I entered the race late, on nomination day, because after another candidate withdrew I felt Otonabee residents deserved a genuine choice about who represents them at City Hall.
More broadly, I’m running because I think municipal government can be both more practical and more responsive to the people affected by its decisions. I run a small business, work in digital project management, and have spent a lot of time volunteering with community organizations. Those experiences have made me very focused on whether good ideas actually translate into results.
The most consistent theme I’m hearing in Otonabee is that the basics need to work better. People notice the things they interact with every day: roads, sidewalks, crossings, transit, parks, drainage, and whether neighbourhood concerns actually get followed up on.
Otonabee is growing, and I want that growth to improve everyday life for the people who already live here. That means maintaining infrastructure before small problems become expensive ones, making the ward safer and more accessible to get around, and making sure residents can actually see how their concerns are reflected in City decisions.
I rent my home, so renter issues aren’t abstract to me. I do not own or rent out any other residential property.
The biggest thing Council can do for renters is help create more housing, especially rental housing that people can actually afford. I support apartments, townhomes, duplexes, secondary units, and other forms of infill, alongside more community, supportive and deeply affordable housing.
But adding supply isn’t enough on its own. I support Peterborough pursuing stronger protections against bad-faith renovictions within the City’s legal authority, better enforcement of property standards, and making it easier for tenants to know where to turn when their rights or living conditions are being ignored.
The City should also use municipally owned land more strategically and work with non-profits, co-operatives, and other levels of government to build housing the private market is not producing on its own.
Renters need more choices, but they also need stability in the homes they already have.
Peterborough Transit is essential infrastructure, especially for people who can’t drive, can’t afford a car, are elderly, have disabilities, or simply don’t want every trip to require one. I don’t think the current system is frequent or reliable enough yet for enough people to confidently organize their lives around it.
There have been useful improvements. The new Route 14, for example, now provides a direct weekday connection between Otonabee and the Technology Drive area. But the network still has too many gaps. A missed connection or infrequent route can turn a short trip into a very long one.
I want more frequent and reliable service, better evening and weekend coverage, stronger connections between routes, accessible stops and shelters, and better integration with sidewalks and cycling infrastructure.
I also don’t think better service should be financed by continually raising fares. The adult cash fare is now $3.50. Transit becomes less useful as a public service if the people who depend on it most are priced out.
The goal should be a system people choose because it works, not one they tolerate because they have no other option.
I see arts and culture as part of Peterborough’s economy and identity, not an optional extra that gets discussed only after the “serious” budget items are finished.
Artists, musicians, festivals, galleries, venues, and cultural organizations help make Peterborough a place people actually want to live in, visit, and stay after graduating. They support downtown businesses and create the kind of community life that economic-development strategies often talk about but can’t manufacture from scratch.
I support stable, transparent municipal arts funding, including arms-length and peer-reviewed granting. I also want the City’s new Municipal Cultural Plan to result in concrete commitments rather than another document that sits on a shelf. That plan is currently being developed to guide the next decade of cultural policy and investment.
We should also pay attention to the practical barriers artists face: affordable rehearsal, studio and performance space; accessible venues; permitting; and the loss of inexpensive spaces as rents rise.
I would treat culture as part of downtown revitalization, tourism, and economic development while still respecting that art has value beyond its ability to generate revenue.
I don’t think homelessness can be solved by repeatedly moving people from one place to another.
Peterborough does need rules around the use of public spaces, and I don’t believe encampments should become permanent communities. But clearing an encampment when people have nowhere realistic and accessible to go doesn’t solve homelessness; it relocates it.
The City’s own reporting says Peterborough had 127 emergency shelter beds while demand was consistently at or above capacity, and at least 932 people experienced homelessness in 2025. At the same time, tents in City parks remain an enforcement matter, with complaints directed to Municipal Law Enforcement. That makes the availability of real alternatives especially important.
I would prioritize supportive and transitional housing, deeply affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and wraparound mental-health, addiction, and outreach services. We also need enough low-barrier emergency shelter capacity.
When an encampment genuinely has to be cleared for safety or public use, people should receive meaningful notice, outreach, storage for belongings, and an appropriate place to go.
Success shouldn’t be measured by how quickly homelessness disappears from public view. It should be measured by how many people actually move into stable housing and stay there.
I don’t think the City can fix its reputation with better branding. Trust has to be earned through how it operates.
People shouldn’t have to watch hours of Council meetings or dig through lengthy reports to understand what is being decided, why their councillor voted a certain way, or what happened after they raised a concern.
I want major decisions explained in plain language, better follow-up on neighbourhood issues, and more public reporting on whether projects actually delivered what Council said they would. Consultation should also happen early enough that residents can still influence a decision, rather than after most of the important choices have already been made.
Personally, I would communicate regularly about the votes I cast, including the ones where people may disagree with me. I think residents can accept disagreement more readily than they can accept feeling ignored.
If City Hall becomes more accessible, predictable and willing to explain itself - and residents can see services improving along with that communication - its reputation will follow.
I don’t want to tell people to trust the City. I want the City to give them a reason to.