As the municipal election draws closer, the local mayoral candidates gathered again, this time at a forum hosted by the Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce.
The Tuesday morning session at Norval United Church saw Ken Paige, Norm Paulsen, Ann Lawlor, Bryan Lewis and Robert Gottardi answer a variety of questions in their quest to secure the top spot on council.
Some subtle, cutting remarks were made, but the event was largely cordial and polite. Subjects ranged from affordable housing and future development direction to transit, among others.
Here's how the hopefuls answered a couple of the key questions:
(Two questions on housing merged into one)- If elected, what would you do to address the housing crisis and inability of businesses to attract employees due to a lack of affordable rentals in our community?
Paige: He framed the affordable housing issue as a generational one, noting that young people who grew up in Halton Hills and would like to live here near their families are unable to buy their own homes.
Among the solutions he suggested for creating more affordable housing are taking “advantage of unused land or underused land and finding developments that can be built, and built in such a way that the cost of those houses is affordable.”
“That means not living in big, sprawling houses. It means living in much smaller homes where people can actually feel that they're still part of the community."
Room rentals in homes was another solution he offered to address the shortage, calling it “a continued opportunity.”
Paulsen: In his short and sweet manner, he called for streamlining “our zoning and our permits.”
“And I would like to allow people to put secondary units on their property or on their homes. And we have the space, we have the material, we have the know-how and we can raise the capital. So why can't we do it?”
He called for “better rental rules” and noted that “nobody wants to be a bad landlord. It should be a partnership. It should be equitable and fair.”
Lawlor: The current councillor highlighted the need for negotiating with builders "to bring in more of those higher density homes that are hopefully cheaper.”
“We need to infill. We need to fast track our secondary units in single family homes, allow granny flats and other secondary units.”
She shined a spotlight on Vision Georgetown, a massive development plan along Trafalgar Road and how it will feature higher density housing.
A more diverse “investment mix” is needed, according to her, but she acknowledged that might be “bigger than our municipality to tackle, but is something that through zoning we can certainly encourage.”
Lewis: He warned of the danger of letting developers dictate what's built in Halton Hills.
"They only want to build where there's money. They don't necessarily want to build what we need on behalf of our community,” he said.
“I think this is a partnership that has to start with the development industry, regional government, provincial government. Why? To get what we need within our community.”
He admitted to not having the “magic wand” to help solve the rental shortage. He told a story about meeting a merchant recently who had to close early because he didn’t have enough staff (equating a lack of rentals to a lack of workforce).
“It's painful to say. 'I'm closing my store early because I do not have staff to work that shift later on in the day.' We have to fix something.”
Gottardi: He said increased density is needed to keep prices down and offered condos, smaller houses and apartments buildings as cost-effective options. He suggested looking to the pre-Second World War style of developments.
“Towns built more density in their downtown cores, with two to four-storey mixed commercial residential units providing most of the necessities needed close by.”
“With multiple small town cores within a subdivision, we could look at incorporating some form of housing along employment corridors.”
He emphasized there's “no one-bullet solution” and suggested that “we need to be more proactive in developing new ideas and possibly even talking to developers.”
“They are willing to talk to us the town council, the mayor, the town employees to develop what would be best for the town as well as themselves,” he said.
“Do you support the implementation of public transit for our community? And if so, what steps will you take to ensure that it won't take 10 years to implement?
Lawlor: She pointed to the current transit policies in place, as well as transit initiatives that are already on the road. These include ActiVan for seniors and those with disabilities, taxi scrips for youth, the new Steeles Avenue corridor route and more.
She mentioned the Transportation Master Plan as the blueprint for transit in the municipality.
“It calls for incremental growth of this service throughout Halton Hills as we grow.”
Lewis: The ever-fiscally conservative councillor said the municipality should "be slow and right and spread out the taxes over a period of time (for a transit system, rather than) just come in with some wholesale system and say this is going to work.”
He capped off his statement by encouraging a solution customized to Halton Hills' needs “because we are all going to pay for it.”
Gottardi: He sees some benefit from “limited but regular service” and applauded council for launching the Steeles Avenue route, but to him “it’s a start.”
“I would have liked to see it connect to Halton Hills major residential, northern residential and northern commercial areas,” he said. “I'm talking two or three routes that connect the north and the south along Steeles Avenue as well as Guelph Street and Armstrong. That is something we can look at.”
Paige: He feels ActiVan lacks flexibility for short notice trips, and the taxi scrip program is too targeted.
He also mentioned Vision Georgetown’s provisions for public transit access, but thinks the project is progressing too slowly.
“The notion of public transit is already there. So all I'm saying is let's enact it a whole lot quicker because we can't wait 10 years,” he said. “We can start with a made-in-Halton-Hills public transit service.”
Paulsen: “Public transit doesn’t work,” he contended.
He lamented the size of Halton Hills and said there are “better answers” for transportation than transit.
“I can sell you a used car, if you like,” he joked, eliciting a small amount of laughter.
“Build the 413. We need it.”
