Elections
Robert Young, Candidate for Ward 7 in Ward 7 By-Election 2016
Details page for this candidate.
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Candidate Details (top)
| Name | Young, Robert |
|---|---|
| Election | Ward 7 By-Election 2016 |
| Area | Ward 07 |
| Party | N/A |
| Votes | 0 |
| robertyounghbsc@gmail.com | |
| Website | https://www.facebook.com/RobertYoungWard7/ |
| Home | 905-296-3611 |
| Business | |
| Fax | |
| Bio | Age: 52
Occupation: Business Owner of 22 years. Computer Analyst, Programmer, Technician, Politician and an Entrepreneur by nature. Family: Lives with Wife of 20 years and a 9 year old Daughter in Hamilton. Residence: Hamilton Ontario With a strong educational background, successful businesses and family with my wife, Cathy, of 20 years and 9 year old daughter, Sarah. I believe I have the right platform and the policies to back it; to make Ward 7 more prosperous while cutting the size of municipal government to its essential level and reducing property taxes dramatically to be at least equivalent to or lower than the Niagara region average. Being taught by the top scientists in this country (Paul Delaney and the professors of York University) has equipped me with not only a with a Dual Honours BSc. in Computer Science & Physics, but also a strong logical perspective and excellent set of analytical skills; to think outside the box bringing change and fresh ideas to Ward 7. I am a strong candidate for Ward 7. Running businesses since 1994, I’ve always strived to minimize operational costs. We need Efficient Spending. It’s too easy to add “tax grabs” than to show accountability. Some believe tax grabs are theft. It’s easy to fake 'compassion' when others pay taxes for you. We need accountability not political correctness. As a child I was a super-achiever. I tend to improve and move forward with goals and I find Ward 7 in a deficit deadlock even with more than enough TAXES coming in. I would do very well mitigating this problem and I am backed by a strong team with political know-how. |
Responses to Questions (top)
| Question | Brief Response | Full Response |
|---|---|---|
| Do you support a more vibrant neighbourhood retail destination on Upper Wellington? If so, what do you propose to achieve this? | Yes | I absolutely support a more vibrant neighbourhood retail destination on Upper Wellington and would emphasize small businesses as they can offer retail with the much needed service that goes along with it.
1) Encourage small businesses, as large companies in the wrong sectors produce over pricing and inefficiencies at one end and poverty at the other. 2) Emphasize local retail and service. 3) Focus on combining retail with service. 4) The small business sector needs to grow--it's far more personal and provides more service and promotes competition. 5) Unlimited internet should be available everywhere in Hamilton--it could even be free as it is in many places in the U.S. and Europe. |
| How will you help to break down barriers between Councillors and the Wards they represent to ensure a more cohesive Council and more balanced decision making? | Yes | 1) I would delegate the issues specific to each ward and unite the Council as a team on the non-specifics.
2) Allow each ward to work specifically on issues that are unique to it while bonding together on issues that overlap multiple wards. 3) When overlapping occurs no special treatment should be delegated to any single ward. 4) Allow each ward to focus on the most pressing issues relevant to their ward. 5) Bond each similar issue throughout the other wards with the same issue and cohesively bond the broader issues into a team measure amongst the whole council as it pertains to. |
| Will you encourage the creation and growth of more neighbourhood associations in your ward? | Yes | Yes, in fact it was through local neighbourhood associations that I first became actively involved in the community. They are often very capably run without any government spending, and in many cases they are better run than the government-lead organizations.
1) Neighbourhood associations are great for bonding locals together. 2) These associations are a great pre-requisite to solving neighbourhood issues. Duties to commission: 1) Encourage residents to attend regular get-togethers at their leisure. 2) Test market for BIAs versus neighbourhood associations. 3) Don't force BIA taxes, instead have systematic expenditure evaluations with people local to each district within the Ward to evaluate where & when BIA's should operate. 4) As field studies grow implement as many neighbourhood associations as possible. 5) Let residents run tax free BIAs if they prefer neighbourhood get-togethers. |
| How important is it for Council to work with specific goals and targets for each City Department at the beginning of each year? How would you ensure this happened? | Yes | It is very important and requires delegation. Break down the current committees to focus and target polarized sectors such as:
1) Property taxes. 2) Infrastructure. 3) Parks. 4) Accessibility to bus stops. 5) Bus routes to cover more area on the mountain. 6) Housing and long term care of the seniors. 7) Overspending of tax and other revenues. |
| Will you encourage the city to shift new development away from car-dependant sprawl? | Yes | Breaking the shift from large business and large downtown areas into smaller more multiple downtown sections with more manageable smaller businesses, spreading out through rural districts would greatly cut down on travel time.
1) Break up overcrowded malls and develop smaller localized shopping centres to provide easier and closer access for consumers to buy what they need. 2) Break down districts localizing business sectors and residences without overcrowding specific areas. 3) Hold expenditure reviews at shopping centres to calculate expansion layouts & efficiencies as they grow. 4) Maintain forums to maximize efficiency of keeping large development malls outside of populated areas. |
| Will you push for increased transit investment on the Mountain? If so, how will you pay for it? | Yes | I would definitely push for increased transit investment on the Mountain.
Having a Dual Honours BSc. and successful businesses and I'm aware of the many revenues that could be tapped before needing to increase existing taxes. Rather I would suggest lowering taxes, spending less and tapping certain industries as follows: How to pay for increased funding and investment for the Mountain Transit System: 1) Wasteful spending is a bigger issue than revenue for Hamilton Council. There is plenty of money, revenue and taxes. In fact taxes are so high that there is no answer to where the money is going. 2) Eliminate improvident spending by seeking out innovative non-stop cuts. Appropriate funding through new revenues when applicable but emphasize on spending cuts. 3) De-politicize grants. By allocating block funding to the Hamilton Community Foundation, the city would save on overhead costs, as the HCF already gives out grants and loans. 4) Conduct thorough spending reviews to find cost efficiencies and consult residents to prioritize spending. 5) Spend less on unnecessary policing by legalizing potential trades that create the many revenues that could be finally fully realized from permits, licenses and user fees. 6) Reduce current taxes and focus spending on absolute necessities. 7) Back off on from Handouts and Corporate Bailouts. Increased investment and funding for Bus Routes and Mountain Transit by Emphasizing on more important issues regarding: 1) Improved infrastructure; there are highly needed upgrades to our streets and parks. The current bus service on the mountain needs innovative routing and strategic planning for lesser wait times. 2) More articulated patterns with closer access to homes and businesses within the Ward. 3) Increased bussing and transit service throughout the entire Ward. 4) Merging of routes and with neighbouring Wards. 5) Emphasize more on Transit while excluding other unnecessary projects and costs. |
| In your view, what's not happening now in the City of Hamilton that you'd like to see happen? Why? What's not happening now in Ward 7 that you'd like to see happen? Why? What's not happening now at City Hall that you'd like to see happen? Why? | Yes | First and foremost fewer tax hikes and improved expenditures.
Prioritize tax dollar spending. Right now the system is inefficient and there are endless possibilities to bring it up to full market potential. There is also a great deal more that can be done for our seniors and infra-structure: 1) We need a more consumer-directed model on how to focus business implementation on Upper Wellington. 2) Housing and long term care for seniors and better transport to their homes. 3) More focus and better relations with our hard working lower and middle class. 4) Lower property taxes to the Niagara-region average; collect revenues from user fees, permits, and licenses. 5) Small Business: Attract small business and collect revenues through new industries not yet realized, while ending wasteful spending. 6) De-polarize ineffective Government Grants where the "red tape" alone ends up costing more than the entire project. If the Government cannot intervene correctly then the Government should not waste time & money to become involved at all. 7) A more educated and staffed council that is dedicated to our residents, seniors and infrastructure instead of mishandling our already over-taxed residents. |
| Income inequality is a serious problem in Hamilton, and poverty is increasing in mountain neighbourhoods. What will you do to reduce inequality in Ward 7 and across the city? | Yes | 1) Work more with the hard-working middle class.
2) Implement a more modern payroll model that does not take deductions off workers' paycheques, instead introduce a payroll-monitored system taxing senior levels and then directly tax crediting the workers from revenues when necessary. 3) Not allow runaway salaries and expenses for senior management positions, until the wages increase on the lower level of large companies and the gap between management and workers decreases. 4) Decrease attention given to the influential and focus it more on lower income sectors. 5) I would promote small businesses; Increase the restraints on overbilling by large companies. 6) Poverty districts would benefit from reducing tax money spent policing lower income residents for victimless, consensual acts or trades and introducing revenues by regulating resident-run dispensaries and other viable industries. 7) Refocus policing on corporate crime, billion dollar fraud and violent offenders rather than victimless acts. 8) Lower current property taxes below the basic Niagara Region Average and replace with innovative revenues from user fees, permits, and licenses. |
| Will you push for a safe, continuous cycling network in Ward 7 with better connections to the rest of the mountain and the lower city? | Yes | Yes. A safe cycling network would be great for the people. I believe the lower city is also developing their bike routes, this will eventually merge with ours up in Ward 7, completing a continuous network. Much of this is already in progress.
Once again these projects should be carefully planned around holding spending reviews, with residents to discuss the cost efficiencies and consult with the residents on prioritizing tax dollar spending. |
