Elections
Tony Greco, Candidate for Ward 1 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2014
Details page for this candidate.
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Candidate Details (top)
| Name | Greco, Tony |
|---|---|
| Election | Hamilton Municipal Election 2014 |
| Area | Ward 01 |
| Party | N/A |
| Votes | 0 |
| mrtonygreco@yahoo.ca | |
| Website | http://www.mrtonygreco.ca |
| Home | |
| Business | 289-396-9578 |
| Fax | |
| Bio | Business Development:
* Mr. Tony’s Men’s Hair Design - Proprietor * Locke Street Business Improvement Area - Founder, Chair * Hamilton Association of Business Improvement Areas (HABIA) - Board Member * Hamilton Chamber of Commerce - Member * Locke Street Festival - Founder, Committee Member * Locke Street Business Association - Founder, President * Federal Job Creation Committee - Trustee Community Improvement: * Clean City Liaison Committee - Member, HABIA Representative * Hamilton Festival and Events Policy Committee - Member * The Gore Master Plan Project - Member * Hamilton Training Advisory Board/Work Force Hamilton - Board of Directors * Hamilton Kirkendall Food Drive - Committee Member * Horizon Utilities Agreement Sub-Committee - Member * Hamilton Film By-Law Sub-Committee - Member * Kirkendall Neighbourhood Task Force on Graffiti and Anti-Loitering - Board Member * Ward 1 Community Planning Committee - Board Member * The Equestrian Association for the Disabled (TEAD) - Fundraiser event organizer * Locke Street Crime Prevention Programme - Organizer * Neighbourhood Watch Programme - Liason * Operation Identification - Coordinator for Locke Street Area * Mayor's Advisory Committee for Hamilton - Member * Kirkendall-Strathcona Neighborhood House - Member * Kirkendall Neighbourhood Improvement Programme - Member * Kirkendall Community Association - Treasurer Charitable Service: * Good Shepherd Harvest Dinner Charity Event - Board Member, Sponsor * McMaster Mother’s Day Telethon - Event Day Volunteer * McMaster Hospital Children’s Foundation - Committee Member, Corporate Sponsorship Board, Fundraiser * Camp Trillium - Fundraiser * Ronald MacDonald House - Fundraising Committee * Locke Street Youth Drop-in Centre - Board Member Education, Arts and Sports: * Opera Hamilton - Sponsor, Member * Friends of the Hamilton Public Library Committee - Chair – Fundraising Committee, Member * Westdale Secondary School Alumni Association - Member * Westdale and Kirkendall Soccer Leagues - Sponsor * Coronation Rink Minor Hockey League - Sponsor * Coronation Rink Minor Hockey League - Sponsor Awards and Honours: * Festitalia Heritage Award of Distinction 2013 - For community development and social inclusion * Ontario Plaque of Appreciation 2013 - For community development and social inclusion * Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012 * Tourism Hamilton Award of Excellence for Tourism Builder of the Year 2002 * Hamilton Vision 20/20 Awards 2001 * Neighbourhood Improvement Programme * Appreciation Award 1979 |
Responses to Questions (top)
| Question | Brief Response | Full Response |
|---|---|---|
| Do you support an expanded role for Hamilton to provide more affordable housing? If so, what should Hamilton do? | No | Yes. Hamilton should take advantage of the many properties which are currently under utilized. In a lot of cases, these properties are downtown, the structures are in good shape and they are close to transit. It would be preferable to give financial incentives to create affordable housing, rather than to construct new purpose built housing. This will provide much needed revitalization throughout the city. I am also in favour of having new housing developments include more affordable housing in the mix.
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| The Province has shelved a proposal to build a mid-peninsula highway from Niagara Falls or Fort Erie around Hamilton to connect with Hwy 401 or 407 north of Burlington. Do you agree with the Province's decision to put its development on hold? | Yes | Yes. Cutting a large swath, through the countryside, would not be of great benefit to Hamilton or to the Niagara area. Continued improvement of the existing QEW would probably be a cost effective and more viable alternative. The mid-peninsula highway, apart from being very expensive to build and maintain, would result in a much longer driving distance than what is now required on the QEW.
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| Do you support converting more of Hamilton's one-way thoroughfares into complete, two-way streets that support walking, cycling and transit? | Yes | Yes. I support it on a street-by-street study basis rather than just going ahead and doing a mass conversion. Most of the major streets that are wide enough to benefit from the conversion have already been done. Where future changes will adversely affect homes and businesses, these must be studied very carefully. I also believe that there must definitely be citizen input, which will be taken into account, when the conversion to a two-way street affecting them and their neighbourhood is proposed.
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| Do you support implementing a Vision Zero for Hamilton, with a goal of eliminating all pedestrian and cyclist deaths on our streets? If so, what specific actions would you take to implement this policy, and if not, why? | Yes | Yes. While I think that this goal is admirable, I know that attaining a zero rate will take some long, hard work. The separation of cars from bikes and pedestrians is important and I will see to it that the design of our roads, with traffic calming features, and favourable road infrastructure, will make this happen. I do believe, though, that we are heading in the right way.
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| Do you support the use of participatory budgeting to allow ward residents to propose and vote on local capital projects? | Yes | Yes. I definitely support this. I know how important citizen involvement is when making decisions that will affect us all. As Councillor, I will create a Ward 1 Community Council which will be consulted, and have input on a wide range of decision making, including local capital projects and spending priorities.
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| The City's Cycling Master Plan is up for review. Do you support improving the plan to speed the installation of cycling facilities and provide more high-quality protected infrastructure like the new Cannon Street cycle track? | Maybe | Maybe. Until there is a little more hard data on the effectiveness of this project, we should not just move forward expanding it to more streets. We need to look at a number of factors including how traffic flow, traffic patterns, and total street safety are affected. Also, will the divider posts on streets such as Cannon affect snow removal, or present a danger to pedestrians, cyclists, and car drivers, when they are snow-covered in the winter? At the present time, there is a lot of confusion, among all road users, resulting from how this cycling facility has been laid out and marked. New cycling facilities will be great, but they must be done properly. |
| Do you believe City Hall should be more accessible to Hamilton residents? If so, what steps would you take to achieve this? | Yes | Yes. City Hall must be made much more accessible to Hamilton residents. I think that having an effective and easily navigable website is one step that would improve access to City Hall for many residents. They would be able to find the answer to their questions and be able to transact business on the web. I would add that, at times, many of us have had problems trying to find available staff for help at City Hall - this aspect of personal service needs some improvement. For other issues, having good access to your Ward Councillor is important. As Councillor for Ward 1, I would be available and responsive to the constituents.
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| The Province plans to allow municipalities to use ranked ballots in future elections. If so, will you vote to adopt ranked ballots in Hamilton? | Maybe | Maybe. There are probably some situations where ranking would be useful, but tabulating the votes would be more difficult to do without computerized voting machines. This would increase the cost of the elections . We need to look at the experiences of other countries, such as Australia, who have already tested this technology.
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| Do you believe Hamilton should do more to protect and enhance its built heritage? | Yes | Yes. To date, Hamilton is doing well in the preservation of many of its historical buildings, by either restoring them, or incorporating their structure or facades into new projects. We demolished some wonderful historical buildings in the past and do not want this mistake repeated again. There are still many amazing historical buildings in Hamilton and, together, we will work to preserve them for generations to come. |
| Do you support the city's plan to build an east-west light rail transit (LRT) line with full capital funding from the Province? | Yes | Yes. I support it only with full funding from the Province. Ideally, the project should be done without negatively affecting taxpayers and local business on an ongoing basis. I would not want it to result in higher taxation. I also support enhancing the local HSR system with more buses and expanded routes throughout the city to provide improved service. Moreover, I strongly believe that an improved DARTS transportation system is a missing piece in providing an excellent transit service for all Hamiltonians.
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