HaltonHillsToday is profiling every candidate in the upcoming municipal election. Up next - candidates running for mayor.
Robert Gottardi doesn’t like calling it affordable housing because, as he says, “affordability changes” over time.
He prefers to call it “attainable housing” and it's one of the many focuses of his campaign. He hopes this, and an emphasis on listening to residents and fiscal responsibility will be a roadmap to the mayor’s seat.
“I know that communities such as ours don't have the resources, the clout or the ability to wholesale change the housing industry,” he said.
“But we do have the power to let our concerns and what we're looking for and how we plan our community [be known]. It allows us an opportunity to discuss these things and to show developers and the province and anyone else who has a vested interest in our growth [what we need]."
He laments that there are too few community centres in Halton Hills and hopes to generally build more recreation within the community. He hopes to “free up the money” to add new community centres or at least expand on existing ones.
“We have no indoor space for any [tennis or basketball] court activities other than through the schools,” Gottardi claimed.
Finally, he said he will listen to residents and their concerns. That ethos extends to the members around the table as well. He said he will take an inventory of all the issues in every ward in the first 100 days after winning and “sit down with each and every councillor to discuss what their priorities are, what my priorities are, and where you want to begin.”
All of this ties into his larger north star of fiscal responsibility.
The semi-retired banker said he would like to implement a tax increase cap of two per cent, with a goal of no increases for the next four years. He also wants to initiate an external review of town finances by department.
He said he understands government to be a “service industry” and noted that he would bring his considerable experience in the financial industry to council if elected.
“There is a responsibility on each and every elected official to oversee that money and how it is spent."
Gottardi ran for mayor in 2018 as well on a platform of tax reform as he thought that taxes were being increased too fast.
