Key Priorities

I believe that it is time for positive change at the Council table and that is why I am running to be your next Mayor of the Township of McNab/Braeside. I am ready to dedicate the next four years to bringing stability to our staff team, rebuilding trust with all parts of our community, providing transparent and accountable leadership to Council, and restoring the community voice back into the decision-making process.

Below, you will find a summary of my key priorities for the next four year term which serve as the basis for my campaign:

I believe that this has to change and that leadership starts at the top. As your next Mayor, my priorities to stabilize the Township staff team and rebuild trust between Council and staff and between Council and the community are as follows:

• Strong Council–Staff Relationships: I will work with Council to create a respectful and supportive workplace where staff can provide honest, professional advice to Council without fear of being dismissed or intimidated.
  When Council and staff work as one team, residents receive better services and better results. We rebuild trust with Township staff by approaching them with respect, actually listening to what they have to say (rather than listening to respond) and working collaboratively with our team toward a shared purpose: delivering the best programs and services for our residents as efficiently and effectively as possible.
• Meaningful Community Engagement: I will work with Council to create a Community Engagement Strategy that clearly identifies when public consultation is needed and how we can gather meaningful feedback before important decisions are made.
• Respect and Decorum: Set a new standard for respectful, collaborative leadership that puts the community first. It is about treating all Members of Council and residents with respect and when we disagree, doing so on policy and without malice.
• Strategic Planning: Launch a strategic planning exercise that involves all Members of Council, Township staff, local businesses and Township residents – because strategic planning should be an inclusive exercise to solidify our community’s priorities.
• Organizational Review: Conduct a thorough review of the organizational review that was conducted in secret and implemented within months of the 2026 election and develop a made-in-McNab/Braeside organizational structure that responds to community needs and resident complaints as efficiently as possible.

As your Mayor, I believe that there should be enhancements made to increase community engagement in the decision-making process:

• Question Period at Council Meetings: Implementing opportunities for members of the public to ask questions / provide comments at the beginning of each meeting and at the end of each meeting so that Members of Council can hear directly from their residents about the issues that they are discussing.
• Launch Advisory Committees: Bringing back citizen-led Advisory Committees with dedicated Council Liaisons who do not control the business of each committee but rather work to support the committees and bring their recommendations to the Council table.
• Conduct Public Surveys: Engaging residents and ratepayers on important municipal issues using both paper and electronic surveys so that Council can also hear from those who are not able to attend Council meetings.
• Enhance Public Communications: Preparing regular communications to residents on what the Township and Council are up to, including through newsletters, the Township website and social media channels.
• Being Available for Residents: Lead based on the values of transparency, accountability and openness for all municipal matters including through continued social media communication, weekly office hours, introduction of frequent Mayor’s Updates on Township and County business, transparency in mayoral meeting schedules (you should know who I meet with) and supporting the use of live-streaming technology for all Council and committee meetings.

As your Mayor, I would work collaboratively with our Township staff, County of Renfrew, OPP and concerned residents to conduct traffic studies and implement traffic management practices where they make sense.

• Use Radar Signs: Utilize the Township’s radar sign and County radar signs more effectively to assess speed on roads across the Township with focus on residential areas and those without pedestrian infrastructure. This data can then be passed along to the OPP to assist with targeted enforcement.
• Traffic Management Tools: Investigate traffic management tools that could be used to reduce traffic speeds in built-up areas (like the Villages of Braeside, Sand Point and White Lake). Simple traffic calming tools like narrowed painted lanes, flexible posts in the centre of the roadway, and enhanced village entrance signage could be easily implemented with low costs to increase adherence to speed limits. Additional tools like speed bumps and Community Safety Zones should be assessed and implemented where they make sense and where they are permitted under provincial guidelines.
• Increased Targeted OPP Enforcement: Work collaboratively with the OPP to increase their presence in the Township and focus on areas of resident concern / speed radar data for targeted enforcement. When I was a Township Councillor between 2018 and 2022, I served on the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan steering committee and worked with the OPP to conduct numerous speed enforcement blitzes across the community including River Road, Campbell Drive, Stewartville Road, Burnstown Road and White Lake Road) with public education and fines issued.
• Public Safety Campaign: Investigate the feasibility and cost of a public safety campaign with Township-sponsored speed reduction lawn signs on private lawns and other communications tools. Interested residents could pick up a lawn sign for their own lawn (with donation options to cover its cost) and they would complement new Township entrance signage for our villages and hamlets.

As your Mayor, my plan to approach the financial management of the Township would be simple: Focus on what matters and adopt financial best practices so that taxpayers can have confidence that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.

• Financial Control: Improve financial controls and implement new best practices to make sure that our tax dollars are being spent wisely and as efficiently as possible.
• Community Focus: Township finances should be described in language that can be easily understood by all and in formats that the average Township resident would be able to find easily. A Community Finance Dashboard could be designed on the Township website to showcase financial information for residents in an easy to digest format including budget versus actual spending, major project status, tax rate trends, debt levels and reserve balances. It could also be used to highlight progress on the Township’s Strategic Plan, innovative programs / services and opportunities for the public to get involved with their Township.
• Multi-Year Tracking: Direct Township staff to prepare financial budgets that include financial analysis of each line item over multiple fiscal years. With a 3-year rolling trend, Council would be best able to allocate tax dollars effectively so that it is going to the right things and that savings are re-directed to community priorities.
• Future Forecasting: Direct Township staff to develop a proactive forward-thinking look at our finances in order to identify future infrastructure needs and how we are going to pay for them. We need to have a solid plan in place for our roads, buildings, vehicles and other assets so that we do not saddle future generations with big bills that we could easily have planned for.
• Public Consultation: Plan and hold public consultations in advance of the annual budget process and on the proposed annual Operating and Capital Budgets as an opportunity for the Township to share the Township’s budgetary realities with the community in an environment that is deliberately set up to allow the community to contribute their thoughts and perspectives on where the Township should be investing tax dollars for the upcoming fiscal year.

As your Mayor, I believe that the best investment that we can make is in our built infrastructure whether roads, parks, or other community infrastructure and our recreation programming:

• Prioritize road design and construction practices that build strong roadways with extended paved shoulders to allow for safer travel for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Work with the community to determine infrastructure priorities and develop a long-term plan to pay for infrastructure projects without excessive reliance on debt.
• Support Township Parks and Recreation staff as they create innovative programs and activities by harnessing user ideas and feedback.
• Create a multi-year plan to further develop Clay Bank Nature Park for Outdoor Learning as an nature-based educational destination for local residents and tourists alike, especially children.
• Adopt a fulsome Recreation Master Plan for our entire community to identify current gaps in program offerings and how we can serve residents in all corners of McNab/Braeside.
• Study the long-term potential at Red Pine Bay and Braeside Beach with an eye to developing a connected and sustainable waterfront that brings our community together.
• Work with the County of Renfrew and other municipalities to build active transportation networks across the region.
• Maintain existing library use agreement and work with the Town of Arnprior and Town of Renfrew to explore opportunities to increase recreation program offerings for our residents (consider adopting a new Joint Use Recreation Agreement with the Town is amenable).