What is your position on housing development?
Growing community means more than just building houses. Many other small cities have examples of good planning. They have infrastructure, local business support, recreation facilities, schools, medical facilities, etc.
A comprehensive criteria package for developers to meet or exceed before their development permits are approved is something Chestermere needs to ensure we have the infrastructure to serve our existing needs and support the new families joining our community.
What is your position on schools?
Over and over, people tell me they are worried about education. The schools are overcrowded. The teachers are having to do more with less funding and support. Young adults face long commutes to post secondary if they can even afford a car.
A lot of this is up to the school divisions and provincial government. The role of the city is ensuring school sites are ready for transfer to the school division. On council my position will be:
- school site readiness to be part of development policy. No individual developer negotiations, no more dirt piles. School sites must be a priority automatically, now and into the future, regardless of changes in council
- advocate to provincial government to increase investment in our children so they can all succeed
- improve transportation options and access to Chestermere
What is your understanding of the Municipal Government Act?
Candidates need to understand how to read and interpret the MGA. They must also be willing to follow all the rules of good governance. Knowing the MGA by heart is not really necessary because there are supposed to be staff at city hall who specialize in the act in order to derive policies for council to approve. That said, it is prudent to each of the members of council to be familiar with the act enough to ask the right questions and to make good choices for the residents of Chestermere.
This is why I say that City Hall cannot be run like a private business. Businesses can make decisions and spend money without the constraints of being accountable to citizens, thorough documentation and approvals, and extensive study to prove need.