Elections
Jose Pablo Bustamante, Candidate for Ward 10 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2010
Details page for this candidate.
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Candidate Details (top)
| Name | Bustamante, Jose Pablo |
|---|---|
| Election | Hamilton Municipal Election 2010 |
| Area | Ward 10 |
| Party | N/A |
| Votes | 1098 |
| jbustamante@cogeco.ca | |
| Website | http://www.voteforpablo.ca |
| Home | |
| Business | 905-662-9993 |
| Fax | 905-662-0332 |
| Bio | I am a Master Electrician licensed in Ontario and I also have a Master Degree in Business Administration specialized in Strategic Planning (York University 2005). I believe I have the education required to become City Councillor. I also have enough life experience to present new ideas to the City. We need new ideas for our future generations. We need to start building a stronger community maintaining the values of our great city.
After living in four different countries, we (my wife and I) decided to move to Stoney Creek from Toronto. We were looking for a place to raise our son Pablo. Once we move here, we were embraced by our neighbours and our wonderful community. We start making good friend. At the beginning, I was thinking to build a wood fence to replace the one meter mesh fence in my backyard and have some privacy. That was my objective for the first year. Then, I do not know which neighbour started passing some food above the fence and one day, one of them invited us to a roasted lamb. It was fantastic. Two winters ago, I helped another neighbour who was sick by blowing the snow in front of his house. Then another neighbour helped me this summer by moving my lawn. I do not remember how many times I helped someone or someone helped me. Stoney Creek is just a wonderful community. Everybody knows my son in his school and his teachers and the principal are always there when we need them. After living in Europe and Latin America, finally we found the place we belong to. Now, I am hesitating to build the wood fence. On July 26, 2009, Stoney Creek received 110mm of rain many neighbours suffered inundations in their basements. That day I realized that the infrastructure in the place I decided to live requires some improvements. I December I decided to run for office and in January I file the nomination. I would like to represent my neighbours and my community at City Hall. |
Responses to Questions (top)
| Question | Brief Response | Full Response |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Hamilton is a wonderful city, and we should be proud of it. We need to position Hamilton in the World. We need to do more to market Hamilton as the best city to raise a child. |
| For your campaign, will you be accepting donations from corporations or unions? If so, why? If not, why not? | Yes | At the beginning of my campaign we decided to receive donations from unions and corporations. However, so far all the contributions received came from individuals.
I believe that campaigns should be solely financed by individuals. However, current regulations allow candidates to receive donations from unions and corporations as well. For this reason my campaign team decided to receive donations from unions and corporations. |
| 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. The Council requires an "ethical code of conduct". Whit the creation of this code, we can improve not only the relationships among all councillors, but also their behaviours before the eyes of the community. |
| 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 | When data is used to make a decision then becomes information. And information can empower people and create new ideas. I believe that having an open source city will not only allows us to be more transparent, but will also encourage our citizens to engage in the decision making processes of or City. |
| 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? | Maybe | I stand for a better transit system. I believe that we need to improve our transit system and that we require a comprehensive master plan for the HSR. A plan that will include all options including monorails like in Wuppertal, Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn). If the master plan and the research point us to an LRT, then let's build it. I will not jump into a solution like the LRT or a BRT without having a plan. Many other projects in the past lacked of a master plan. The airport for example was a good idea, but was done aiming for passengers when Toronto Airport was under major renovations, thus the timing was not good. The Red Hill Creek Highway in the other hand was not designed taking in consideration heavy rains. We need to plan better our main projects. |
| 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 | Doubling the transit ridership by 2020, make sense only if is supported by a master plan. The easy solution for people without creativity is always doubling things. Such as doubling taxes, fares or rides. Creative solutions require creative approaches and a master plan. |
| 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 will support any project that creates jobs in the city. But in this case 3,000 acres of our farm lands is just going to far. I believe that we can do a progressive growth. Let's start with what we need first to create jobs, build the infrastructure required and move forward. Changing the name to "Employment Growth District" from "Aerotropolis" is just marketing. |
| Is Hamilton doing enough to support and encourage new investment in our older neighbourhoods? If not, what should the City be doing? | No | I do not think that the city is doing enough to support and encourage investment in any of our neighbourhoods. We live in an economy that relies in the small and medium businesses and besides attracting big corporations, the city needs to support the SMB segment. We need to start by reducing barriers in the different processes when someone wants to invest in Hamilton. |
| 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 | Yes, I believe that poverty is the most critical issue facing Hamilton today. To address poverty in Hamilton we need to improve the health of all Hamiltonians, with better quality of air and water and access to healthy food. Also, we need to improve the economy of Hamilton by attracting business which will pay taxes and create well paid jobs. |
| Should we spend the Future Fund to build a Pan Am / Ticat stadium on the CP Rail Yard lands? Why or why not? | No | In this specific case I do not have all the economic data to form a judgment. But in principle I will oppose the use of the Future Fund to finance a FOR PROFIT Business. The Future Fund should be used in projects for the benefit of the whole society.
Looking at the objectives of the fund, there is nothing in the legal framework to impede the use of the fund by city officials. However, we will need evaluate this case with a detailed economic analysis. Who is paying for what? Where the money is coming from? How the stadium will be used? Does the Ticat will pay rent or we will pay them royalties? and How much money the city will receive as future cashflows for this investment? After having all this information, then we can decide if is feasible or not the use of the Future Fund for the Pan-Am Stadium. |
| 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 | I own a bike, my son's bike is customized for his needs and my wife's bike has the shopping basket. We believe that bicycles are one the best methods of transportation. We need to encourage the use of bicycles in the city and the best way to do so is by building a bicycle network. And we need to build this network as soon as possible. |
