Kim Zippel brings passion, knowledge to Otonabee Ward
Longtime environmental worker and advocate aims for a seat at City Hall
It was impressive to note how carefully Kim Zippel, candidate for council for Otonabee Ward, prepared for our conversation.
I can imagine that this woman of high intelligence and sense of organization will be a great addition to city governance.
She knows she has 6,000 doors to knock on before election day. She has spoken with citizens at 1,407 doors. That means 600 a week. I found that fact daunting, remembering running in Northcrest, unsuccessfully, in 2010, and flagging, after 20 or so encounters with strangers.
“I am clearing my work calendar,” she says “and giving my all to speak to people. I enjoy it. Each door brings a different view point. I avoid mealtimes and I sometimes drop literature with a handwritten message, but I really enjoy speaking with constituents.”
“It is my second time running. I have a great team of volunteers. Walking the ward gives me an opportunity to assess our housing needs for people of all socio- economic groups. We don’t have enough housing ,especially in the west end when many students come to Fleming.”
Kim Zippel’s campaign is allowed to spend $13,848 by provincial electoral law. “I have a donation page on my website,” she says. “Some supporters are giving to me at the door.”
Her passion for the natural world and her expert environmental grasp have been formed by her studies and by active membership in the Peterborough Field Naturalists. “We have to look at the environment from a global perspective; climate knows no boundaries,” she says, “but take action locally.”
Zippel was prominent in the Save Harper Park effort as the casino discussion took place. “Smart business respects the environment. Wetlands lessen the impact of flooding which is critically important for people in the south end who are downstream of the casino.”
I felt myself hoping Kim is a voice on our council as we stagger to the end of a searing summer and a record-breaking forest fire season.
What has disappointed her in the present council is “the divisiveness: With police, with Cavan Monaghan township over annexation and with the province over the Parkway. These have been distracting,” she says .
Born in London, Ontario to a bank manager and a nurse, Kim moved a around a lot and was living in Walkerton when the polluted drinking water episode occurred. It made her vigilant about water resources.
She attended the Centralia College of Technology in Guelph, followed by bio- chemistry at the Trent University. Kim worked for many years at Darlington Nuclear Plant, working for Ontario Hydro as the first woman licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission as a control room operator. I’d say that qualifies as pressure.
She and her husband Mark now own a business on Water Street providing project management to large industrial installations. Their son Keith is with the Canadian Forces, deployed in Latvia.
“I advocate for green space. I follow city politics and planning on storm water. I am a fact-based decisionmaker. We must apply our understanding of development under climate change,” she says.
“I live in the ward. It is very a strong and proud area. People take care of each other. Otonabee ward has an exceptional history of industry and sports but has retained its natural beauty. We have Fleming College, the Wellness Centre, the Exhibition, 20 parks, schools, churches, and sports. At the same time, we in our ward are often overlooked. We don’t have a single piece of public art. Yet we aren’t primarily industrial any more.”
Public art? That kind of thinking impresses me: A political figure conscious of the elevation of the spirit through surroundings?
“I am interested in better planning, more transparency from council and in ensuring citizen engagement. We won’t any longer be the left-out ward.”
There is a lot of interest in Otonabee Ward: six candidates in all: Brock Grills, Bob Hall, Lesley Parnell, Jason Wallwork and Ryan Waudby. Kim Zippel seems to stand out.
‘We won’t any longer be the left-out ward’
KIM ZIPPEL