DOES FLAMBOROUGH GET A FAIR SHAKE? WARD 15 CANDIDATES DEBATE

4 CANDIDATES TAKE PART IN CABLE 14 DEBATE SEPT. 23

Candidates seeking the Ward 15 city council seat discussed if Flamborough is getting a fair shake from Hamilton during a Sept. 23 debate.

In a congenial debate, hosted by Cable 14 and moderated by Mike Fortune, candidates Zobia Jawed, Ted McMeekin, Chris Pera and Sumaira Waqar highlighted shortcomings in value for tax dollars, the infrastructure deficit and traffic and transit issues in the community. Candidate Robert Kunysz did not respond to requests to attend.

McMeekin, the former Flamborough mayor and five-term MPP, said there is a perception in Ward 15 the ward has been "the flyover zone" for city council. Drawing on the infrastructure problems in the community,

McMeekin said he would engage senior levels of government to deal with the infrastructure issues.

Meanwhile, Zobia Jawed, who has a PhD in applied sciences from McMaster University and works as part of the faculty of engineering at McMaster, said she wants to keep the ward's taxes as low as possible.

"We can no longer continue supporting others in

Hamilton if we cannot meet our basic needs," she said.

"I think it's about time we build on our community by supporting our services and using that taxpayer money for our services."

Jawed also highlighted the traffic safety, the incomplete Waterdown bypass and enhanced police services as other issues, adding the community needs transit connectivity from Waterdown to downtown Hamilton.

When it comes to transit, McMeekin said he is in favour of maintaining area rating, which sees areas only pay for the transit they have.

"When municipalities were created it was based on and predicated on the

assumption that you get what you pay for and pay for what you get," he said. "If you don't have water service and you're on septic, you don't pay water or sewer surcharge and that makes sense.

"If you don't have reliable, convenient transit, you ought not to be paying an equitable cost for an inequitably provided service."

Pera, a project manager by trade, said while taxes are high in Waterdown, the biggest issue is if taxpayers are getting return on investment.

"If we want services, if we want nice things, we're going to have to spend some of the money — if we want necessary things it will cost money," he said. "But that does mean we need to get those things in return — so we need to work with the city to start getting the services built out to us."

Pera, whose priority is to bring a recreation centre to the community, said while they have discussed what the ward doesn't have, he wants to mention what it does have: a reputation as one of the more attractive areas of Hamilton.

"I think as Hamilton wants to bring in the types of people we need to grow our changing economy, the young families, the young professionals, the funding is going to have to come to our area because people want to come to our area," he said.

For her part, Waqar, who has a bachelor's degree in computer science and works with HIPPY (Home Instructions for Parents and Preschool Youngsters) Halton, said affordability, accessibility and availability of better infrastructure, roads and walkable, safe neighbourhoods are every resident's basic right.

"I would like to ensure that your voice is heard, your issues are tackled and your solutions are provided."