“A year under your belt and whaddya got to show for it?”

To tell you the truth, I’m amazed at how fast that year has gone.  Since the municipal election last October, things got very busy very quickly.  There really is only a brief transition period between terms of council.  The City continues to run which means a new council needs to get up to speed in short order and I have to say, I’ve been impressed with my colleagues thus far.  They come well prepared to every meeting.  They work hard to serve their constituents.  We have robust debates and we’ve set an ambitious agenda for the rest of our term. 

I currently sit on the Planning Committee and the Audit Committee as well as the Middlesex-London Health Unit and Police Services Boards and I enjoy the challenge of the significant issues that these groups have to address. 

So far this year, with the help of thousands of Londoners, we set the 2015 budget, developed a strategic plan, approved a new Downtown Master Plan, established priorities for the 2016 – 2019 Multi-year budget, began renovations of the Normal School, and recently unanimously approved moving forward with bus-rail hybrid system as the preferred option for London’s rapid transit initiative, just to name a bit of what’s been accomplished to date. 

Our neighbours throughout Old South have been very active in helping keep our community strong.  This year’s attendance at Gathering on the Green was the largest yet and wonderful community events such as Halloween in the Village and Christmas in the Village add so much to life to our neighbourhood. 

What’s next?  Well, I’m currently working on improving our planning bylaws to better address tear-down and rebuild housing regulations.  We’ll be continuing public consultations on the multi-year budget in January and I’m aiming to have a town-hall meeting at that time to hear about what’s important to you.  I hope you’ll be able to attend. Despite what we’ve accomplished this year, much of it has been to lay the groundwork for the rest of this term and years to come.  I hope you’re as excited as I am about the future of our city. I’d love to hear what you think and I wish you all the very best for the New Year!