City workers strike inspired council hopeful

[attach]1796[/attach]Jennifer Wood says she’s proud of her community and wants to bring that pride to city council.

Wood is running for a seat in Ward 29, where she has lived for 11 years. Her husband owns a business on the Danforth and they’re raising their kids there.

“I think it’s important for a city councillor to have a stake in what happens in the local community, as well as an eye on the broader issues of the city,” she said.

Wood began toying with the idea of running for council after the city workers’ strike last summer.

She said she was unimpressed with the way the city handled the mounting piles of garbage. She organized a community cleanup, where she met officials from the councillor’s office and learned more about the civic process.

When Councillor Case Ootes announced he was retiring, Wood thought it was a good time to enter the race, she said.

“I was already looking for a more community-focused career,” said Wood, who has been a lawyer for 12 years. “I’ve been a lifelong volunteer. It’s always been my goal to marry the two somehow, and public service seemed like a good way of doing that.”

There aren’t many lawyers on city council, which Wood said she is surprised about.

“You’re legal training is actually very helpful on council, the way motions are brought to council and how council is actually governed,” she said.

Wood’s campaign focuses on five priority issues: safer communities, improving transit, fiscal responsibility, cleaner neighbourhoods, and supporting local businesses.

She wants to create safer neighbourhoods through community engagement.

Wood said there are certain areas in her ward where safety is a concern. She pointed to a stretch of apartment buildings on Cosburn Avenue where there have been reports of prostitution, drug dealing, vandalism and car break-ins.

Woods said she learned at a community safety meeting that some people don’t know the best channels for contacting police during non-emergency situations. So she created a poster with phone numbers that she will be delivering to those apartments.

“It’s a practical way to help inform people more about what they can do,” she said.

Wood said her approach to Toronto’s traffic problem is to support all forms of transit, including building more subway lines and creating a bike lane grid.

“We really can’t have a one-size-fits all solution for Toronto,” she said.

Her focus would be a long-term plan for the subway, which is a better way of relieving traffic than light rail transit, she said.

Wood said a focus on fiscal responsibility means the city needs an accountable budgeting process, one that includes encouraging constituents to ask questions and using the public’s feedback to better manage tax dollars.

At the last budget presentation, citizens who questioned the budget items were not treated respectfully, Wood said.

“I think the city hall needs to remember they are spending the taxpayers’ dollars,” she said. “They have a responsibility to listen to the public and take their views into consideration.”

Her fourth priority issue is creating a healthy environment by cleaning the streets and improving their parks. Park maintenance has been declining over the past few years, she says.

Wood cited Dufferin Grove Park as a successful public space. The area is a mixed-income neighbourhood, so most people don’t expect the park to be a place where people hang out, she said.

“But because they have so many programs going on in that park all the time, it’s become a place where you can basically go any time of day, and people are always using the park. It’s become a much safer area as a result.”

Wood said her ward could learn from Dufferin Grove Park and encourage more community activities — like farmers’ markets and art exhibits — at Dieppe Park.

Another area of focus for Wood is supporting local businesses. Limited parking is a big concern for residents and business owners, she said.

“One thing the city can do to encourage residents to shop locally is to change the way parking enforcement is carried out,” she said.

Wood said the city engages in “predatory ticketing” whereby people who are a few minutes late on their meter are fined with a $30 ticket — the same amount as if they didn’t buy a ticket in the first place.

“Customers are telling businesses that they will not be back, they will be shopping at the malls where they can park for free,” she said. “And (business owners) do feel that they’re losing customers over the ticketing situation.”