No taxation without justification. No government should be taking money from you without showing you value. Our core responsibility is to be judicious in the spending of your tax dollars

Nobody looks at their property tax bill and is happy to see a 20% increase over the last 4 years of this Edmonton City council. We certainly aren't getting value or better services for those dollars!  Council must cut spending in superfluous areas to help freeze the constant tax hikes. You shouldn't be getting priced out of your own home in Edmonton. 

Affordability issues are constantly looming. With smart responsible planning, we'll get through this. Here are some points to consider: 

• Property taxes have risen year over year, and the increase from 2023-2025 will be 21.3%, while services remain unchanged or neglected.
• The city recently dipped into its rainy-day fund to reduce a deficit of $700,000 - bringing its threshold below accepted limits, requiring a 0.5% - 0.6% property tax increase to top it off.
• The city needs to assess core needs and fund them accordingly. Until the city gets it's financial house in order, they should temporarily suspend extra programs.  Households are required to make budgets they adhere to, why should the city be any different? 
• By saving the city money, City Council can reduce property taxes over the short term resulting in financial relief for Edmontonians and more options for young families trying to afford their first home.

The city must ensure that the public can enjoy their neighbourhoods and public spaces without experiencing crime or chaos. 

• The city must work with the province on addiction supports to reduce drug related crime, both in public consumption and the criminal activity that feeds addiction.  We also need to work with the province to advise on whether mental health supports are in place and robust enough.
• The city must advocate to the federal government to review their changes to the Criminal Code of Canada and reverse course on making it easier for criminals to get released on our streets the same day they are arrested.  Violent offenders cannot be allowed to walk free after getting caught.
• It’s not just about having more police on the streets, it's about being visible to deter criminal activity, be it on our streets, on our public transit system, or in our neighbourhoods.  Think about the Henday as a minor example... commuters magically all follow the speed limit when they drive alongside a logoed police vehicle!   

Cities should be passing evidence-based bylaws that have data-driven metrics and deliverables so City Council can prove that the bylaw is effective in solving the problem it's trying to fix. 

The single-use bag bylaw is a perfect example where the city has no idea how much waste is being kept out of landfills, yet they continue to force businesses to charge for something that was once the cost of doing business. Not to mention the absurdity of asking and making patrons pay for a paper bag in drive-thrus. 

The city must perform a thorough review of all relevant bylaws, and immediately repeal those that are burdensome on citizens and troublesome for businesses.

We need to do a better job of keeping our streets and sidewalks cleared and maintained. The City of Edmonton must stop funding bike lanes.  We are a winter city and prioritizing the clearing of bike lanes over vehicle lanes has to end.  1% of our population uses bike lanes.  Take that money and put it into the infrastructure that we all use daily that benefits 99% of the population.  Properly maintained roads and infrastructure means you get to your destination faster and with less wear-and-tear on your vehicle - saving you money in the long run.

• Road construction/maintenance must be given higher priority, to ensure that potholes and road conditions meet the expectations of Edmontonians.
• We need to see better value for our money when it comes to snow clearing. We must prioritize main arteries and neighbourhoods instead of bike lanes which get cleared first. 
• The city of Edmonton needs to stop spending millions of your dollars on bike lanes.  $25,000,000 a year for four years was trumpeted as a success by this current council. I propose that we cut that spending and put it into neighbourhood renewal, where many communities have dangerous sidewalks causing mobility issues.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of Edmonton's economy, employing hundreds of thousands of people which keep that money in their communities. With all the construction, regulations, bylaws, and red tape; we keep piling on burdens and pressures on small businesses who struggle to maintain margins when competing with large multinational chains. I will do more to promote our local entrepreneurs: 

• Conduct a comprehensive review of all red tape/regulations on small businesses to make sure that what we have in place is actually serving the public, and not burdening businesses trying to survive.
• Work with the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce as the representative of businesses in the city to ensure we are providing the right supports for our job creators.
• Make sure that procurement processes are stringent to prevent conflict of interests by City Council, while giving local businesses the opportunity to bid and win city contracts.

Did you know there are 200 capital projects underway in the City of Edmonton? Many of which are experiencing cost-overruns, delays, and setbacks.  I think we can do better.  We need to focus on less projects at once to make sure they are being kept on a tight schedule to minimize the disturbance and discomfort it causes our citizens. This helps keep projects from going over time and over budget.

• The LRT is a mess, road construction is a mess, its all a mess - I will help clean it up!
• Focus on a few projects per year to make sure that we aren’t letting anything slip between the cracks.
• Hold contractors accountable.  If they are behind, ensure that strong penalties exist to get things done on-time and on-budget.

The Homelessness situation in our city is only getting worse year after year.  Prior city councils have just deflected the responsibility to other levels of government - a lack of funding, international issues, or any other variable out of their control.  If we want funding from the provincial or federal governments, we need to come up with a realistic solution and how to execute it.  We need to work with our law enforcement agencies and first responders to ensure everyone is staying safe on public transit and in public areas like bus stops.  It's time to stop talking about it, and time to start doing something about it.

• Billions of dollars have been spent on this issue, and yet we still have not seen any viable solutions.
• Every level of government deflects responsibility, saying someone else is responsible.
• It's time the City of Edmonton took responsibility for the homeless situation in their own city. Homelessness is no longer a problem situated in downtown; it has been spreading to the suburbs for the last decade - which means it affects us all.
• Having a viable plan would help ensure the city gets the funding support it needs to finally begin.
• We need to house these people first, then identify the supports they need and funnel them accordingly.  Rather than sending people to live on the streets and be preyed upon by gangs and criminals, we need to break the cycle of addiction and treat mental health struggles. 
• I propose we look into utilizing sea-can (shipping container) homes which are safe, secure, and easily transportable and can be built for a fraction of the cost of traditional housing. If we solve our problem and have excess units, they can be sold off to Oil and Mining companies as camp housing, used for veteran housing, or stored as emergency housing in case of fire, flood or other disasters for residents and first responders.