Here are my comments on Jon Willing poignant take on the key issues not being address in the Rest of Ottawa as opposed to Rural Ottawa. All very Urban issues Jon, Im a candidate in Osgoode Ward and I see it as Rural residents continuing to have the short end of the stick when it comes to services and capital projects. There is no multimillion dollar foot bridge over the Rideau River, yet Urban Ottawa has over three planned or built to service the few hundred people that will use it when there is a bridge with a sidewalk less than a few blocks away. Here is my list, * Smarter capital projects for all the city, too many 7-8 figure projects are an over spending on one project when more could be done. We have some really overdone culverts on rural roads that limit the number of projects and eat up too much of too few resources. * Roads, generally roads are too narrow for country traffic, especially in winter. We could use wider and paved shoulders with actual packed gravel instead of the 18inches of loose gravel on the side of the roads. * Animal management, MNR officials pass the buck to Ottawa Police to coral moose & deer stuck on residential roads or dispatch injured animals, there is no one to deal with predators (coyotes & fishers). Ottawa needs animal control officers to dispatch injured animals and to trap & kill nuisance predators. * Greater access to city services, where the rationalization of reduced or restricted access to core services based on population density has to stop. People want full access to core services, where urban-centric planning for programs and services structurally omits rural Ottawa. We want our services and they should begin by planning from a rural-centric perspective. You cant have Urban solutions for rural citizens and businesses, and you have to stop giving Urban problems to rural residents. Trains and Uber/taxis are not Osgoode ward residents concerns and we certainly want to stop paying for them. * Rural Council needs greater control of resources (staff & money), policy and by-laws to better direct staff to get rural concerns addressed. * Rural Residents have continued to pay full tax rates but only get part-time services or none at all. Rural residents and businesses need to have lower tax rates to reflect their lack of access to services and programs. * Economic development zones, rural businesses pay higher taxes and utility rates than urban businesses. We need to lower those rates, create the economic incentive to build and grow businesses in the Rural Ottawa so people can live and work in their community. * Hydro One needs to roll all assets and clients over to Hydro Ottawa, and rural residents need to have rural representation on Hydro Ottawas Board to direct rates, and administration. No matter how the Mayor or the urban councillors want to spin the utility of their projects (Mayor Watson pontificated that the east west trains-LRT2 are supposed to benefit southern residents with lower traffic on the Queensway, as if that was the only way residents travel) Rural residents will demand better use of their tax dollars. ottawasun/2014/10/20/election-debate-silent-on-key-issues
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 19:36:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015