THE RACE FOR PIERREFONDSROXBORO MAYOR
Leading up to Nov. 5, the West Island Gazette will run local mayoral profiles from West Island communities. John Meagher focuses on the only Montreal borough with official bilingual status.
Dimitrios (Jim) Beis was elected borough mayor of PierrefondsRoxboro in 2013. He currently sits on Montreal’s executive committee, in charge of Procurement, Sports and Recreation and Cultural Communities. Beis, who has lived in Pierrefonds-Roxboro since 1970, is running as a candidate with Team Denis Coderre.
Q If you are elected, what would be the first issue at borough hall that you would tackle?
A Continue to improve the services offered to our citizens, focusing on the citizen experience by reducing bureaucracy and simplifying the procedures. Although restructuring of our core services occurred during the last mandate, more improvements are required to allow for more result-oriented solutions in a more reasonable time frame. Continue to work toward making information available to the public through social media, applications and other platforms to help reduce valuable time in processing requests.
Q What is the biggest challenge your borough is facing and how do you plan to address that challenge?
A Continue to invest in local infrastructure as I have done during the last mandate working with our Montreal counterparts to effectively analyze the roadwork network, parks and sports infrastructure responding to the changing demographics of my borough and taking into consideration the taxpayer’s capacity to pay. Continue to work with our provincial partners to address not only the impact to our citizens following the historic floods of 2017 but to also find viable solutions to address the problematic areas along our almost 30 kilometres of riverbanks.
Continue to work with the different levels of government and local organizations to address and find solutions on social issues such as homelessness, social housing, poverty, etc., affecting a portion of our community. Review and propose initiatives for our aging and mobility-reduced population with specific needs.
Q What is your overall vision for your borough for the coming mandate?
A Continue the work undertaken the last four years in realizing the different priorities outlined in the borough’s Strategic Plan created by my administration, and as a result of many years of community interactions and requests.
This includes: Reinforcing the borough’s mission and values which contribute to creating and developing a coherent, meaningful and stimulating organizational culture.
Continue to develop citizen participation of local democracy through collaboration, dialogue and information.
Consolidate a sense of belonging, pursue efforts intended to increase the quality of life. Intensify efforts to protect environmental resources and support commercial development with priority projects for each category as outlined in the Strategic Plan.
Finally, optimizing and sustainable management of our resources, and that target continuous improvement of services and residents’ quality of life.
Q What is your position on the residential project planned for western Pierrefonds?
A My position has not changed
regarding the western portion of Pierrefonds West. I’ve always said that if this area is ever developed that it could be done responsibly finding a real balance between conservation and sustainable development. I requested public consultations to gather information and have an accurate portrait of the issues before any formal decision is ever taken. I had said on different occasions that I would respect any recommendations thereafter, which I will do.
I believe there is still a lot of information required before any final decision is taken. This includes environmental impact, cost feasibility, transport impact, social acceptance, etc., including citizen participation as recommended by the OCPM consultations.
I have also passed resolutions at the borough level clearly stating that there could or never would be anything in this area if there is no urban boulevard (north south artery), with public and active transport opportunities.
Hélène Dupont is running for borough mayor as a candidate with Projet Montréal. She has lived in Pierrefonds-Roxboro for 15 years and is raising two daughters there.
Q If you are elected, what would be the first issue at borough hall that you would tackle?
A The first issue that naturally comes to mind when thinking about our borough is flood relief. First, I would want to bring our support to the flood victims by making sure every aspect of their lives is back to normal.
This spring’s natural disaster has affected both our social and economical milieu and I believe we should invest in relocation and reconstruction as well as help our businesses that have been greatly affected. By providing the community with post-mortem assemblies, we could determine the next steps of the process which would ensure that the citizens never go through this again.
Q What is the biggest challenge your borough is facing and how do you plan to address that challenge?
A Urban planning would be our biggest challenge. Every day, citizens are faced with traffic jams, construction, lack of safety on our streets, be it because of the absence of sidewalks, proper lighting or secured bike paths. Our borough has been built without the citizens in mind and our team wishes to modify the streets so that children can play safely, people can get to work rapidly and spend more quality time at home.
Improving access to public transport as well as its frequency is also amongst our priorities. We want to create neighbourhoods where all modes of transportation can cohabitate.
Q What is your overall vision for your borough for the coming mandate?
A Improving the quality of life of our citizens is key. Working closely with community partners, we would promote local businesses that would create employment opportunities for our locals as well as provide economical growth in PierrefondsRoxboro.
At the heart of our vision, urban living would coexist with all the wonderful green space that surrounds us, green space that we would protect within a national park.
We hope to multiply the possibilities to bring together the citizens while providing a window to our great cultural diversity, either through arts, sports or fairs and festivals.
Q What is your position on the residential project planned for western Pierrefonds?
A Western Pierrefonds is one of the last green spaces on the Island of Montreal and is one of the jewels of our borough that we must protect.
Projet Montréal already proposed to preserve the entirety of the wetlands and agricultural lands of the area by turning them into the first urban national park, including the already existing park Cap-St-Jacques.
We want to promote these green spaces by allowing the residents to enjoy outdoor activities on this territory, while we would study different possibilities for traffic relief. councillor for the Bois-de-Liesse district in Pierrefonds-Roxboro. The former music teacher is also a mother of three children.
Q If you are elected, what would be the first issue at borough hall that you would tackle?
A The first issue I will tackle at borough hall is that of the bureaucratic culture. I want to open up borough hall to the public, to make it an accessible, friendly place to receive municipal services, a place where residents and business owners are treated as partners in the common goal of creating a happy community.
Restoring a sense of pride of place and pride in public service is a primary goal for me as a new ( borough) mayor. This will set the tone for future communications and enable us to better collaborate with the public during consultations on projects.
Q What is the biggest challenge your borough is facing and how do you plan to address that challenge?
A In light of the recent floods, I would say that our biggest challenge is the damage and potential damage that is the direct result of climate change.
As an immediate goal, I will ensure that we are able to better prepare for those challenges so that when disaster strikes in the form of flooding, flash rainstorms, ice storms or heat waves, we are able to swiftly provide help and spread information to residents.
Therefore an overhaul of our borough’s emergency plan and procedures is needed, which must also include a plan for mobilizing volunteers.
Q What is your overall vision for your borough for the coming mandate?
A My overall vision of Pierrefonds-Roxboro for the coming mandate is to improve services to residents and to work steadily and gradually on projects and planning with an aim to improving quality of life.
With the current administration, big projects often overshadow day-to-day considerations and budgets are spent on big-tickets items rather than on more basic priorities such as street lamps, sidewalks and snow removal.
I will ensure that our vision moving forward is that of a healthy community where walking and biking to the parks, to the train or to commercial areas is not just possible, it is pleasant; where our community organizations and associations thrive and where neighbourhoods are welcoming.
Q What is your position on the residential project planned for western Pierrefonds?
A I believe that any remaining, untouched green space on the island of Montreal, including the territory in western Pierrefonds referred to as l’Anse-à-l’Orme, should be preserved.
I have firmly stated that position in the various motions I tabled to city council as well as in a brief I presented to the Office of Public Consultation on the future of Pierrefonds West.
Not only is the rich biodiversity of these areas well-documented; science teaches us that these natural spaces serve to purify the air we breathe and to filter rain and flood water, thereby acting as natural buffers and increasing our resilience to climate change-induced events. The opportunity to add to and improve on currently urbanized areas is one that I aim to capitalize on, while leaving this vast natural area intact.