In their own words, candidates tell us a little bit about themselves and where they stand on the issues. A different ward will be featured each evening this week.
My name is Denese Renaud and I am a restaurant server, I also went to school to become a law clerk and successfully obtained a diploma in that field. I have business management experience having run various businesses successfully throughout the years.
I am a 2nd generation Guelphite.
I am running in Ward 5, the ward that I have worked in since 2014. I think I can represent the concerns of the residents in this ward.
I am running in this election because I believe the city has lost its focus with regard to being fiscally responsible to the people of Guelph as well as listening to the resident’s issues.
I think people should vote for me because I believe in fiscal responsibility and honesty in government, and that a councillor should represent the views of the people they represent and be their voice. I have worked in this Ward for almost nine years and I feel I can bring the concerns of the residents to city hall.
Some of the issues in Ward 5 are concerns of tax increases, infrastructure, community safety and health care.
Some of the main issues to the residents of Guelph is reckless spending, property taxes being increased, infrastructure, and public transportation reliability.
I would like to see more supportive housing for our most vulnerable, more mental health supports and facilities to support addiction rehabilitation and recovery. We need to provide better mental health resources to help people recover from trauma and the ability to rebuild their lives.
I think Guelph is growing too fast with respect to our infrastructure, I understand we have a mandate for 207,000 residences by 2051, but I don’t think we are planning well enough for this to happen without chaos.
Asking what can been done at the local level about the rising cost of housing is a very hard question, it is very hard at the local level because there are so many things we have no control over. The cost of land, materials, wages and insurance for builder’s development costs factor into the cost of housing.
We also have an issue of being one of the highest taxed cities in the province; we need to encourage more businesses here, to help relieve some of the tax burden to residents. We also need to become more responsible with taxpayers money. Being the bedroom community we are, the tax burden is pretty much on the residents.
I think we are heading in a bit of the right direction for assisting the homeless with the new supportive housing projects that are coming to be. It will have to be “supportive” with programs and counselling to make it successful and get our homeless the help they need.
I think Guelph is a good city to live in for the most part; we can be a very compassionate, caring community. We just have to sort out our wants vs. needs in our community and live within our means.
Web page: deneserenaud.ca
Email: [email protected]
