Bio/Platform Peter Gregory 2018 Candidate
I want to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to tell you a bit about myself, and why I decided it was time to put my name in for council. As a local business owner, a father of two daughters, a grandpa to the cutest grand daughter and a long time resident of North Bay I am invested in our City. I have put my name forward as a candidate for council because I love this City and want to do more with our community. When we embrace our culture and heritage it is a beautiful thing, I want my grand children to know about the great history that paved the way for North Bay to grow and become the great city that it is. I benefited from a great education, right here in North Bay; I still talk to many of the people I went to school with, back when it was Scollard Hall. I value the great work charities do within our community, and I am proud to give back to North Bay by volunteering with organizations that serve our community such as the Gathering Place, Habitat for Humanity, The Coldest Night of the Year and TP North Bay.
When elected I will work hard to not only address the issues within our community, I will also work collaboratively with all community partners to find real solutions. I believe in transparency, my business was built on the simple principle that, “my word is my word”. I want to work with the citizens of North Bay to make them feel included in the decision making processes. As a councillor, I would bring forward that we hold monthly community information sessions, and increase communications to the residents of North Bay. The City needs to act aggressively and take action to deal with a few immediate needs within North Bay. The shortages currently being felt at Cassellholme, are only going to increase, I agree 100% with the previous Council, we NEED to move ahead with the plans for Cassellholme, but we cannot stop at Cassellholme. The situation with our downtown core and the methadone clinics desperately needs a solution. We have to work collectively and have open, honest discussions with community partners so we can bring forward real plans that will include follow up for success. We need to sit down with the partners involved in education, training and those partners who provide the employment opportunities that will help in retaining our youth. Solving the shortages within the skilled trades is something I believe we can achieve if we all work together. I want to work to find a solution to the current lack of affordable housing; the current waiting lists are unacceptable. Every family, every person deserves access to clean, safe, affordable housing. I strongly believe property taxes need to remain as they are, to help achieve this we need to involve private investors in our plans. I believe we can benefit as a community from private investors investing in projects such as the new arena, and by looking at the arena in a larger scale. A multi use indoor facility that would serve all demographics within our community and enhance the quality of life for the citizens of North Bay. This would no doubt attract investors, and money being invested would mean that less tax dollars would be required for projects. We need to be fiscally responsible and find efficiencies within the City. Let’s look at our NEEDS before of our WANTS. I believe we need to act upon some of the recommendations made in the Baylor report. We need to actively make the changes our community has asked for, like investing in Arts and Culture. The time for change is now. It is time for action at the council level; the residents of North Bay deserve it. I appreciate hearing from the different people in our community, I believe Ideas Matter, ideas lead to great conversation and from there we build great plans. As a councilor I will put plans into actions to enhance the lives of all citizens in North Bay.
Platform points:
Cassellholme
* Immediate need
* look for private investors
* we need to expand, as the population ages the need will only multiply
* look at other communities models for homes for the Aged, incorporate safe green
space
* I agree 100% with previous council we need to move ahead on this expansion, but we
can not stop there
Downtown Core / Methadone clinics-Mental Health & Addiction
* sit down with community partners and have open discussions to reach real solutions
(Mental Health workers/PEP/Social Services/Addiction Workers/Doctors/Pharmacist/Downtown/ business Owners ect.)
* increase the access to treatment centers
* increase education to those using the clinics so that they show respect to others in the
community, and educate the community to better to understand the clinics role.
* until the current situation is dealt with and resolved it will be difficult to attract new
business to join downtown
Retaining our youth / Skilled trades
* work with Yes employment, local High schools, Canadore College and area Industry
Leaders and collectively put together a plan that will result in our youth being
educated and trained in careers that will result in jobs, jobs with potential for growth so
our youth will be financially stable and continue to invest in our community.
* support, enhance and grow the Arts and Culture in our community, the future leaders
of North Bay have made it clear that they want new things to do, creativity is important
* let’s ask the youth what they would like to see in North Bay, let’s listen
Property taxes/Fiscal Responsibility
* need to stay as is
* look for ways to find efficiencies, we need to be fiscally responsible
* find private investors for projects as a way to lower the amount of tax dollars needed
Affordable housing
* lets look for developers who will provide our community with safe, clean affordable
housing and find ways to encourage them to develop property in North Bay
* lets review the current relationship with the City and Landlords, and find ways to
ensure that the needs of both are respected; we need to find ways to encourage home
owners to rent their available space.
New Arena
* we need to think outside of the box, don’t stop at a new arena, lets strive to have it
be an indoor multi use complex (indoor tennis, soccer, batting cages, ultimate Frisbee ,
indoor golf, a safe indoor green area where people can walk, jog, ride a bike, enjoy a
quiet moment, read a book, smell the flowers, or have a tea.
* it should be located in Ferris to help rejuvenate the area
* look for private investors as this will result in less tax dollars being required
If you would like to discuss my platform in further detail please do not hesitate to contact me on face book @ Ideas Matter or by calling me at 705 845-1277
Sincerely,
Peter Gregory
