Elections
Pat Ielasi, Candidate for Ward 2 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2010
Details page for this candidate.
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Candidate Details (top)
| Name | Ielasi, Pat |
|---|---|
| Election | Hamilton Municipal Election 2010 |
| Area | Ward 02 |
| Party | N/A |
| Votes | 67 |
| ielasip@aol.com | |
| Website | (no website listed) |
| Home | |
| Business | |
| Fax | |
| Bio | My name is Pat IELASI and I am asking for your support on October 25th, 2010, to represent you at City Hall, as your COUNCILLOR for the next four years.
My educational background in Accounting and Computer Programming has provided me with the analytical skills required, to ask appropriate questions to ensure FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. My compassion for others will be an asset when making decision with regards to the Quality of Life, for every citizen in our community. My outgoing personality and ability get along with most everyone I meet will assist in getting what we need in our area. Let's not forget we also need support from other elected members of council to vote on issues. Honesty and Integrity, are characteristics that have been instilled from me since I was a child, and I have and will continue to live my life with those as the cornerstone to any choices I make. I have been a lifetime resident of Hamilton: * grew up in the Queen St and Barton St area * played hockey and football at Eastwood Park growing up * have family and friends that still live in the Ward * And have been around politics for the better part of 20 years. I know the issues not only of the individual Neighbourhoods, Beasley, Central, Corktown, Durand, Northend, and Stinson but also the City Issues. This is by far the most diverse ward in the city, culturally, socially, and economically. I choose to run for these Reasons: * To improve the QUALITY OF LIFE * To ensure FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY * Create an atmosphere that is conducive to attracting SUSTAINABLE JOBS I have chosen to run a campaign without signs to prove a point. * Signs don't indicate who your voting for and not good for the Environment. * If I am going to be FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE WITH YOUR MONEY I SHOULD DO THE SAME WITH MINE. SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE TO CITY HALL THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND FOOLISHLY, TO GET WHAT YOU WANT ACCOMPLISHED. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you consider me to represent you at CITY HALL for the next four years. My name will appear 13th on the ballot. If you have any questions feel free to call me. |
Responses to Questions (top)
| Question | Brief Response | Full Response |
|---|---|---|
| Council is poised to vote on the Airport Employment Growth District, a 3,000 acre plan to expand the urban boundary around Hamilton International Airport for employment lands. Do you support this plan? Why or why not? | No | No I cannot support the use of Agricultural Lands to be converted for commercial use. Urban sprawl is one of the reasons we have the situation in the downtown core to begin with. lets develop the many brown field sites and the many boarded up buildings first. |
| The City of Hamilton has committed to doubling transit ridership by 2020. Do you support this goal? If so, how would you realize it? | Yes | Yes I definitely support this initiative. To achieve this we must make public transit affordable, accessible, and timely....
First, Evaluate and assess the current Bus routes and schedules, rework those routes that are not self sufficient and relocate both personal and buses to other areas, including Ancaster, Stoney Creek, Flamborogh, and Dundas, and Binbrook so that every member of our community has access to public transit. Secondly, created a Public Transportation Hub the include the Go Train, the Bus Station, and City Busses, all stopping at a centralised location, This might elevate some of the almost 35,000 commuters that travel to the GTA Daily and greatly reduce the emissions from the congested QEW and 403 highways. If Public Transit is ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE AND TIMELY, people will be more likely to take it. |
| Should we spend the Future Fund to build a Pan Am / Ticat stadium on the CP Rail Yard lands? Why or why not? | No | NO NEW STADIUM is needed and still can have a SUCESSFULL Pan Am Games.
* We can still host the Pan Am Games, showcase the city, and make it profitable for many businesses at the same time, without a new stadium, a stadium that is not affordable to build or to maintain. We can ill afford this massive capital expenditure. PROPOSAL AND BENEFITS - If we host the games at the Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University, we can house the athletes at the residence. - We can have different events throughout the city during the games i.e. festivals, art exhibits, scattered throughout our city, provide tours of the waterfalls in our city, and provide free shuttle services to each of the destinations, this would benefit McMaster University, and many Businesses that wish to participate at the festivals, at the same time as showcasing the diverse culture, talented local artists and musicians and beautiful city we have. What do we do with Ivor Wynn Stadium? * First we sit and talk to Bob Young and find out if he is committed to staying in Hamilton.... If he is then: - We apply to make Ivor Wynn Stadium a historic land site..... In doing so we would be eligible to receive funding from higher levels of government to aid in the cost to repair the stadium. - If Mr. Young is not interested in playing at Ivor Wynn Stadium he can purchase land at his expense and build a stadium at a location suitable to him.... - In which case Ivory Wynn Stadium should be sold, and that land could be developed to bring in much needed property tax revenue. * Money can better be spent on programs that service our elderly such as seniors for seniors, meals on wheels, community living, Freedom House, children with challenges , and poverty and well as other Capital Projects such as fixing the sewer system that is in desperate need of repair. |
| Is Hamilton doing enough to support and encourage new investment in our older neighbourhoods? If not, what should the City be doing? | No | No, Hamilton is not doing enough to support and encourage new investment in our older neighbourhoods, there are currently six programs in place for the revitalisation of downtown, but very little for the neighbour hoods, one example i can think of off hand is the Durand Park Revitalization Program that conducted a comprehensive details and inclusive plan in 2006 and will have to wait till 2013 to get the money needed for the improvements the requested. that amount is only 75,000 dollars. 7 years they will have to wait from the time of the report... totally UNACCEPTABLE.
Workable solution: Set up a contingency fund for each ward that will be administered by the WARD COUNCILLOR AND A COMMUNITY COUNCIL made up of the presidents of the neighbourhood associations and the BIA'S. This way if there is no money left in the pool of moneys there will be some money already set aside for these types of improvements. |
| Do you believe that poverty is the most critical issue facing Hamilton today? If so, please outline your solutions. If not, please explain your reasons. | Yes | Poverty is very a very critical issue facing Hamilton today. We must review how social services are delivered. Currently there are 232 Agencies that deliver Social Services each having there own Administer. It has become an industry in itself.
We must begging to Educate and provide employable skills, while aggressively seeking to get businesses to relocate or set up shop here in Hamilton. We need Sustainable Jobs, that will provide employment and allow people to provide for there families. We have to examine our options, about the migration or people that come to our city because the social assistance dollar goes farther here than in communities they come here from. What are our options? Can we get compensated from those municipalities for those cases? Just two of the questions that need to be addressed. |
| Many observers argue that Council meetings could be more respectful and professional. Do you agree? If so, what will you do to change this? | Yes | First it is important to realise that every member on council has been elected to represent their individual ward constituents and every councillor has there own personality and style ... each will speak with passion and conviction on what they believe will be the best or right decision.
NEVER WILL I ENGAGE IN ANY CHARACTER ASSASSINATION of ANY MEMBER OF COUNCIL publicly or privately. We may disagree on issues but ones character will never challenged. Respect breads Respect. Maybe we could have a "Disrespectful comment jar" placed in the middle of the chamber and when one councillor is deemed to be disrespectful they have to pay 100.00 to the jar and that money can be collected put toward the elimination of poverty. I wonder if we would have raised enough money to eliminate poverty in the last four years... hmmmmm. |
| For your campaign, will you be accepting donations from corporations or unions? If so, why? If not, why not? | No | I will not be accepting any donations from big corporations or unions. I believe that decisions made should be made on the merits of the issues and that no influence, either real or perceived, should play a factor in any decision made. |
| Will your term change people's first impression of Hamilton, and make that first impression more attractive to visitors, students, commuters and newcomers? If so, how? | Yes | I don't know if it will haven in the first term but I would like to see a Centralized Public Transportation Hub at the West harbour site, Go Train, Go Bus, and city Buses making there stop at same location. Residential Condominium, with coffee shops, restaurants, and outdoor entertainment faculties across from that train station, extending the train service so the Lakeshore Line goes from Whitby to Niagara Falls. Rearranging current bus routes and deploying resources to service areas that currently get no service, to make the city buses more accessible, affordable, and timely.
Imagine, the reduction of cars commuting between Hamilton and Toronto, currently it is estimated that 35,000 cars make that trip daily. Imagine the potential investment and jobs that can be generated from the pedestrian traffic of having such a transportation hub located there. Imagine if you will the first impressions of people getting off the train and seeing a vibrant business district as opposed to the vision of old Stelco and Dofasco while driving down the Queen Elisabeth Way. We have so many beautiful things in our city, the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Waterfalls, the architecture of older buildings and the many places of worship. Such a diverse culture, foods and restaurants, theatres, talented actors and musicians, world class facilities, and we need to begging to showcase these to people from outside our city so that they can learn about them and appreciate them the way we do. |
| Some cities have committed recently to publishing their public data in an open format that citizens can directly access. Should Hamilton pledge to become an "open source city"? Why or why not? | Yes | Absolutely, open and transparent government is the most credible government. We many not always agree with decisions made but if we have access to information we might be more understanding of decisions that have been made. |
| Hamilton's Cycling Master Plan has Council approval. However, the implementation timeline is very long and ward councillors can block individual bike lane projects. Do you support accelerating the completion of a continuous bicycle network and other initiatives like a bike sharing program and better access up and down the Escarpment? Why or why not? | Yes | It is important that the bicycle infrastructure be co-ordinated and completed so that it is safe. There are to many bicycle lanes that just suddenly end and it is confusing to both cyclists and motorists alike. |
| Do you support Hamilton's LRT proposal? If so, what will you do to ensure Hamilton's success in building LRT? If not, why do you oppose it? | No | No I don't support the LRT at this time, for the following reasons.
a) We cannot afford it. b) our current transits system will be sufficient to meet our needs, i) We just need to re-evaluate the current routes and schedule's and make better use of our resources both mechanical and personnel. ii) We need to provide service to all memebers our community expand the service to the outer portions of our city, Stoney Creek, Glandbrook, Waterdown, Andcaster and Dundas. if we provide service to one community we should provide it to all. we all should benefit from the service provided an all pay our equal share of the cost of providing that service. iii) We should centralise the go bus station and train station at a location located at the CN rail lines at the proposed West Harbour Site, and have all The busses currently stopping on King Street at Gore Park have bus stops at that location.... - It is estimated that 35,000 people commute to the GTA daily to work if we want people to use the transit system it must be accessible, affordable, and timely. that is the only way we will be able to persuade commuters to use public transit. c) Until we address the Infrastructure problem, namely the decay of the sewers....... I can not support spending money putting rails 8 inches into the roads, only to rip them back out again to fix the sewers.... LETS FIX THE SEWERS FIRST |
