BAY WARD’S FIVE CANDIDATES CONSIDER THE KEY ISSUES
In the lead-up to Ottawa’s municipal election, the Citizen surveyed every candidate, providing them with a list of questions. It’s an exercise that’s meant to help residents get to know the candidates better and to get a firm sense of where they stand on important issues facing our city. We’ll run a selection of their answers, featuring different wards each day. Today we feature Bay (Ward 7). Candidates appear in alphabetical order. For the full survey responses, check out our website at Ottawacitizen.com.
WARD 7: BAY
Population (2016): 45,476
Households (2016): 21,099
Votes eligible/cast in 2014: 29,394/12,576 (42.78 per cent)
Area: 64.2 square kilometres
Boundaries: Ward 7 is bounded by the Ottawa River to the north, and is bounded by Mailtland and Sherbourne to the east, March Road to the west and Hwy. 417 to the south.
In the first 10 years after amalgamation, Bay ward was represented by Alex Cullen, who was beaten by challenger Mark Taylor in 2010 and again in 2014. However, Taylor had promised to stay on for only two terms, and there are five candidates in this election: Erica Dath, who has a background in finance and public service; Don Dransfield, a business management consultant who ran for city council in 2006 and as a provincial candidate in 2011, and is married to Liberal MP Anita Vanderbeld; Theresa Kavanagh, who has been a trustee with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for the past eight years and is married to Alex Cullen; Marc Lugert, the former chair of the Queensway Terrace Community Association and current vice-president of the Ottawa Girls Hockey Association; and Trevor Robinson, who also ran in the 2014 municipal election.
ERICA DATH
1. What are the two most important issues in your ward? Why?
Traffic calming and responsible development are two important priorities for Bay ward.
I have spoken to and heard from many residents of Bay ward. Far and away, traffic calming/management and irresponsible development and infill are on the top
of the list of concerns. There have been instances of excessive speeding and reckless driving cited in Carlingwood, Woodpark, Glabar Park, Crystal Beach, Queensway Terrace North and many other areas. We need to ensure safe and healthy communities for all. Improving road safety can be done through responsible and effective planning and design of roads and the traffic system, and also through temporary traffic calming and en- forcement measures.
Bay ward will face tremendous change in the next four years, and I feel responsible development and transparent council decisionmaking, in this regard, is a must. There is a need for open communications, meaningful engagement and transparency on development projects. Residents should have opportunities to participate in meaningful consultations on the types of developments that will directly impact their day-to-day lives.
2. What ward-specific decision do you wish council had dealt with better?
I wish council had been more transparent and communicative on development projects impacting Bay ward and the city.
For example, the Smart Living project at 975 Woodroffe Ave. The residents were led to believe this was an infill of eight townhouses and later discovered a student residence was being erected, aimed at accommodating 100 individuals. The city should have been aware of the builder’s intent and intervened when it was discovered that the plans did not match the construction.
Residents want to be aware and consulted on events that will impact their day-to-day lives. Council should be doing a better job to communicate, consult, maintain transparency and restore public trust.
3. Do you live in the ward in which you’re running?
Yes, I live in the Woodpark neighbourhood of Bay ward.
DON DRANSFIELD 1. What are the two most important issues in your ward? Why?
I will set my priorities based on listening to the residents. However, there are some immediate issues that need to be addressed. for These children include: and youth, 1) Opportunities including safe recreation, early learning and child care, and opportunities for young people to develop skills and networks to find jobs; and 2) Development of community hubs, like Lincoln Fields Carlingwood and Ron Kolbus Centre in an integrated way that involves the community.
2. What ward-specific decision do you wish council had dealt with better?
I would like to have seen a policy preventing the resale of development properties without community consultation. Specifically, the Woodroffe/417 development accessed through Benjamin Avenue at Fairlawn Avenue, which should never have gone ahead the way it has.
3. Do you live in the ward in which you’re running?
Yes, I live in Belltown in Bay ward.
THERESA KAVANAGH 1. What are the two most important issues in your ward? Why?
LRT Stage 2 will have a tremendous impact on Bay ward, affecting the communities of Woodpark, Whitehaven, Queensway Terrace North, Bayshore and Crystal Beach-Lakeview. Residents want to see that the impact of LRT Stage 2 on our green space corridors is minimized, particularly in the Pinecrest Creek corridor. They want to see good pedestrian and cyclist access to the LRT stations for transit users. As well as redevelopment opportunities along the LRT route (for example at Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre), a portion of the new housing must be affordable to families and seniors.
Bay ward has the highest concentration of seniors in Ottawa. They are concerned about the availability of supports that will help them continue to live independently. Even transit changes can impact their quality of life. Just one example: the recently implemented No. 11 bus route change will be problematic for the mobility of area seniors.
Bay ward has aging recreational infrastructure that needs to be addressed: wading pools, field houses and park facilities, such as the Ron Kolbus-Lakeside Centre in Britannia Park, are just some areas where we need to develop a priority list and begin updating and modernizing these facilities.
2. What ward-specific decision do you wish council had dealt with better?
The Azure condo tower application for the corner of Woodroffe and Richmond Road comes to mind. Here the community developed a community design plan that recognized that the LRT was coming, and set height limits for redevelopment at six to eight storeys. The original Azure developer succeeded in convincing council to change this to 14 storeys, despite community opposition. The property then changed hands, and the new developer went back to council for a 19-storey tower, which council granted. This is wholly out of scale for this community.
3. Do you live in the ward in which you’re running?
Yes I have lived in Bay Ward for more than 20 years.
MARC LUGERT 1. What are the two most important issues in your ward? Why?
Bay ward has many issues that have not been addressed in the past years. The LRT, which will run through our ward, major construction projects (e.g. Lincoln Fields redevelopment), increased traffic woes; all impacting the quality of life of our neighbours.
2. What ward-specific decision do you wish council had dealt with better?
The way council is consulting with the neighbours on major issues. Council decided not to inform instead of consult on LRT. Council did not take into consideration the wishes and ideas of neighbours.
3. Do you live in the ward in which you’re running?
I’m a longtime resident of the ward; a former community association chair and neighbourhood volunteer.
TREVOR ROBINSON 1. What are the two most important issues in your ward? Why?
Flooding prevention is important in areas along the Ottawa River, such as Britannia and Crystal Bay/Grandview Road.
Traffic calming is important in many areas, but most recently it has been a hotter topic in the area around Woodroffe Avenue Public School.
Future development potential is a concern in areas around Carlingwood and Lincoln Fields shopping centres.
Transit reductions is a concern in the Bayshore area, notably with the recent changes to Route 11.
Transit expansion is a topic of discussion, especially in areas that will be directly impacted by future LRT construction, such as McKellar Park, Queensway Terrace North, Woodpark, and White haven Queens way Terrace North.
Parking and vehicular access in and around Britannia Village/Britannia Beach is another important issue, especially with there only being one-road access to the village, especially in the event of an emergency.
2. What ward-specific decision do you wish council had dealt with better?
Everyone is bound to have a different perspective, as well as a different opinion and we all know hindsight is 20/20.
Often we see preventive maintenance being pushed back for budget savings and then preventive measures turn into reactive measures, or partial ones. A recent Bay ward example is the construction of a partial “complete street” along eastbound Richmond Road, roughly between Carling Avenue and the bridge over the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. Though it was beneficial that the eastbound bike lane was grade separated, the roadway itself was not repaired around the same time and therefore those same safety issues (roadways that are riddled with potholes, for example) are still present, especially in the westbound direction.
3. Do you live in the ward in which you’re running?
Yes, other than the first six weeks spent in hospital, I have happily lived in Bay ward my entire life.