My Commitments to the Residents and Communities of Ward 9

In order to ensure residents’ best interests are being served at all times, I promise to do the following three things if elected Councillor for Ward 9: Knoxdale-Merivale:

Unite communities and neighborhoods

Over the course of next Council, there will be contentious issues that will arise in our communities and on our streets. Holding community meetings is not enough to resolve many of these issues. Residents need a champion at City Hall to challenge City Staff’s assumptions and decisions, and to ensure Ward 9 residents’ best interests are being served at all times.

As the Councillor for Ward 9, I will seek consensus and bring the community together on contentious issues so that residents can face City Hall united, together with a champion by their side advocating for their cause. If a community association is not aware of an issue that affects their community, I will notify them and get them involved in the solution, so residents can maximize their chance for success when their opportunity to present to Committee occurs. 

Represent residents’ interests to City Staff, not the other way around

Over the last four years my opponent has spent a great deal of time repeating to residents what City Staff has already told them, rather than challenge City Staff’s answers and seek alternative solutions to problems.

If elected, I will not echo City Staff responses. I will do my due diligence and ensure the solutions proposed are sound as well as propose alternative ones. I will do my best to represent your arguments to City Staff so they understand “no” is not an acceptable answer. I will stand with you as your champion because that is the job of a City Councillor, as I see it.

Build a truly interactive community web portal for Ward 9

My opponent highlights his weekly newsletter as being a community hub, not realizing that PDFs sent as attachments are not interactive, often get caught up in spam filters and do not allow for any feedback whatsoever.

If elected, I will use part of my office budget to build a truly interactive web portal so all residents of Ward 9 can participate openly in an interactive discussion online, free of interference from me, my office or City Hall, to allow resident opinion to coalesce around a common position.

While I will send out a weekly newsletter I will deploy it in a manner that ensures delivery and allows for feedback. I want to know what issues and things you are interested in. I want to understand how you perceive City Hall. I can’t know this unless our communication is truly interactive. With my background, you can be sure this will be done properly, in a truly open and transparent manner.

Sincerely,

Cristian Lambiri