A sign from a previous tenant that says BACKBONE still hangs over the door at 30 Carden St., the location of Aggie Mlynarz’s newly-opened campaign office.
“Awfully fitting,” said Alexander Waddling, campaign manager for Mlynarz’ mayoral bid, before he catches a raised eyebrow from the candidate and adds, “not to the detriment of others.”
On Tuesday, Mlynarz launched her platform online with a small gathering of supporters in her campaign office, which stands directly opposite Guelph City Hall.
The auspicious location of the headquarters will help Mlynarz and her supporters to keep their eyes on the prize, said Waddling.
About a dozen people lined the campaign office for the launch. Mlynarz noted the campaign was trying to be environmentally conscious by having it available online only, not in paper form, though noted they would be happy to print one up for anyone who required it for accessibility reasons.
Mlynarz made remarks on her multi-pillar platform, which includes: city services and infrastructure, community well-being, as well as sustainability and future development.
“People are starting to see that Guelph isn’t the same place it was 20 years ago,” Mlynarz told GuelphToday. “It may have a small-town feel, but it’s a big city and we are starting to have challenges of a mature, growing city.”
Mlynarz wants to lead a mental health strategy within Guelph, bringing together all of the agencies that support mental health and addictions in the city so they can work collaboratively.
“I’m not on the front lines, I think it’s important to take direction from those on the front lines,” she said. “It will be interesting to see how it comes up as an election issue.”
Also important, said Mlynarz, is looking at the proposed development of the city’s Clair-Maltby area, which she said is happening too fast.
“When you’re looking at all of the developments popping up in an aggressive way that doesn’t feel like it’s being consulted by communities and how they function and operate — it’s starting to affect the very fabric of how we perceive ourselves,” said Mlynarz.
She would like to see the area developed at a slower pace with more community engagement, as has been happening in Ward 1.
“I think we could transport that kind of pride and level of consultation into the newer areas of Guelph, to (consider) our character and what we want to preserve and how do we want to enhance,” said Mlynarz.
The Clair-Maltby development is one issue where Mlynarz would like to have seen more transparency by the current council and her opponent Mayor Cam Guthrie.
“I think there are inconsistencies in (Guthrie) saying he is transparent, given the amount of closed meetings that happened,” said Mlynarz.
She said the same of the pending merger of Guelph Hydro with Alectra Utilities, which came as a surprise to many.
“I feel in some ways folks feel left down that they weren’t able to be involved in decisions such as the Alectra merger, so there are frustrations when options are presented,” said Mlynarz.
She said Guthrie does not represent all of Guelph and that she ran for the mayor’s chair, in part, to ensure he didn’t win by acclamation.
“Is he a total failure? No. That’s not a fair thing to say about him, but is he doing the job everyone wants him to be? Is he taking the direction everyone wants? No, so that needs to be discussed,” said Mlynarz.
The number one thing people want, said Mlynarz, is to be listened to and heard.
“I understand a mayor is just one voice,” said Mlynarz. “But they are also the one responsible for bringing everyone together at the table.”
Mlynarz said she looks forward to debating Guthrie during the campaign.
“It’s still a lot of prep. I am shaking on this inside, I can tell you that,” she said.
Guthrie plans to release his election platform online this Friday.
