HaltonHillsToday is profiling every candidate in the upcoming municipal election. Up next - candidates running for the Wards 3 and 4 regional councillor position.
After having a change of heart about retirement, Wards 3 and 4 Regional Councillor Jane Fogal is now in a race to keep her spot at the council table, going up against local incumbent Wendy Farrow-Reed.
The long-time politician is looking to further her goals of a more walkable, gently dense, green Halton Hills.
“We have to look at how we grow,” she said. Her vision for the municipality is “to make our communities more walkable - that we de-emphasize the car and re-emphasize people being outside, meeting each other and greeting each other.”
In order to accomplish this, Fogal said that some “gentle density” is needed.
"We're going to have to look at our zoning and it will be a public process and everybody will have their say.”
She is aware of the public’s ambivalence about intensification and what that would entail, noting public consultation and more examples of what the development style could look like are needed.
Finally, a greener Halton Hills with plenty of shade is one of her priorities. She promises “an emphasis on street trees, how they're cared for and how they grow.”
All these policies “dovetail,” as she put it, with her higher goal to enhance the livability of the municipality. This is her response to growth “pressures” that she sees coming over the horizon.
To address the matter, she's suggesting “mixed-use” development, which is where areas are zoned for both commercial and residential. The downtowns of Acton and Georgetown are examples of this.
Fogal was first elected in 1997 and has been on council for 25 years. In that time, green policies have been part of her main agenda. She was heavily involved in getting Hungry Hollow developed into a recreational area. She is one of the founders of Halton Hills Climate Action.
She opposed a recent council resolution to support gas-fired power plants until green energy sources were more viable. Along with not being able to tear herself away from municipal matters, the passing of that resolution was part of her reasons why she jumped back into the race.
“We spent two and a half hours arguing about that. And I thought, well, I wouldn't be able to be part of that conversation if I was retired.”
