Who belongs in Brighton? I would love to take it for granted that everyone belongs here. I sometimes tell people that, as far as I’m concerned, you’re from here whether you’ve lived here for five generations or five minutes. It’s by choosing to live here that you become one of us. If only it wereContinue reading “An Inclusive, Mixed-Income Community”
Tag Archives: planning
Transformative Change
Last Wednesday evening the municipality hosted a public engagement session regarding our Land Banking Program, and I think it went quite well. We had a few dozen people through, talking to Director Walsh, members of council, and of course the consultants from Urban Strategies Inc., to provide input into the project to shape it accordingContinue reading “Transformative Change”
Small Town Charm
I’ve written before about “small town charm” in various ways, but it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about as life has slowed down this summer. Spending time downtown, or at the beach, and noticing all of the people who come to visit Brighton, has made me think about what draws them here. And hearingContinue reading “Small Town Charm”
End of Term Evaluation: Vision
In 2022 I ran on three key values: Vision, Communication, and Collaboration. Each of those values had three key goals. I hope to return to council for the 2026-2030 term, so I thought it worthwhile to evaluate how well I did in achieving those goals. Those values and goals have been on the front pageContinue reading “End of Term Evaluation: Vision”
How Do I Make Decisions?
Council provides strategic direction to municipal staff, on behalf of residents, to determine the policies that shape the present and future of our community. Someone asked me this week how I make decisions on behalf of residents, and the answer was longer than they had time for! So I’ll put it here. Context and ProcedureContinue reading “How Do I Make Decisions?”
When You Have a Concern About Development
Development is constantly in the news these days, between governments of all levels looking for ways to speed it up to citizens’ and resident groups expressing opposition to particular developments. Brighton is no different: we’ve had some big development proposals lately, and residents have expressed opposition to some of them. I thought I’d address someContinue reading “When You Have a Concern About Development”
Working with Nature
Days 2 and 3 of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Sustainable Communities Conference are in the books! Tomorrow I’m headed home. If I tried to give you a play-by-play of the past two days we’d be here all night. But there were some common themes that came up over and over again, and it’s worthContinue reading “Working with Nature”
Affordable Housing, and Managing Growth
Today is the first full day of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Sustainable Communities Conference, held this year in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It’s been a very busy day, and my mind is buzzing with possibilities for Brighton, but I’ll focus on the two main sessions I attended today. Affordable Housing This morning I attended aContinue reading “Affordable Housing, and Managing Growth”
Official Plan Updates
Last night I attended a County public consultation about their draft Official Plan update, perhaps one of the most esoteric and boring events I can imagine…and it was packed. I was a bit late for the first presentation, and had to wait in the hallway; there wasn’t even anywhere to stand in the room. AndContinue reading “Official Plan Updates”
How to Speak to Council
One of the most important ingredients of a healthy democratic society is citizen voice: do regular people have the ability to speak up about issues they care about, address themselves to their elected officials, and have input into the matters that affect them? Democracy is about much more than just voting every four years, andContinue reading “How to Speak to Council”