Three of five candidates in Ward 2 don't live the ward

A woman fans herself with some campaign literature in a very warm First Baptist Church hall for the Ward 2 town hall meeting Wednesday night. Tony Saxon/GuelphToday

1 / 1 A woman fans herself with some campaign literature in a very warm First Baptist Church hall for the Ward 2 town hall meeting Wednesday night. Tony Saxon/GuelphToday

Ward 2 has been at the epicentre of the controversy surrounding the mayor going door to door with certain council candidates.

So it was only fitting that it was one of the hot topics before roughly 80 people in a hot and steamy First Baptist Church hall Wednesday night at a Ward 2 town hall.

With current councillor Andy Van Hellemond not running this year, it has opened the door for a newcomer. Four - Dorothe Fair, Rodrigo Goller, Jonathan Knowles and Mary Thring - are running for the seat, along with incumbent James Gordon.

Mayor Cam Guthrie has campaigned with first-time candidates Goller and Knowles, but on Wednesday both men downplayed the mayor's involvement in their campaigns.

Goller said he reached out to several people for advice, including coun. Gordon, as he embarked on his campaign.

After reaching out to the mayor, they went door to door together so Goller could learn the ropes of campaigning.

"He came with me on about five streets," Goller said.

"We share views on service reviews ... we do not share ideas on development and green space," Goller said, adding that he would definitely "hold (the mayor) accountable" if elected.

"You shouldn't be constantly campaigning with someone else," Knowles said, pointing out that he has spent 42 evenings knocking on doors so far in his campaign and the mayor came out with him twice for about 90 minutes each time.

He said the issue has only come up at the door roughly one out of every 15 stops.

"I'm very transparent and I'm very honest to say that I do support Cam as the mayor over the other candidate," Knowles said.

Gordon made reference to the co-campaigning of the mayor with Goller and Knowles earlier in the night.

He said people want to talk about it at the door.

"They're worried about the mayor's new strategy, which is pushing for a council made up of like-minded people," Gordon said. "I hear this a lot. This is unprecedented."

People want to know if he stands with or against the mayor, to which he replies "I stand for you."

"I'm finding that people are often uncomfortable with it," Gordon said. "I make no judgment about it myself, but I feel there's a fear, because it's unprecedented, that it could lead to a pre-determined agenda."

Gordon also said it's unnecessary.

"You can see what great candidates we have here. We want to let the voters determine who the best candidates are and then once they're in office, see what collaborations are possible, what we can do to further the business of the city."

Fair said the co-campaigning has been a "tremendous disappointment" to her.

"It's a disappointment to everyone if you are dealing with that particular topic instead of the topics we've had in the five questions," she said in reference to pre-established questions addressed by the candidates at the start of the meeting on the common election issues such as Clair/Maltby expansion, biggest issues in your ward and first city growth.

Fair said she is not part of a slate and never would be.

"I do not believe the mayor, whoever it is, should be campaigning with any other candidates," Fair said, adding the mayor's role is that of a "team player" and it's not positive to form "biases" beforehand.

Thring said several times she is an independent candidate with no political or partisan affiliations.

"To me, municipal politics should be devoid of party politics and partisanship," Thring said.

Wednesday was the first of five town halls that asked the question "where do you live?" to the candidates.

Thring and Goller live in Ward 2. Fair, Knowles and Gordon do not, although Gordon did live there for 22 years before recently moving to Ward 1 for relationship reasons.

Candidates were asked about the biggest issues in Ward 2, with all of them touching on crime, safety, traffic issues, mental health issues, affordable housing and housing affordability.

Goller said residents of Ward 2 suffer from a lack of services and feel they are not getting "value for their money."

Gordon said it is the thing he is hearing about the most at the door is crime, addictions and community safety, adding that addressing the affordable and social housing issue would help address those issues.

"We can't thrive as a city until we're all thriving," Gordon said.

Thring said parking is a big issue in Ward 2 and that the city may have to look at parking permits for residential neighbourhoods.

Knowles said the affordable housing issue is one of the biggest Guelph-wide issues facing the next council.

Fair pointed to shared services with the county, like daycare and social housing, adding that the city needs a bigger voice at that table.

On the issues of mental health and addiction, several candidates stressed the need for a multi-pronged approach.

Knowles said that "stable engagement" was needed because people are falling through the gaps. He said city hall needs to take a leadership position with all the stakeholders.

Thring said perhaps there were solutions available by joining forces with other municipalities.

Fair said neighbourhood groups need to be part of the discussion.

Goller called for increased awareness and an increased police presence. He also felt a neighbourhood watch program would be beneficial.

The candidates were asked if they support the mayor's promise to seek an additional $750,000 annually for more police officers and police support.

Fair said she would rather the money be spent on other things, such as health services.

Goller said Guelph is "severely under serviced" when it comes to the number of police officers and that we need different policing, but also more officers.

Gordon said we need a cultural shift in how they police, that the city could use more officers but police need to be encouraged to do things differently.

Knowles said more police were needed because of the tremendous workload current officers face.

Thring also called for a different approach, with more community-based policing, bylaw officers and auxiliary officers.

The topic of development led to several candidates talking about how the city needs to cut down on the amount of leeway it gives developers.

Goller said the increasing number of high density developments is "not the Guelph I want to live in," calling for more medium density housing.

Gordon said we have to say "enough is enough" to developers.

Fair called for the city to maintain its standards and relay that to developers.

The election is Oct. 22. Advanced voting takes place Oct. 12 to Oct. 14.