Elect Jan Mowbray for Local / Regional Council – North Wards (2,3,4,5)

Welcome to my website, and thank you for visiting my on-line office.

There will be a municipal election this year – October 25.  And, effective this year, the wards in Milton will change.  We’ll go from four wards to eight.  Instead of two Local Councillors per ward, there will be one per ward so that the overall total remains the same.

Local and Regional councillors will represent 4 wards each which will be divided into four northern (2,3,4, & 5) and four southern wards (1, 6, 7, & 8).  I am running for election as Local and Regional Councillor, and because I live in one of the four northern wards, I am running to represent the “north” wards.   Click here for the map.

Click here for an article about my candidacy in the Halton Compass. If you are a member of the Next Generation – 20-40yr old managers and professionals, please take my survey

During the run up to each  election I’ve personally knocked on every door in Ward 3 because I wanted to know what mattered most to residents.  I intend to do no less in the next election.

In running for Local and Regional Council, I bring personal integrity and professionalism to the job, as well as an understanding of both rural and urban issues.

ROAD SAFETY
A big problem in Milton is the non-synchronization of traffic lights.   How much longer must we wait for the infrastructure to be in place to address this?  This is one of the first things I would address.

For specific problem areas, I continue to assist residents with the radar message board. Speeding impacts on our lives, but how do we address the problem when at least 50% of the speeders are the residents themselves?  That’s us, folks!

We need to find ways to slow traffic down so that the roads are safe for all users.

  • We need new ideas to calm traffic.
  • We need to stop drivers from using the subdivisions for shortcuts.
  • I asked for a staff report on traffic calming – it’s forthcoming.  No matter what speed is posted it has to be reasonable to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

EMPLOYMENT
The high unemployment rate is a concern.  We need to ensure we take care of those in need.  The Region has responsibility for re-training and education: I will encourage more investment in that area.

An area in which the Region could invest is tourism.  Tourism is one of the principle economic drivers in Ontario.  This area has been a focus of mine for some time.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING
An area we really need to move forward is Affordable Housing.  I brought a motion to Milton Council to support a private Member’s bill – Bill 198.

  • Will Bill 198 pass at Queen’s Park?  Contact your MPP. Support for this Bill should cross party lines. If this bill is passed, Milton could then amend its Official Plan to ensure that affordable housing could become a fact.  And it wouldn’t cost the taxpayer a dime!
  • We need affordable housing so that our young people can afford to buy their first homes in Milton. We need affordable housing for our seniors so that they can afford to retire in  Milton.
  • Affordable housing doesn’t mean cheap row housing.  The Bill would give us resources which don’t currently exist.  Here’s an interesting article:  http://www.gamaliel.org/DavidRusk/keynote%2010-5-05.pdf

URBAN GRIDLOCK
We need more GO access to help ease urban gridlock.

  • We need that westerly stop sooner, rather than later.  I spent a couple of hours at the Milton GO one day, asking people (when they weren’t running for the train) where their trips originated - quite a lot came from Campbellville, Guelph, Fergus, Cambridge, even Chatham!
  • There is talk about a GO station at Tremaine south of the 401 – that would get some of the traffic off urban roads. Another thing that would help is an interchange at Dublin Line.  It’s been in the theoretical works for a long time.  I would work toward both these issues.
  • I would work at the regional level to address our regional roads more quickly to accommodate the growth.

URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS
I believe strongly in our downtown, I believe in keeping services in place and I believe in Urban Design Standards which are not in place but which should be, to ensure that building that does occur, looks good, that we maintain the look and feel of the historic downtown.

Here is a for-instance: the commercial plaza on the north side of Maple (east of Thompson) should never have gone ahead as it is – a big square yellow box beer store on one side of the road and those nice homes immediately across the road, with no buffer.  It should never have happened that way.

There is nothing that sets us apart from any other town, nothing that says “Milton”.  We need Urban Design Standards in Milton’s Planning & Development department.  A report came to council in 2008 to the effect that an Urban Design Dept would be in place for 2009.  As of February 2010, still no Urban Design standards in place.

  • Change to the Province’s Planning Act, under Bill 51, recognizes the importance of urban design standards. We need to protect the small town feel, maintain the sense of community in our town, maintain our identity.  The tools are there.
  • An article in the Toronto Star, July 23, 2006, “A Chance to end this city’s mediocrity” reflects what our residents are saying about Milton. I’ve changed the relevant words to reflect the concerns of Miltonians: “The current development boom throughout Milton has brought to the surface the importance of beauty, quality of architecture and urban design in shaping the next layer of buildings now being planned and built. People want our public and private buildings to enhance the look and feel of our communities. They want them to strengthen the fabric of our local shopping streets.
    “They also want them to help inspire love and affection for our city and contribute to the heart and soul of the town.”

That is not happening in Milton.

Lethbridge’s motto is, “The primary outcome of these Design Standards will be that residents of Lethbridge will declare that growth is not reducing but instead improving our quality of life. The intent of these standards is to provide direction to developers such that we reach that outcome.
“The effectiveness of these design standards will be judged by the generations who come behind us. We are confident that the design principles expressed in these standards will contribute to the realization of our goal.”

I’ve heard nobody make that statement about any new building in Milton.  It’s too late for what has happened but there is still time to turn things around for tomorrow.

If you are a member of the Next Generation (20 – 40 year olds) and would like to take part in my survey, please click on the link

Issues that mattered in the last election and continue to have relevance are:

11TH CONCESSION QUARRY
I continue to attend all meetings on the proposed quarry, as I have from the very beginning.  I maintain close contact with Hamilton Councillor Margaret McCarthy to keep apprised of all developments, and to keep our residents informed.

The proposed trucking route is through Campbellville.  There is no question that the predicted 1140 trucks a day would impact negatively on the quality of life of Campbellville residents.

SUCCESS!
HIGH SPEED INTERNET
I  didn’t promise to bring high speed internet to the rural area but I did promise todo whatever I could to bring it to the rural area.  It’s impossible for urban people to imagine being without high speed internet but it’s a huge disadvantage in the business world, the educational world – everywhere.  Thankfully, a number of local knowledgeable people agreed to help and we formed the Nassagaweya Broadband Committee as there was certainly no support at council.  With all the work we had done, when the provincial government offered another of its “shovel-ready” grants, we were able to approach the town to make official application.  The rest is history. Milton became a successful applicant for OMAFRA money to bring high speed internet to Nassagaweya, actually wards 3 and 1, thanks to the work of my grass roots committee.

An other issue raised by residents:

  • Town-hall expansion – $20 million (or to be precise, according to COMS-009-06, page 7 $19.69 Million) is big-time spending on a short-term solution.  I was one of two councillors to vote against the expansion.  There were at least two variances added to the contract.  A potential Phase 2 addition (2 additional stories) is planned to accommodate foreseeable future growth. The timing and design for Phase 2 is subject to further review, including verification of population growth projections, rate of growth, use of “swing” space at Town Hall Annex 555 and potential acquisition of adjacent properties, such as Canada Post.
  • In my opinion we should have built the building as one project in today’s dollars – we could have rented out the extra space until such time as it was needed by the town.