“We need to play nice,” said Ward 3 council candidate Jason Dodge near the end of a candidate town hall Thursday at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Perhaps he should have opened with it.
Despite instructions from moderator Rev. John Borthwick to talk about themselves and not others, for the second straight night (it was Ward 1 on Wednesday) a candidate strayed off the path.
Patrick Sheridan used part of his opening statement to fire shots at incumbents June Hofland and Phil Allt.
“I’m running for city council because it’s time for councillors in Ward 3 who are committed to focus on local city issues,” said Sheridan, reading from notes.
“The mounting frustrations I’m hearing while walking door to door point to a lack of focus on the everyday needs by the current Ward 3 councillors. I’m receiving constant feedback from citizens in the ward witnessing current councillors more interested in provincial or federal party politics than resident’s needs.”
Sheridan’s remarks led to some shout outs from the audience of roughly 75 who attended and he was reminded by Borthwick about keeping his remarks about him.
None of the other four candidates mentioned others over the course of the evening, although Hofland did open with remarks about being “an independent” who didn’t “need anyone to tell me how to vote.”
The broadside at the two current councillors by Sheridan was in sharp contrast to the overall tone of the evening, where several stressed respect, cooperation and compromise moving forward, between councillors, constituents and other levels of government.
Steve Petric, running for council for the fourth time, said that cooperation at all levels with people, councillors, staff and stakeholders “set the stage for success.”
“It is also important that council members have a frequent dialogue with other members of council, understanding the priorities of other councillors, their wards and their goals, as a city is important,” Petric said.
Hofland said that there were plenty of achievements to celebrate over the past four years of council and “I want to be really, really clear …. These achievements happened through collaboration.”
Allt said his constituents expect him to make decisions based on what they want.
“I will do that, but only after meaningful dialogue. We may not always agree, but together we will build a better community,” Allt said.
Dodge said council “brings everybody’s voices to the table” and that he would be a “transparent and respectful” member if elected.
“With such a diverse ward, we need representatives that can incorporate that diversity into their day-to-day decisions,” said Dodge.
“We need to remain respectful and understand that it’s okay to have a difference of opinion. It doesn’t mean you have to attack, it doesn’t mean you have to discredit. You’re working for the community.
“It’s time for the respectful dialogue in city council,” Dodge said.
All the councillors spoke of a need to address a common Ward 3 issue, that of speeding on residential streets.
Affordable housing, infrastructure repairs and increased safety were also brought up.
Borthwick asked each of the candidates what is one thing they would be proud to accomplish if elected.
Petric, a well-versed transit advocate who is running for council for the fourth time, said a “truly integrated transportation master plan” that includes transit, bikes and pedestrian safety.
Hofland also said she would “champion transit” over the next four years if elected.
“Transit is a good investment for cities and I’m prepared to make those investments,” Hofland said.
Allt pointed to finally getting the new main library and it’s accompanying developments built downtown.
Sheridan said would like to bring a “greater understanding of risk management to a variety of topics,” pointing out how the city has been “led down the garden path to slay the Nestle dragon,” yet aggregate companies often use far more water as an example of not understanding the bigger picture.
Dodge said tackling the growing issue of affordable housing needs to be addressed and making a “positive movement” on that file would be a priority.
“At the end of the day I want to lay my head on my pillow and know I did everything for the community, not myself,” he said.
The election is Oct. 22. Advanced voting takes place Oct. 12 to Oct. 14.
