On October 27, I’m asking for more than your vote. I’m asking you to continue to work with me for a better Burlington that puts residents first.

Video: Why I’m Running

What this election means for you

Residents love our city; I hear that every day. But you’re also concerned about some of the changes you’re seeing and wonder where the city is headed.

You don’t want to lose what makes our city unique and livable.

You’ve said you care about protecting our neighbourhoods from out-of-character developments. You want more urban greenspace and waterfront access. You want to protect our rural area from a highway, quarry and unregulated infill masquerading as an airport. You want more jobs and commercial investment in our community, so you can live and work here. You want a walkable community, which means investments in transit, snowclearing, even benches. You want an inclusive community, where no matter your income you can find a place to live and work.  You want us to be good stewards of your tax dollars, look for savings, and spend on priorities that are most important to you.

Residents First

Above all, you want a say in decision-making done in your name. You want to be involved, not just politely heard.

We’ve made some progress in these areas during the last term of council, but there is much more work to be done. I’m running to put residents first and get action on the issues you care about.

That’s what this election means to you.

The best ideas for making our city better rest in our community, and we need to harness your passion and expertise.

The starting point is to send a council to City Hall who will put residents first: your ideas, needs, and aspirations for a better city. It’s about electing representatives who are truly representative of the people we serve, not people who will impose decisions on you and chide you for not understanding.

Reinventing government to serve you better

We need to  transform City Hall to serve you better. We need to stop thinking of government as a profit centre but as a public service; stop seeing residents as customers of services for a fee, and start seeing residents as citizens who want to contribute to making our community better.

We need better ways to involve citizens in decisions, earlier in the process; more opportunities to hear and implement innovative ideas. We need to listen more and dismiss less; focus on issues more and personalities less; spend more time discussing ideas and no time at all on parochial personal attacks and assumption of motive.

We need to stop thinking of government as an extension of the private sector, and start seeing government as an extension of our community, as a powerful way to achieve together what we, as individuals, could never achieve on our own. We need to change the dialogue about what municipal government means, what politics is, and what democracy is for, and start a dialogue about how we harness the passion, creativity and experience of you, our citizens, to make our city better.

We need to bring our ideas together, then be bold and act with courage, passion and vision.

We need to reinvent government itself to serve you better.

We may all have different views on the best way forward. We may not always agree. But you will always know where I stand – and why. And I will keep an open door, and an open mind, to hear different perspectives. By encouraging healthy debate and dialogue, the best solutions will emerge, the best actions will result.

Are you in? Sign up for the Ward 2 newsletter to stay on top of issues and have your say.

I’ve enjoyed meeting and working with many of you over the last four years, and I look forward to seeing you as I knock on doors throughout Ward 2.

Sincerely,

Marianne

p.s. check out my take on neighbourhood development, our downtown, jobs, spending, transit, affordable housing, council conduct, and the pier.