Week 2 of Campaign

Hello Everyone,

Change was the theme of the week.

Well, week 2 of the campaign has come to an end. At this point, I am still the only candidate who has declared their intention to run at-large. Most of this past week was spent organizing and holding 2 of the 4 Community Dialogue Sessions. They were great sessions and the summary feedback from the citizens in the wards is included below. Both of these Community Dialogue Sessions were held in locations far from the City Centre. A common theme around poor service delivery given the taxes paid emerged. This inequality has led me to do some research on Tax Reform and to the conclusion that a review of the current tax structure in the City of Saint John must be conducted. There is potential to use municipal taxation to increase economic development, decrease inequalities in the system, develop service delivery standards and help people on fixed/low income. This must be examined. The Halifax Regional Municipality is currently exploring Tax Reform. I will do more research and incorporate this, as well as other ideas from the Community Dialogue Sessions, into my platform.

The team is excited because the idea of the Community Dialogue Sessions was to engage the community (the tax payers) in the development of the platform and so far this has been very successful. There are two more Community Dialogue Sessions in the final week of March:

March 25
6-9 PM
Ward 3 (South)
Saint John Arts Centre
20 Hazen Avenue

March 27
6-9 PM
Ward 2 (North)
UNBSJ Whitebone Lounge
100 Tucker Park Road

Highlights of the Ward 4 Community Dialogue Session:

Better Bus Service

Better Road Maintenance

Amount and Speed of Traffic

Taxation Too High for Quality of Services

Need for Community Policing Centre

Increased Funding for Community Centres

More Street Lights

Some Highlights of the Ward 1 Community Dialogue Session:

Better Roads and Sidewalks

Taxation Too High for Quality of Services

Winter Plowing Poor

Extension of Water and Sewer

More Town Hall Meetings

Pension Fund Governance

Continue to check the website: http://www.dannyjardine.com/ for updated information about the campaign and for the results of the Community Dialogue Sessions.

If you have any questions/input/comments, please feel free to contact me: dannyj@nbnet.nb.ca

I continue to be humbled by the large amount of support I am receiving and I would like to, again, thank everyone for that support.

Join Jardine, Change Our Scene!

Until next week........