Brenda Johnson, Candidate for Ward 11 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2010 - Raise the Hammer Elections

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Candidate Details
Responses to Questions

Candidate Details (top)

Name	Johnson, Brenda
Election	Hamilton Municipal Election 2010
Area	Ward 11
Party	N/A
Votes	4410
Email	contact@brendajohnson.ca
Website	http://www.brendajohnson.ca
Home
Business	289-237-7210
Fax	905-643-2399
Bio	Brenda created and is a director of Citizens Assessing Development On the Niagara Escarpment (CADONE). She supports CADONE's mandate "building sustainable communities supported by proper infrastructure". Brenda is widely respected for her successful campaign representing the Winona residents and CADONE in the OMB/ERT consolidated hearing, better known as "the blob hearing", that denied a poorly planned development on a flood plain outside the urban boundary. Currently Brenda works for Environment Hamilton as a Project Manager. She developed and implemented "Passport to Hamilton" that merges local businesses with public transit and "Moving is not an Option" where she helps Hamilton residents address issues within their communities. Check out Brenda's projects at www.environmenthamilton.org. Brenda Neville Johnson is the daughter of Roy and Barbara Neville who along with her three brothers (Jerry, Barry and Steven) lived in Vinemount, now Upper Stoney Creek. Brenda attended Tapleytown Public School and then Winona High School and graduated from Mohawk College in 1980. Brenda and her husband Glen Johnson moved to Winona Road in 1991. They have two sons, Brian and Daniel who both attended Winona Public School, Orchard Park Secondary School and both graduated from Seneca College. Brian currently works for a multi-media company in Toronto and Daniel is a commercial diver working within the Great Lakes/East Coast region. Brenda has lived in Ward 11 for over 40 years with her family and has deep roots in the community. Johnson has an extensive history volunteering in this community. For the past 18 years Brenda has been involved with 1st Winona Scouting as both a leader and chairperson. Johnson and her husband Glen also volunteer with the Winona Peach Festival working on the grounds crew. Brenda has recently helped to facilitate free HSR bus service for the 2010 Festival attendees. Johnson is prepared to tackle the many issues facing the Ward 11 community which include fair taxes, area rating, municipal services, sustainable communities with properly planned infrastructure, Mount Hope airport lands, lack of public transit in Binbrook and development of the SCUBE lands in lower Stoney Creek and the need for a recreation centre in Winona.

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Responses to Questions (top)

Question	Brief Response	Full Response
Should we spend the Future Fund to build a Pan Am / Ticat stadium on the CP Rail Yard lands? Why or why not?	No	We cannot afford a stadium unless the private sector and the anchor tenant is going to come to the table with a business plan and big cheques.
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	Our bike and hiking trails are the gems of this city. I believe there should be more public input in this process especially in Ward 11. I was in Montreal at the MOST (Moving on to Sustainable Transportation) workshop and heard about the bike sharing program. I understand that this program is sustainable and is very cost effective and also does not cost the taxpayers anything to operate.
For your campaign, will you be accepting donations from corporations or unions? If so, why? If not, why not?	No	No I do not accept donations from corporations and unions. I only accept donations from individuals because it is the individuals who vote.
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	I don't understand why we are not promoting the space available that is empty and already serviced such as Burlington Street and the Glanbrook Industrial Park. The AEGD lands have been studied since 2001. Since that time, the Greenbelt has kiboshed the widening of #6 hwy and the Mid-Pen Highway has been shelved. The consultants did not address these changes. The risk management study does not reflect if the airport does not thrive, only if it succeeds. All risk management studies should reflect "worse case scenario". Shouldn't we be looking at all the avenues when we are dealing with hundreds of millions of our dollars. The costs don't include the building of the 25km trunk water and sewer pipes which will be needed to run from the Woodward plant which is already at capacity? This plant needs $675 million to expand now. The province can stop all development until this expansion is completed. Consultants are forecasting that warehousing and trucking companies will occupy 70% of the land. We are giving up over 3,000 acres of farmland for warehouse jobs. If I had received the 2,200 page report received by the Councillors on a Thursday and expected to pass this report the following Tuesday, I would have voted it down.
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	I have had the opportunity to attend many meetings at City Hall. Many of those meetings are very lengthy and I understand that tempers can be tested, (not condoned) however agendas need to be respected. If City staff has knowledge that a certain issue will take up a considerable amount of time, then maybe a meeting for that issue should be held separately to avoid 8 hour meetings to cover a full agenda.
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?	Yes	Yes I support the LRT but we also need to support an efficient and easily accessible public transit (HSR) to ensure the LRT is sustainable.
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	I believe in an open and transparent process. The residents of Hamilton are paying through their taxes for meetings and the reports generated by those meetings. Citizens should be an important part of the process.
Is Hamilton doing enough to support and encourage new investment in our older neighbourhoods? If not, what should the City be doing?	No	In the past, the City's focus seems to be on urban sprawl in the former area municipalities and not enough on intensifying development inside the urban boundary. The Places to Grow Act and the nodes and corridors approach contained in our new Official Plan, provide the opportunity for building new housing in the older neighbourhoods in the City, and installing dynamic live: work opportunities. We need to incorporate good planning strategies for sustainable communities where we can work, play and live. In Ward 11, there is an abundance of urban sprawl with no supporting infrastructure. We need to start to concentrate on intensifying within the urban boundary to improve our infrastructure.