The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 26

BIO THE OTTAWA CITIZEN TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2000 MUNICIPAL ELECTION 2000 The issues behind the face WARD1 ORLEANS MAYOR OF OTTAWA wf S' WARD 3 BELL-SOUTH NEPEAN JAN HARDER She has pledged to decrease taxes by five per cent by 2003 and continue the prudent fiscal management that has allowed Nepean to have cash reserves. She says she'll fight to get Woodroffe, Fal-lowfield, Greenbankand Merivale upgraded to accommodate increasing traffic. She would like to see more partnerships with the private sector to develop more sports fields and ice surfaces in the ward. She also proposes a cappuccinojuice bar in south Nepean to be run by youth, for youth. WARD 9 KNOXDALE-MERIVALE V- GORD HUNTER He feels one of the main tasks of the new council is to reduce taxes.

He also wants to maintain the same level of municipal services under the new city and is looking forward to a leaner administration and $75 million in tax savings. He cites improving ambulance response, reducing crime and building more libraries, community centres and recreational facilities as priorities. He also thinks there should be enough in the budget for funding for social services such as welfare and child care. WARD 15 KITCHISSIPPI SHAWN LITTLE Mr. Little says the new city needs to cut costs while keeping taxes at their present level.

If savings are realized through amalgamation, they should be passed on to citizens as a tax cut. Although amalgamation should save money through an "economy of scale," he says it's too early to promise a cut until the new city's budget be-comes a reality. He says the city should encourage growth and development and he advocates dropping development charges for projects in the city's core. WARD 21 RIDEAU GLENN BROOKS Mr. Brooks does not believe tax reductions are realistic.

He believes money needs to be spent to make Ottawa a first-class city. In his campaign he mentioned the idea of making transit free. His priority is to spend money improving infrastructure in the core rather than outside of it. He does, however, consider the need for sewer and water services in Manotick to be essential. He agrees with the idea of giving municipal funds to the hospitals.

Mr. Brooks wants to institute a standing rural affairs committee. fWM, 4 'I'" fx WARD 2 INNES RAINER BLOESS He will encourage the new city council to say no to entrepreneurs and developers who want to locate exclusively in the west end. Mr. Bloess said businesses should be forced to set up shop in east-end industrial parks so economic growth will be balanced across the region.

Mr. Bloess will continue to protect the integrity of the Green-belt, as he has done as a Gloucester city councillor. His priority for next year is to get Innes Road widened from Blair Road to Highway 417. WARD 8 BASELINE RICK CHIARELLI He will focus on ensuring the new council does a fair job in dealing with cash reserves of some municipalities (such as his former one, Nepean) and debts of others, and in selling off assets of some municipalities. He warns the council must immediately begin to manage people's expectations of how much service they'll get from the new city, compared with their old municipalities.

He calls for a cautious approach to economic growth in the west end, saying the boom can't last forever. WARD 14 SOMERSET ELISABETH ARNOLD Elisabeth Arnold's priority is to approve a budget that reflects the needs of residents for services, not just the transition board's goal to save money. She wants the Plant Pool on Somerset and Preston streets funded this year so reconstruction can start in 2001. She wants the new building to include a new community centre replacing the old Dalhousie Community Centre. She says light-rail is the key to coping with the city's crowded bus and road systems in the future.

WARD 20 0SG00DE DOUG THOMPSON Mr. Thompson says his priority is the preservation of Osgoode's rural identity, particularly the ward's volunteer fire department and library system. He would fight to ensure residents aren't saddled with paying for services they don't receive. Mr. Thompson says he would be a "champion of fiscal restraint," and has pledged to reduce property taxes over the next three years.

He will lobby the province to implement a separate rural rate of tax on businesses. The tag-a-bag garbage program in Osgoode has got to go. Vf. )i: 7 in a -y I K. imm.ni, HERB KRELING A top priority will be managing growth.

He wants to improve the east end's road network and supports Bob Chiarelli's ring road concept connected with a bridge in the east and one in the west. Mr. Kreling does not want a bridge on Petrie Island and will push for a location further east. Public transit is also a priority for the councillor, who supports the construction of a light-rail system to complement bus service. He supports increasing funding for social services such as housing and childcare.

WARD 7 BAY ALEX CULLEN The outspoken Mr. Cullen already has a long list of issues that he considers important for the new city council. For instance, he wants to review the transition board's decisions, assess the challenges of providing infrastructure to high-growth areas and use the city's social housing stock to leverage funds to build affordable social housing. He is big on the light-rail project since the province has stopped funding of the Transitway and he wants to improve ambulance response times. WARD 13 RIDEAU-ROCKCLIFFE JACQUES LEGENDRE One of the main issues that concerns Jacques Legendre is transportation.

He wants to see a ring road built around the city, investments in public transportation and a new bridge across the Ottawa River in the east end (avoiding Kettle Island). He will not support pumping municipal money into hospital services a provincial responsibility or any system that involves user fees for services. He says Ottawa does not have enough green space and that public land needs to be protected. WARD 19 CUMBERLAND PHIL MCNEELY Mr. McNeely wants to open the door wide to Cumberland to get more business out east.

One way to do that is to dramatically transform the sand excavation site at Petrie Island into a large, public beach. He is against a bridge crossing the Ottawa River at Petrie Island. Mr. McNeely says traffic gridlock in the east end must be addressed, with major road upgrades. As a way of keeping in touch, he would hold monthly town hall meetings.

He promises to deliver on the tax cuts amalgamation is expected to bring. If A. I' 1 ff BOB CHIARELLI development charges and from the city's capital budget to pay for growth infrastructure. The most controversial of Mr. Chiarel-li's plans is to recapitalize Hydro Ottawa and raise up to $350 million for growth-related services.

To protect community identities, he will support allowing places such as Kanata and Nepean to keep their names for postal addresses and community activities. One of his top priorities will be to continue to push for an agreement with Outaouais WARD 5 WESTCARLETON DWIGHT EASTMAN He wants to find ways to manage the explosive growth in Kanata and Nepean and says a new official plan is a high priority. He says ways must be found to make sure prime agricultural land is not absorbed by the development juggernaut. He plans to set up a task force on business with a one-year mandate to report on ways to encourage growth in the township and avoid gridlock. He wants council to agree on an overall vision as to how to make Ottawa a more attractive and complete city.

WARD 11 BEACON HILL-CYRVILLE MICHEL BELLEMARE Michel Bellemare says he will fight to get offices for councillors where much of the real politicking goes on, at City Hall. The transition board was weighing whether councillors should have offices at City Hall at all. Mr. Bellemare will fight for improved roads in Ward 1 1, a ring road to relieve traffic congestion and improved bus service. The new councillor says there are decisions made by the last regional council that should be revisited, particularly the north-south light-rail line.

WARD 17 CAPITAL CLTVE DOUCET Traffic and protecting the downtown core are the main priorities for Mr. Doucet, who says he wants to get the suburbs to understand that the downtown can't survive unless there's a move toward community-friendly transit, such as light rail. He says he wants council to invest heavily in public transit and thinks the transition board's dismantling of the regional public-service team "was just awful." "We're going to have to undo some of the damage, the question is how much we can -t IN -1 Thenew mayor campaigned on four, main issues: Cutting taxes Managing growth Protecting community identity raising $350 million for capital projects by selling 10 per cent of the new Hydro Ottawa. -He says he will save $75 million from' amalgamation and pass it on to residents in tax cuts over three years. He expects to raise about $1 billion from a variety of -sources, including federal-, provincial infrastructure funds, WARD 4 KANATA ALEX MUNTER -n i i 1 luicvui ig gicci I3jjaic ai iu cnaui-'.

ina-1ouolnnmont H(Tfscn't rnmnrn raise the quality of life in Ottawa Alex Munter is commit- 'ted to. "To sustain growth, we can't let it overwhelm us," he says. "People invest in Ottawa because green, safe, affordable, healthy, livable city," says Mr. fvMiter. He identifies providing fordable housing, stopping traffic gridlock, protecting and improving tiealth services and maintaining -parks and recreation facilities as top priorities for the new council.

WARD 10 GLOUCESTER-SOUTHGATE 5 I 4 rJL DIANE DEANS 'Among the ward's candidates, Ms. Deans took the hardest line against municipal spending on hospitals. She says the new city should not even consider such spending, unless the province re-fuseslo turn over any hospital money without the city agreeing to negotiate the issue. She believes all debts and surpluses should be pooled immediately. The first transition board decision she would change is one affecting her project to build a large new library in the southend.

WARD 16 RIVER i stkwart Wendy Stewart wants to reduce mnnirinil rarA nn ca thof if -tawa saves minion rrom the savings will bo totaxpayers, not new services. She suggests the city treat more storm water where required and she would like an artificial wetland -built around the Trail Road landfill site to Durifv water runnine off the dump, bhe would not cnange any decisions of the Ottawa transition board until the new council has a 'chance to see how they work. Ms. Stewart also wants a new police centre for Carlington. 1 "A 1 1 wt municipalities to build an east-end interprovincial bridge.

He opposes the new administrative structure of the city imposed by the transition board and vows to change it overtime. He will also change the decision to maintain councillors' offices only in the wards and will give councillors offices at City Hall. He also has promised to establish a "211" health-care information telephone line which residents can call to get 24-hour information about health services. WARD 6 GOULBOURN JANET STAVTNGA Her biggest focus is protecting Goulbourn's traditional way of life and identity within the new city. She intends to resist urban-style public-transit service and preserve the volunteer firefighters in the face of a city-wide shift to professional, full-time firefighters.

She wants to preserve "the current quality of life" in the face of the west end's booming economic growth. She wants to preserve open spaces, walking paths and buffer zones between homes and new business and industrial parks. WARD 12 RIDEAU-VANIER MADELEINE MEILLEUR Her main concern is making sure downtown has a voice on the new city council, where suburban and rural representatives will outnumber urban ones. Ms. Meilleur plans to push for the construction of an interprovincial bridge in the city's east end, through Petrie Island, to reduce traffic congestion along King Edward Avenue.

She says money also needs to be directed to public transportation, including a light-rail system that runs east to west as well as north to south, and a ring road. WARD 18 ALTAVISTA PETER HUME He thinks Ottawa is a true "people city" because it combines city and country and he's determined to preserve its unique character. An advocate of mixed-use development, Mr. Hume wants to give people the chance to live and work in the same place so they don't have to clog up roads. He favours construction of an Alta Vista Parkway including a public-transit component to relieve congestion.

He wants to transfer community centres and soccer fields to residents' associations on a pay-peruse basis. Mi 5KF Is fi.