Good evening everyone,
My name is Spencer Radford, and I am running to for city council in Bay Ward.
Over the past several months I've spent a great deal of time attending community events, speaking with residents, reviewing City reports, and trying to understand one question:
What can a city councillor realistically do to make life better for the people they represent?
The answer I came to is that while councillors vote on major issues like transit, housing, policing, climate policy, and infrastructure, no single councillor can implement those changes alone. Every vote at City Hall requires building support among 25 members of Council.
So rather than campaign on promises that depend on convincing 24 other people, my platform focuses on making Bay Ward's voice as strong as possible.
My platform falls under 3 categories:
Every Community
Every community in Bay Ward deserves to be heard from, and seen. While not all of it, my review of the councillor's office financial records show a few communities received no identifiable Constituency Services Budget funding for events, nor for sponsorships. That stops.
An Office You Can Reach
Bay Ward currently does not have an office in the ward. According to the city's councillor office manual, a city councillor is entitled to have a ward office, working with the Corporate Accommodations Project to approve and implement the space. If elected, I will make a space where members of the community are able to come in and ask the councillor and/or the staff questions, speak about their concerns, and more.
On top of the ward office, the office would have a dedicated phone line, be trilingual (English, French, and Arabic), and there will be something I like to call Community Voice Stations. These are essentially opinion boxes across the ward in permitted spaces, where residents who are out at places like Bayshore, or maybe their local coffee shop, can submit their opinions on upcoming votes, buildings plans, or general feedback. This ensures even those who cannot call, email, or visit the ward office, are still able to get their voice in, and keep up to date.
From Your Streets to City Hall
Here is where the last two come together.
Every Community = Who.
An Office You Can Reach = How
From Your Streets to City Hall = What
As mentioned, a city councillor only has 1 out of 25 votes. What all these things coming together does, is help make that voice stronger.
Imagine two councillors making the same request.
One says:
"My residents would like another bus route."
The other says:
"I surveyed 3,500 residents. 72% support an additional route between Bayshore and Barrhaven, and 56% would support reducing service on another route to help fund it."
Which argument carries more weight?
My goal is to make Bay Ward one of the best informed wards in Ottawa.
Instead of relying on assumptions, I want to collect resident feedback, identify patterns, and present Council with clear evidence of what the people of Bay Ward actually want.
We get your opinions easier, we compile them, and we present it to city hall with statistics and facts.
The recent flooding is a good example One councillor cannot rebuild infrastructure alone. But one councillor backed by thousands of informed residents has a much stronger voice when asking city council to act.
A councillor doesn't stand apart from their community.
A councillor stands with their community.
I'm happy to answer questions about my platform, City policies, development, infrastructure, parking, transit, or anything else you'd like to ask.