Not only is there no discussion about a sustainable Charlottetown, but there is (as far as I can tell) no discussion PERIOD! I even heard from a reliable source that, unless more candidates come out to declare in the next few weeks, that we’ll have a number of acclamations in Charlottetown. Shameful! (For the record, my ward has two candidates running. No ‘you should run’ comments from the peanut gallery!)
Yes Windsor, you are making me proud. (And a little home sick I might add) Keep up the great work and I’ll be watching in November.
PS: Spacing magazine is going to run an article on Charlottetown politics in this issue, written by yours truly. In retrospect, Charlottetown is much like Windsor. One piriah calling for change, and the rest singing the same old song. Hopefully we don’t have to follow suit in endure the challenges Windsor faced in the past 3 years to learn the lessons that you have.
Wow,
It sounds like quite the all star line-up! I’m quite excited for what’s to come.
So what’s the deal with the proposed canal project? Is it still on the table? I was reading over a couple of the documents and thought there could be some great potential if it was taken to the next step. Perhaps the VIA rail station could be used as the West Anchor, to mirror the Greyhound station. This would be a key to developing an inter-connected transportation hub. The rail corridor is still there. What a great opportunity. Has anyone thought about this potential? Let me know your thoughts.
Johnny C, great idea. The current site is terrible and that spot is a natural fit. I only wish VIA made travelling by trains in Canada more affordable. It’s $30 from Detroit to Chicago. Compare that to Windsor to Toronto.
Canal died a natural death that was righteous. I like how the process went for the most part. Privately funded feasibility study that was vetted and rejected. I Wish that would have happened on the Norwich block and other fiasco’s.
ALthough it would and should have probably have died anyways, Hopefully the mayor learned that attaching himself personally to a project hurts the project. In the future he should remain detached. Although it was a bad idea in the end, can’t help but think a lot of people beat on it extra just ’cause the mayor made it his own
San Antonio’s riverwalk is a functional trafficway that has water taxie’s transport people from hotels to convention center, restaurants, theaters and a large retail mall. It also doubled as a flood protection. Should have never been compared.
Over 7 years ago the current mayor talked to me about livability, cycling and sustainability and the removal of one of North America’s largest polluters (Zalev’s) from the city. The incumbents that are talking the talk right now will not walk the walk if voted in, they will continue to take care of their business buddies and developers because they have no real backbone to stand against them. In my opinion there needs to be a major shakeup in city hall to put an end to all the secrecy and back room deals not to mention the intimate relationship with Enwin. How much of the recent influx of infrastructure money went to cycling/walking initiatives, they had a golden opportunity to use external funds to make up for years of neglect and blew it. I hate to sound so jaded but if the current administration remains more than 70% intact with the same king then we will be virtually no further 4 years from now than we are today, I hope I’m wrong, time will tell.
Names that keep coming up: Marignagni in Ward 7, Ferenbach in Ward 3, Peakovic in Ward 9. Non-politicians with good ideas, strong backgrounds, personal conviction & INTEGRITY! If we had councillors like this in office for the last 20 years, this would be one hell of a town. Get them elected.
Love those names but I also love Bortolin in ward 3, Elliott in ward 2, north halbetstadt and ciotoli in ward 4
When incumbents get religion or all of a “sudden” get on the bandwagon, I’m out bound on the road from Damascus!
The current Mayor and city council just don’t get it and it isn’t if they’ve had nowhere to find the current trends in cities from around the world — pssssssst! Scaledown has been pounding them out for five years or more. They’re just populists, mouthing what they think the electorate want to hear.
I’m just happy these issues are part of the election agenda this time. And whether it’s a reaction to populist sentiment, or not, does not matter much because this is not a fad. The need to move in this direction will only become clearer with time
Jimmy Cliff - I can see clearly now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIqLsGT2wbQ
Jonny C, how about asking the residents there what they would like next door to them. Better yet, put the new train station next to your house?
After all, the land was stolen by the city under Mike Hurst (perhaps started by Burr??) so maybe the land should be given back to the original property owners?
The only thing that needs to go there is good housing stock. That and only that will benefit downtown. Not a marina, not a swimming pool, not an aquarium…architectural designed row houses much like Monmouth has right now.
Either that or beautiful public gradens with pathways and fountains…better than the acres of ashpalt currently there now.