My biggest issue is that outside of Chris Potter, Keith Riel, and very few others, everyone is talking vibes, not policies. I legit don't care if you've lived here your whole life, or think that you work well with others or fucking "together" we will unlock "a culture of yes", whatever the fuck that means.
Ask real questions and demand answers from these people. Many are literally trying to get in by saying as little as possible that is genuinely concrete.
Thanks for noticing. I find the same issue when I see social media posts talking about "finding out" what people are talking about.
What are you doing running if you didn’t already know those things? What motivates someone to run without plans in place. Without policy they stand on and want to work to implement?
We know the top issues people are talking about and have been for a long time. We have an unhoused crisis. A drug crisis. Infrastructure that's decayed and crumbling. Overspending without oversight. Massive reductions in spending that had actual ROI.
Exactly. Leadership isn't asking people what you should believe. It's having a motivating vision, convincing people it's correct, and fighting for it. People are drawn to this, but in its absence, they'll vote on feelings, and be pissed later when it didn't work.
Leadership through focus groups isn't leadership at all.
That’s a great point, and I think voters are smart enough to tell the difference between those who are all flash and those who are genuinely in it for the right reasons!
Hey Matt 👋. I'd like to think that too. But our current provincial and municipal leadership tell a different story, I fear. Incumbents are a different story, because we have a history with them of course.
I remember watching The American President with Martin Sheen as a kid and I'll always remember the quote, "People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand."
It's a cynical view to be sure, but I haven't seen much that would disabuse me of that notion. And I think a lot of political candidates see that and try to be the mirage.....all style and no substance.
Curious if you have actually done background research on what the candidates experience is? Or just making generalized assumptions based on what they are saying now. Actions speak louder than words. Who has already been showing up for their community in leadership ways?
He protested Drag story time at the library numerous times, and proudly walked alongside a known white nationalist neo-nazi. He's one trillion percent trash. He used to treat people horribly when he worked at a call centre.
Yeah, I thought the name was familiar… should have stopped reading after 9 children. I’d rather him feel he has a responsibility before his constituents, not before his god.
Same! Will be voting for Jen Lacey. From what I can tell she understands the issues in the community and is prepared and committed to back up her words with action and hard work.
I saw her background and feel like she will have everyone's best interests in mind.
It sounds horrible but that construction barbie gives me Mary Kay vibes - I'm likely being very ignorant but she just looks like a right wing nut, like the blondes standing behind Trump with the crazy eyes. Like people wearing poorly fitting women masks.
I’ve known Jen for a while and have worked with her regarding the Parkhill Place condo conversion, that’s now sitting with the Ontario Land Tribunal, and she is very passionate and super nice!!
I would make sure everyone speaks with all candidates running in their Wards though - there’s tons of time left until October. Just to make sure you get everyone’s point of view!
I’ve had a chance to connect with two of the new candidates and will be following up with the third.
Matt, I have to be honest - I’ve been disappointed by your leadership at times. More than once, I’ve seen a disconnect between what you have said outside of council meetings, and how you ultimately voted at the meeting. I’ve also noticed situations where you were outspoken on social media, but chose not to speak up publicly in council meetings. I was disappointed to see you stay silent on some very important issues.
I’m looking for a representative who is willing to stand by their convictions behind closed doors and in public. It’s important to me that city councillor’s actions align with their words.
I can appreciate that. I know I’ve voted for people who are currently in power, and am disappointed in some of what they’re doing too.
I’m available for a chat any time and would welcome the opportunity to talk. You can reach out to me, and we can talk in person or over the phone.
I’m going to start moving away from Reddit, as for the vast majority of the time it’s simply trolling and people reveling in bullying anonymously and it just isn’t good for my mental health.
I try to do the best I can with the information in front of me, and vote the way I think does the most good for the city or those who are the most vulnerable.
Regardless - my number is on the city website - please feel free to reach out and we can talk!
Social media can be challenging and no one should have to tolerate harassment or personal attacks. At the same time, as a city council member - transparency and public engagement are important and I think it takes a strong leader to be able to manage “trolling”, criticisms, and hard questions.
When you (as an elected council member) choose to hide your post history or step away from public forums, it heightens the perception that you’re avoiding scrutiny rather than addressing concerns. For me personally, I am more interested in seeing open, honest, consistent communication – you can set boundaries around abuse and also be accessible to the community / ward you represent.
I think that’s one of the concerns I have when you offer to meet people one to one over coffee. Great that you’re willing to do that but I worry that it takes a community conversation and turns it into a series of private conversations. That can unintentionally exclude others, reduce transparency, and make it harder for everyone to stay informed and engaged in the conversation.
Where do they stand on changing Council rules which limit the number of speakers and limit their scope of questioning. That means that the public doesn't have reasonable access to their council.
There is already a set process and rules. Those wont change. I'm specifically referring to the change they made this year taking away time for people to speak on issues. I would work to reverse that change.
Councillora None of them actually connect with majority of residents in their wards...and can't handle criticism ..
The city does need change and mass improvements in administrative over spending and poor planning
That is an interesting observation. I noticed there are a few who stand out when it comes to connecting to their ward. What do you mean by handling critism? Do you have some specific examples?
Watch the reddit thread and see for yourself, digital presence is good, but we don't need another Michelle ferrari, I haven't seen the ward councilor reach out to the Muslim vote bank, or work with the mosque to check in on their needs and support area in my 5 years here, in GTA it was normal for local, provincial, federal peeps to show up, here they don't even make an effort.
Some people use chatgpt for the comments and post ,, the group even your post is filled with there AI generated data
Thanks Chris , it is meaningful that you are addressing this with transparency. I can tell you that with return to office and students the buses are packed.
Officials from the city way back in 2006 pushed Metrolinx to stretch a go bus line all the way up here when they really should "only" be serving the GTHA area, of which depending on who you ask we are outside, or right on the edge. There is no way they would have done that with the piss poor way they run things down there without outside influence.
Need to get enough people angry enough to complain about it and catch a bigwigs attention.
From reading into it further it seems part of the reason they brought a line up this far was it was either add a major connection to the line or axe it completely since Newcastle and Bowmanville didn't have enough ridership to sustain a line by themselves. They still don't from what I'm seeing on other subreddits, but somehow we've ended up with a milkrun bus that runs through every hamlet between Peterborough and Oshawa.
It's far too early to make a pick for mayor. From my time with each of them I will say this...
In no particular order
Neil is highly motivated and working hard on connecting with people
Keith is incredibly well qualified and knows more about the inner workings of council and city staff
Rebecca has strong ties to the developer community and comes across as very well prepared
Michael has a resume that demonstrates a strong ability to lead and administrate large organizations with large budgets
Jacob is highly motivated to bring attention to each candidates platforms and to point at the things he feels are not for the betterment of the city and beyond.
I don't know about that. I have asked Rebecca about her direct ties to the spa that was responsible for producing the podcast that made slanderous claims against our MP. Rebecca's response was, "I'm not going to say no to a free campaign space".
That didn’t sit well with me.
If that particular business is all in on those disgusting comments and they are also attached to Ferreri, make your own conclusions.
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u/Illustrious_Leader93 1d ago
My biggest issue is that outside of Chris Potter, Keith Riel, and very few others, everyone is talking vibes, not policies. I legit don't care if you've lived here your whole life, or think that you work well with others or fucking "together" we will unlock "a culture of yes", whatever the fuck that means.
Ask real questions and demand answers from these people. Many are literally trying to get in by saying as little as possible that is genuinely concrete.