We knocked on thousands of doors in the ward, some even twice throughout the campaign period.  As my friend Graeme said to me, “I wish we wearing pedometers to see how many kilometers we have walked”.  I cannot agree more with that statement; it would be a staggering number, which shows just a small part of the effort we put into this campaign. I am so proud of my team and all that we have accomplished.  Throughout the entire campaign period we had a total of over 25 individuals helping out, whether it be knocking on doors, putting up signs, or doing whatever else needed to be done.  Without these amazing people we would not have been nearly as successful and I cannot say enough to truly thank them.

Thank you to everyone who helped out, it would not have been the same without you. The election results were very close all the way to the end, being edged out by just over 100 votes (just 1.8%) by former and returning Councillor Sandy White.  Nevertheless, this campaign was a victory and success on it’s own which can be seen in the impact it had on Ward 14, and London as a whole.  The amount of amazing feedback and comments during the election and after (as can be seen through our 1605 votes) really shows that people want change, and when they have a candidate they can truly put their faith in who has good and fresh ideas they will (Michelle and I, the two new candidates, totaled over 40% of all ballots cast).

Waking up the morning after the election was odd to say the least, as I now have no more doors to knock on, no more interviews to do, and simply put, no more campaigning to do.

Nonetheless, I continue to be involved in my community and hope to become even further involved.  The people of Ward 14 are all amazing individuals and I cannot thank them enough for their support which included some really great emails and phone calls that are still rolling in.  No matter who your Councillor is, make sure your voice is heard, and if their is something you are passionate about, do something with it.

Many people have asked me already, “will you be running again in four years?”, and that is a great question.  Four years is quite a bit of time, and I am excited to see where ill be during them and what I will be doing.  What i can say for sure though is that i will continue to stay involved, and I will be following our council and it’s decisions very closely.  No promises, but this is my passion, and I would love the opportunity to be a direct advocate for Londoners.  Thank you again for reading and for all the support.

Until next time,

Jared

When I originally began putting the plans together for the campaign my biggest concern was will we be able to accomplish everything we want to.  The most important word to note in the previous sentence is we.  Without the amazing volunteers I have had over the past 8 months or so, this campaign would not have been nearly as successful as I know it has already been.

Whether it be putting up signs, knocking on doors, going to events in the community, I have almost always had someone be by my side.   London is one of the greatest Cities for volunteerism with almost 60% of the population some way or another volunteering.  It is truly amazing though to see it in action and to see people passionate about the campaign and passionate about making an impact and change in our City.

I cannot thank these individuals enough for their countless hours of support, dedication and hard work.  Naturally, in any political campaign the focus is on the candidate and although certainly this is important in order to vet the candidates, we need to also give due thanks to all of our volunteers.

Whether it is the mayoral race, trustee or any ward race, none of us could be where we are today without the assistance of volunteers, whether they be friends, family or supporters.  Without these amazing individuals, I believe our voter turnout rate would be much lower, and a much smaller percentage of the population would hear anything about their candidates.

I would strongly encourage that the next time someone comes to your door on behalf of a candidate in the area, make sure you thank them for taking the time to help spread the word about the election and for helping people make an educated and informed decision.

So once again, to all who have helped, thank you!

In other news, we had our final debate this week which had a turnout of approximately 20 people but nonetheless, lots of good questions were asked.  I want to thank the organizers of it, the Urban League and Women Our Votes Count.  Without them we would have had only one debate since the last one back in May.

This past week was also a very exciting week as my most recent blog post, “Should We Reform Our Nomination Process” was featured as part of a top news story on local talk radio station AM 980, as they discussed whether or not with mayoral debates beginning if having all 15 candidates take part was appropriate.

And one last exciting piece to share.  I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the media kick off for the 65th annual Wheelchair Relay Challenge put on by the Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario to raise awareness and hopefully raise some funds for the great cause.  The next morning i was on local news channel (A-Channel) in a mini wheelchair race and the camera caught me doing extremely well… crashing into a wall.  I will be participating in the full relay next weekend so hopefully i can get some practice in by then.

That is all for now, 2 weeks from tomorrow the 11th is Election Day!

Jared

When I first began to seriously think about running for City Councillor, I wanted to make sure I was as prepared as I could possibly be. In doing so, I found that the only conditions to run for Council were to be a resident of London, be 18 years or older, and pay the nominal fee. The same goes for Mayor, just with a higher fee.

This immediately struck me as odd as when I ran to be a Councillor at UWO, you needed a minimum number of signatures from people (only 5) in your faculty (the people you would be representing) as part of your nomination. So at an institution where I could have the opportunity to represent approximately 6000 people, I needed at least some percentage of the population to nominate me to show that I was a legitimate candidate.

Moving to a much larger scale, a municipal election presents the opportunity for a ward Councillor in London to represent close to 20,000 residents and the Mayor tasked with guiding a city of upwards of 350,000 individuals. Yet at this much larger stage with much more at stake, we have absolutely no nomination by peer process.

Without this process we leave the race open to many candidates who are running, largely, just to run. While on one hand, this is a case of pure democracy in action, it can be troublesome for potential up and coming serious candidates; they often get overshadowed by the sometimes, odd nature and ideas of the so-called ‘fringe’ candidates. For people that are looking for other options for mayor other than the front-runners, this very much muddies the water for them.

Another issue is the potential to erode the credibility of our race for mayor, or any other position for that matter. Londoners already seem to have low levels of confidence in our municipal government, and a race that sets up with so many ‘fringe’ candidates does not serve to reverse this trend. I look forward to going to the mayoral debates in the coming weeks and hearing the candidates opinions. But with the floor open to 14 candidates, how much time are we really going to get to hear from candidates that have more rational reasoned and well thought out positions for running the city?

Getting around these issues certainly presents a dilemma, because we do not want to discourage involvement in the political process. Indeed at the core of our democracy is the principle that all have equal political rights, and one could argue that a multitude of candidates demonstrates engagement. Furthermore, it is really up to the voters to decide which candidates are best suited, so the matter of ‘fringe candidates’ might be resolved at the ballot box anyway.

But a healthy democracy also rests on the proper dissemination of information and ideas, and the extent to which ‘also-rans’ distract from the core issues of our election, can be detrimental to our democratic process. Changing the process however could be tricky, as it is provincially legislated. If we look to other provinces in Canada, it would seem as though Ontario is not quite up to date with its nomination process:

Quebec – anyone running for municipal office must get signatures to be nominated. In a City with 100,000 plus people, a candidate for Mayor must get 200 signatures and a Candidate for Councillor needs 25. (Guide for Potential Candidates in Municipal Elections – Quebec)

Manitoba – Councilor candidates must get nomination papers signed by at least 25 people in the ward, or 1 percent of the voters of the ward (whichever is less), with the same requirements for Mayor. (from Manitoba candidates online guidebook)

Alberta – “You must have at least 5 signatures of electors eligible to vote in that election. A city with a population over 10,000 may by bylaw, require that up to 100 signatures are required.” (Section 27, Local Authorities Election Act-Alberta.)

Saskatchewan – Minimum of 5 signatures are required for cities with a population under 10,000 and a minimum of 25 signatures for cities with a population greater than 10,000. (From Sask Nomination form I and J)

British Columbia – “In order to become a candidate for any local government office you must be nominated by two people who are qualified to vote in the jurisdiction where you are seeking election.” (British Columbia Candidates guide)

New Brunswick – “the signatures of at least ten (10) nominators, who are all qualified voters living in the municipality or rural community, and ward if applicable, of the candidate.” (Elections NB website – Municipal Candidate Information section)

These six examples demonstrate that a majority of provinces require candidates running for municipal office to be nominated by their peers. If Ontario were to follow suit, the province would be both updating as well as aiding our democratic process. Experience in other provinces shows that the threshold for nomination can be set at a level that does not limit the democratic process, but at the same time forces candidates to give more thoughtful consideration to running.

Would you support a four-year tax freeze (yes or no)?

Unfortunately at this point in time I just don’t think it’s realistic. We do need to keep taxes down, but coming off a recession, we also have to be able to provide the essential services that London needs to get us on track and maximize prosperity. Tax dollars can help us reinvest in our communities and get people back to work.

Why do you want to represent Londoners at city hall?

It has been personally difficult to watch our city fail to reach its potential. There has been stagnation within the city, and fresh approaches and new ideas are needed to move us forward.

What do you consider a) the most important issue for London? And b) the most important issue for the ward in which you’re running?

No doubt, it has to be economic recovery. We need to encourage sustainable sectors of industry and employment to come to London so that we can get hardworking people back on their feet.

Ward 14 is one of the largest geographically in the city, and as such has a vast array of issues throughout. These range from maintaining environmental amenities like Meadowlilly woods and Westminster ponds, to an English Speaking public school in Summerside, as well as how the Ward can be at the forefront of London’s economic recovery, through locations such as innovation park.

In my platform i discuss the need for the City to make a much stronger effort at retaining the large number of young talented people that leave London every year.  Although Fanshawe College does do an excellent job at this, UWO lags behind quite a bit.  With September just around the corner though, i am very excited to have UWO back in session as we are going to have some great volunteers from the school helping out on the campaign and getting them involved in London!  Nevertheless, some students are in London all year round, including, Masters of Journalism students.

Over the past 2 weeks or so, we had the amazing opportunity to work with Jared Lindzon and his team, all students in the Masters program as they did their summer semester project on our campaign.  It was great to be able to work with them and get to see first hand what amazing, young talented people we have here in London.  Although this was only one small partnership, it does a great job at showcasing the potential we have here in London with our young people.   All we need to do, is to start utilizing it.

The video produced by Jared and his team can be found directly below the search bar.

*Disclaimer:  The video claims we are currently the only ones campaigning, and that is false.  Although we are only one o two to be putting signs up, many other candidates are currently campaigning as well.

Two days ago, i sat down with Herman Goodden, one of the writers for The Voice of London and we had a great in depth chat about many different topics including: urban design, job creation, retention of young talent in London, the loss of board of control and where do we go from here, as well as a bit about myself and my interest in running for Council.

I would like to thank Herman for taking the time to meet with me and get to know me a little better, and I would highly encourage you to read this great in-depth interview which can be found right here.

Recently i was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend Change Camp. Change Camp is best summed up through their wiki which i have copy and pasted here:

ChangeCamp is an event format, an open community and a set of tools and ideas designed to give citizens and governments the ability to work collaboratively in new ways to make change and to better address real-world challenges in our communities.

The ChangeCamp community is focused on two goals:

1. 1. helping governments become more open, transparent, participatory, innovative, efficient and effective
   2. helping citizens become more connected to each other around their civic passions in the place they call home

It was great spending the morning with people who really want to see change happen and want to help make that happen. Here is a link to a video interview i did about the event, i hope you enjoy! - “Jared’s Change Camp Interview”

Action London 2010 a group trying to increase voter turnout and public participation has created a survey for all candidates to fill out so people can learn a little about them.  Click here to see my answers, enjoy.

Another important part of this campaign will be getting to know the citizens more. Hearing directly from them their concerns. The main issues they feel are facing both the community and the city. These two aspects have shaped my campaign thus far, and will continue to shape it as the weeks and months move ahead.

Last week, I was able to participate in an event that accomplished both of those goals at the same time. I was part of the first ‘All Candidates Forum and Community Feedback Session’ of the 2010 London Municipal Election campaign. Taking place at the Glen Cairn Community Centre, candidates for wards 1 and 14 gathered to talk to Londoners. To tell them a bit about themselves and their plans for London, and heard from voters, gaining valuable feedback.

Having spoken with fellow candidates, those in attendance, media, current councillors, and the event organizers, I can tell you that it was widely viewed as a success. I want to personally extend my thanks to those who came out to help make the event happen, and especially express my gratitude to the event’s chief organizer, Fergus Vaughn, along with the other members of the Glen Cairn community centre who made it possible.

As the campaign moves forward, I am enthused to both get my message out there, and take in messages from the community. I will be doing this through a number of methods, and events such as the Glen Cairn Community Session will be key. They empower citizens who are dedicated about their communities, and are truly educational for all involved.