Elections

Nicole Smith, Candidate for Ward 2 in Hamilton Municipal Election 2018

Details page for this candidate.

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Candidate Details (top)

NameSmith, Nicole
ElectionHamilton Municipal Election 2018
AreaWard 02
PartyN/A
Votes0
Email Ward2ForAll@gmail.com
Website (no website listed)
Home289-237-3811
Business
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Responses to Questions (top)

QuestionBrief ResponseFull Response
Hamilton has been experiencing a slow-motion crisis in housing affordability. Do you support an expanded role for the City to provide more affordable housing? If so, what should Hamilton do? If not, why not? Yes Yes, the city can provide incentives to homeowners to create affordable units within their homes as well as ensuring new developments have a significant amount of truly affordable units to get approved.
Hamilton has a legacy of multi-lane, one-way arterial streets dating back to the 1950s. Do you support accelerating the conversion of these streets to two-way? Why or why not? Yes As above, a necessary part of speed reduction and Vision Zero.
Council has voted dozens of times since 2008 to advance Hamilton's light rail transit (LRT) project, including voting to submit the plan with a full funding request to the Province in 2013, and voting to accept full funding and implementation from the Province in 2015. Do you support completing the LRT plan? Why or why not? Yes It is vital for many, many reasons, especially environmental, job creation, and development investment.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act mandates that cities must be completely accessible by 2025. What changes would you make to ensure Hamilton complies with this mandate? Yes Again, one piece of the puzzle is how development is done - not merely accessible but there are opportunities to get community benefits which can include better, more accessible street design. Also the city has to have an achievable plan year by year.
Since the 1950s, most new residential and commercial development in Hamilton has been single-use suburban sprawl. Do you believe Hamilton needs to concentrate new development within the already-built area? Why or why not? Yes Hamilton very much needs to concentrate new development in the already-built area. We need to strengthen our tax base without further stretching our infrastructure (especially given the $3.5 billion deficit) so that we can improve the quality of life for everyone in the city.
Bonus question: If LRT goes ahead, what will you do to ensure Hamilton receives the maximum benefit? Yes For Hamilton to get the maximum benefit we have to optimize community benefits directly from LRT and sustainable development as a result of the project.
Do you support improved public transit in Hamilton? If so, what changes do you propose? If not, why not? Yes We need to end area rating and properly invest in public transit.
Global warming is an existential challenge facing humanity. Do you think Hamilton should play a role in addressing climate change? If so, what should the city be doing? If not, why not? Yes LRT is one significant step but the city can do a lot more with solar energy on rooftops and developing a complete protected north-south as well as east-west cycling route. By making cycling a viable option for all ages, we address multiple goals of health and well-being, better safety, and cleaner air.
Should Hamilton be trying to attract more young people to live, work and start businesses here, including the 60,000 students studying at Mohawk College, McMaster University and Redeemer University? If so, what should we be doing? If not, why not? Yes Young people are not our future but our present hope. We need to encourage them in every way, by providing affordable quality housing, a wide variety of job opportunities, and actively promoting the shift from co-working startups to opening new businesses in their own spaces, as opposed to entangling them in endless red tape.
Do you support phasing out area rating for transit? Why or why not? Yes Without investing tax dollars in transit, we cannot improve it throughout the city.
Do you support the "Vision Zero" goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Hamilton? If so, what specific actions would you take to implement this policy? If not, why not? Yes We urgently need to work toward this. Besides the system of continuous protected bike lanes, we need to reduce the speed on our street by implementing two way streets as much as possible, especially Main, and using the most effective speed reduction options available to us.