Elections

Matthew Green, Candidate for Ward 3 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2014

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Candidate Details (top)

NameGreen, Matthew
ElectionHamilton Municipal Election 2014
AreaWard 03
PartyN/A
Votes0
Email info@matthewgreen.ca
Website http://www.matthewgreen.ca
Home289-275-5482
Business
Fax
BioI was born and raised in Hamilton, the son of a second generation iron-worker father turned teacher, and a mother who worked for the federal government. They taught me the value of hard work and public service from a very young age.

I live in Ward 3 and I run my business here. Along with my partner Jayde, I hope to raise a family here as well.

I’ve spoken with many of you over the last few years and have heard you express loud and clear that you feel our ward has been under siege, isolated and abandoned.

I’m here to say that it’s time to start finding solutions, together, for the problems our ward faces.

While other wards in our city see a decrease in crime, we see an increase. While other wards see clear steps taken to calm traffic and make our streets safer for seniors, children and cyclists, our ward has fallen behind. While other wards have seen great economic renewal along their major commercial streets, Barton, King and Main streets in Ward 3 remain highly under-utilized.

I believe the solutions are to be found in the people of Ward 3. From planning hubs, to community groups, to a bunch of neighbours getting together for dinner, we have an incredible network of community in Ward 3 and we have legions of residents who are already involved in making our neighbourhoods better.

What we need now is coordination. We need to organize together, to be strategic, and we need to win.

Imagine what might be possible if every residential street in Ward 3 could be involved in a comprehensive street safety and traffic calming initiative, rather than individual neighbours struggling to get a single speed hump installed.

Imagine how we could improve living conditions and property standards if we had a coordinated response on how to deal with negligent landlords, rather than dealing with complaints in a piecemeal, one-by-one fashion.

Imagine what magic could happen on Barton, King and Main streets if our community came together and developed our own master plan for the commercial revitalization of our major streets, rather than individual business owners navigating the by-law labyrinth on their own.

It’s time for us to come together as a community and ensure that OUR priorities set the agenda for how our tax dollars are spent in our ward.

What would YOU prioritize if you had the choice?

Over the years I've met many of you who are working so hard to make this a better place to live, work and play. I’m running for Ward 3 Councillor so that I can be YOUR advocate at city hall, so that I can help us foster real, lasting, positive change in our neighbourhoods.

Together, we will work to create a safe and vibrant Ward 3 full of opportunity for all residents, regardless of what neighbourhood we live in or our income level.

On October 27th I am asking you to vote for me, Matthew Green, your candidate for Ward 3 Hamilton City Councillor.

My experience:

I offer a well-rounded perspective as an active resident, entrepreneur, and community organizer with executive leadership experience.

As a resident of Ward 3

* Volunteer in the Sherman Hub and its local newspaper
* Work with neighbours to oppose school closures.
* Advocate for complete streets and participatory budgeting.

As an entrepreneur who owns a business in Ward 3:

* A Hamilton Living Wage Champion who understands that my staff needs to make a decent wage in order to be able to fully participate in the economy of our community.
* Moved business to Ottawa Street North, providing affordable access to recreation and fitness to Ward 3 residents and surrounding communities through on-site programs.
* Understand challenges facing small businesses in our Ward and can cut through the red tape.
* Participate in the Ottawa Street BIA.

As a community organizer and volunteer inside Ward 3:

* Worked 8 years promoting health, wellness and justice on issues ranging from integration of new Canadians, renters rights, seniors recreation
* Led a city wide coalition opposing a plan for an innercity casino
* Past volunteer Board member of the Hamilton Community Foundation, responsible for helping direct the governance of its $125 million dollar endowment for community-led programs.
* Member of the Downtown Rotary Club
* Co-Chair of local non-profit, Empowerment Squared, offering after school programming and which is currently in the process of a $2 million dollar capital campaign to build a learning centre.

Education:

* BA in Political Science and Legal Studies from Acadia University
* Studied Economics at McMaster University
* Executive Education in Governance for Non Profits from Harvard Business School.

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Responses to Questions (top)

QuestionBrief ResponseFull Response
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 I support the province's decision to put the mid-pen highway on hold and support priority given to regional mass transit as a more effective way to combat congestion while preserving our agricultural Green Belt.
Do you support converting more of Hamilton's one-way thoroughfares into complete, two-way streets that support walking, cycling and transit? Yes I support converting more of Hamilton's one-way thoroughfares into complete, two way streets that support walking, cycling and transit.
The Province plans to allow municipalities to use ranked ballots in future elections. If so, will you vote to adopt ranked ballots in Hamilton? Yes I fully support ranked balloting in future elections and will move that Council to adopt ranked ballots here in Hamilton. Further I would like to proceed with a staff study of Ward boundary reform to better provide proportional representation at council.
Do you believe City Hall should be more accessible to Hamilton residents? If so, what steps would you take to achieve this? Yes I will take steps to making City Hall more accessible to Hamilton residents by posting my agenda daily to publicly list all meetings involving people, lobbyists, and corporations with commercial interests in decisions made at council. By voluntarily ensuring a lobbyist registry through publishing my agenda, I believe I will help nudge the culture at City Hall towards a more open and transparent process. I believe that the public deserves to know who the unelected interests are working at City Hall.

My second step is a simple one, allow all resident delegations the courtesy of speaking at the beginning of GIC rather than making them sit through all the lobbyist delegations. This simple courtesy would encourage greater public participation in having resident voices heard and submitted as public record without having to take an entire day off work or away from family.

My third step in making City Hall more accessible to residents would be to maintain a community constituency office at 471 King St E that offers after 5pm appointments, twice a week, to provide in person access for people unable to take time off work to have their concerns addressed.
Do you believe Hamilton should do more to protect and enhance its built heritage? Yes Hamilton's current residential real estate competitive advantage is our neighbourhood's built heritage. The revitalization of our city ought to be mandated to include an extensive heritage asset inventory protecting the architectural integrity of City for generations to come. As Hamiltonians we do not own this city...we are merely stewards of it.
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 I support the city council plan to build an east-west LRT the full capital funding from the province.
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 Every City Council has both a moral and fiduciary duty to ensure the health and safety of its residents. I fully support Vision Zero's mandate to eliminate all pedestrian and cyclists deaths on our city's streets. In Ward 3, I would like to introduce a safe routes to school program that offers elementary school children supervised walking and biking routes and middle school/high school students pre planned routes complete with highly visible signage alerting drivers of the program. I would also introduce motions that would reduce speeds around all public parks to 30km and also extend school zones speed reductions to larger geographic areas around schools with higher rates of traffic speed enforcement.
Do you support the use of participatory budgeting to allow ward residents to propose and vote on local capital projects? Yes I fully intend to introduce Participatory Budgeting supported by our neighbourhood hubs and informed and led by the neighbourhood action strategies.
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? Yes I support improving the plan to speed the installation of cycling facilities and provide high-quality protected infrastructure like the new Cannon St. cycle track with emphasis given to safe routes to schools and community assets such as parks, sports fields and libraries.
Do you support an expanded role for Hamilton to provide more affordable housing? If so, what should Hamilton do? Yes With close to 5k people on the waiting list and countless others living in substandard, inadequate housing we have a social responsibility to provide dignified affordable housing. We have a comprehensive Homelessness and Housing Action Strategy policy plan that budgets $7 Mil a year over 10 years with various interventions along the homelessness continuum to prevent precarious living conditions. It is incumbent on Council to support and deliver on this policy. In Ward 3 we have the opportunity to join in public private partnerships to build medium density, mixed use, mixed income housing. By increasing the supply of adequate affordable housing we can begin to decrease the demand for illegal multi units by offering tenants more suitable and dignified living conditions.