1) What do you think our City has successfully done the past 5 years?
While I have only been a resident and taxpayer in Woodstock for barely two years, I do not see the City of Woodstock having done very much for the residents, other than tax and service charge everyone to the nth degree:
2) What do you think is our biggest challenge in the next 5?
The biggest challenges for the City are: a) The problems of homelessness; b) assisting those with mental health and addiction issues; c) creating enough affordable housing; d) Improving public transit for both the disabled and the general public; e) reining in property taxes; f) slowly getting rid of the innumerable service charges and fees levied by the City and; g) improving policing in Woodstock:
3) What are your biggest strengths as a candidate?
My honour, integrity and ethics along with my insisting on doing what is right;
My abilities to grasp and understand complex issues;
My work ethic and service oriented nature:
4) What will make you more successful than others at addressing the issues our downtown faces?
I bring no baggage with me, I am beholden to no one, developers, special interest groups or the like;
5) What would your 3 biggest priorities be as a councillor?
The issues of homelessness, drugs and drug addiction and mental health of the disenfranchised;
Bringing over-taxation under control, reducing and eventually getting rid of the City’s plethora of service charges;
Improving policing and increasing the police presence in the downtown core:
6) How important is affordable housing to you as a candidate and what do you believe the role of a City Councillor is at addressing it? Any concrete ideas?
Affordable housing is a top priority, especially as dealing with, and paying for it falls to the municipality as we have a provincial government that does not care about the working poor, the poor, the disabled or the disenfranchised and has all but abandoned them:
7) Do you see a role for collaboration between municipal council and school board trustees? If yes, in what capacity?If no, why not?
There should be collaboration between ALL levels of government, not just the City and school board, even if only for consultations on property taxes:
8) Anything else you would like to tell me/my followers about you?
I would like the following to be known that:
a) I will not be soliciting or accepting donations of ANY kind from anyone or any organization;
b) I will not be having any signage made up and placed anywhere, nor will I be producing any campaign literature, save and except for business-type cards;
c) I will not be campaigning by knocking on any doors or making any telephone calls to anyones’ homes (especially at dinnertime), families are having less and less precious family time nowadays;
d) I will only be campaigning through social media (Facebook) and any All-Candidates meetings.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me.
Thank you
Allison
