Elections
Dawn Lescaudron, Candidate for Ward 2 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2010
Details page for this candidate.
In This Page:
Candidate Details (top)
| Name | Lescaudron, Dawn |
|---|---|
| Election | Hamilton Municipal Election 2010 |
| Area | Ward 02 |
| Party | N/A |
| Votes | 77 |
| countondawn@gmail.com | |
| Website | http://www.countondawn.com/ |
| Home | 905-524-5863 |
| Business | 905-870-0043 |
| Fax | |
| Bio | A long-standing activist of environmental issues and safe community living conditions, Dawn Lescaudron has established excellent rapports with the city of Hamilton and local non-profitable organizations. Dawn's voluntary track record includes contributing to Sick Kids research through charity and fundraising events such as the Annual Crohn's Disease Bingo as well as participating in the stand against the new Biox biodiesel manufacturing plant and the Hamilton Port Authority.
As a woman who loves to give back to the community, Dawn has been a Regional Operations Manager, General Manager as well as Management Consultant for several bingo facilities. Her professional experience also expands into the financial industry and marketing world but her ambition and drive does not stop there! In the 2006 running for Ward 2, Dawn placed third against some very established co-candidates and is back and ready to fight for a win. As a family-oriented and dedicated mother, she has raised two beautiful daughters who are now successfully on their own. Dawn's experience of motherhood did not come without challenges and difficulties as her eldest overcomes Crohn's disease. As a result, her motivation grew to give back more, not only to her two children but to the residents of Hamilton who she sees as her own. When Dawn is not busy as a loving wife, committed mother and diligent environmentalist, she is best friend to her number one fan Charley, her 2 year-old Golden Retriever. "Having experienced and overcome my own personal life challenges, my perseverance has only strengthened. I will stand behind my values in environmental issues, community matters and animal rights". |
Responses to Questions (top)
| Question | Brief Response | Full Response |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yes. Without a doubt, we need transparency; we need to allow the citizens in, with no hidden agenda, no secret meetings. Open format is the way to go! A good councillor works for the citizens and they have every right to honest representation.
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| 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 certainly not doing enough to support or encourage new investment in our older neighbourhoods. If we start to prioritize, clean up brownfields, rejuvenate our older neighbourhoods, and support our police department (who are working diligently on decreasing crime), we will be moving in the right direction.
That said if and when new business is introduced to our city we should expect that agreements put in place will be honoured. A perfect example is the current situation that our steelworkers are now facing. I strongly support their position and I feel that any breach of contract should be subject to penalties. I think our image is only exceeded by our reputation. Improve our image and create a strong reputation by supporting what we already have in place. |
| 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. We should not be robbing the future fund to build a stadium. There are far more pressing issues that this money can be spent on i.e. - affordable housing, senior and youth recreation etc. Why do we entertain this when we have children going hungry? Where are the priorities?
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| 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 | Yes. I fully support the acceleration of the bicycle network and bike sharing program. In addition to the obvious health benefits I believe that it would be a great alternative to car and bus transportation. We must move forward with this plan and not allow for any ward councillor to block any portion of it.
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| For your campaign, will you be accepting donations from corporations or unions? If so, why? If not, why not? | No | No, I will not be accepting donations of any sort from corporations or
unions. I am a firm believer in perception. If in fact one was to accept donations from the corporations or unions wouldn't they be considered indebted? Would this create questions from the public when and if a decision was made by the council that was favourable to the contributors? Although I admit that I have received offers of donations from these sources and I am appreciative, *I have declined*. There are far more needy places that their donations can be made such as women's shelters, teen centers, etc. I would encourage them to put their money to good and better use. I will run my campaign as I do my life with utmost honesty and integrity. |
| 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. At this point I would have to vote against the AEGD. We must concentrate on the already existing infrastructure before we do anything else. What we have is broken, fix it and we will grow.
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| 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 | Yes. I agree with this comment however in order to rectify you must have a strong team in place, a team that works together and not against one another. Respectable and professional practice is the result of good team work. I also believe that the mayor should lead by example and practice etiquette while enforcing the rules and order of conduct. Our behaviour is contagious.
I am passionate and I believe in fighting for the cause but at no time will I be anything less than professional. I practice good listening skills, clear communication and I encourage those around me to do the same. I have no difficulty addressing disrespectful behaviour. |
| 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 proposal. However, during the construction phase consideration must be given to the small businesses that will inevitably suffer a loss in profit. Before we can initiate we must secure funding from provincial and federal levels and not have our property taxes suffer as a result.
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