In an effort to promote discussion on key issues during the current election period, we are giving candidates the opportunity to answer a number of questions that may be of interest to local voters.
Everyone receives the same questions, and their answers are presented with minimal editing for format purposes only.
Here is the candidate profile for Belleville Council Candidate (Ward One – Urban) Maury Flunder
Election day is October 26th.
First and Last Name
Maury Flunder
What position are you seeking in the upcoming municipal election on October 26?
Ward 1 Councilor Belleville
Question 1 – Why are you running and what are your main priorities if elected/re-elected?
I am running top help the city address the pressing issues ahead with respect to homelessness, managing budgetary constraints, and helping with difficult decisions on best use for surplus school and other city assets. I was born and raised in Belleville, and live and work in the downtown at present. I have served recently as downtown BIA chair and have been engaged with the day to day challenges of our downtown community. I know there is more work to do to improve the city for all.
Question 2 – How do you balance budgetary restraint with continuing increases in many areas of the municipal budget?
As a CPA , working as a financial professional and corporate controller over many years I am used to reviewing and managing budgets and budget processes. I believe in keeping spending in line with hard limits, which means that some difficult choices may need to be made to keep spending down. Police and fire budgets should not be exempt from constraints.
Question 3 – Infrastructure projects are a huge strain on local budgets, especially when it comes to water/wastewater. How can we address/reduce these costs moving forward and mitigate the impact for ratepayers/taxpayers?
Infrastructure projects of this sort should be well funded by reserve funds established from development charges and through financial planning to avoid spikes in tax bills. These sorts of projects have many developing funding options coming from Federal and Provincial incentives which should be fully explored and exploited whenever possible before spending municipal funds.
Question 4 – What measures can the municipality take to address the issues of affordability and housing security?
The city needs to keep property taxes and water bills as low as possible to assist all residents in affordability taxes and water services bills are higher than comparable municipalities around Ontario and this should be our benchmark for improvement. Also the city should be pursuing more social housing projects to relieve the 5 year backlog of those waiting for affordable housing I am told of at present. This must be done by getting the province and or federal funding on board and may involve offering city property or surplus school sites to such development.
Question 5 – Homelessness has become a major issue for most local communities. What would you do to address this issue and what needs to happen to have a meaningful impact?
The city needs to add more shelter beds alongside Hart Hub and other supports. Belleville has only has 21 beds to serve over 200 homeless living at large at the present time. I believe this needs to be urgently addressed using funding models employed in other communities such as St Thomas and Thunder Bay being a combination of provincial funding and having those being housed contributing something to the shelter ( ODSP or otherwise) and and ensuring there is management and policing in place around it. Minimizing the need for Police, fire and EMS and City services to respond and engage encampments across our community as much as possible will have meaningful impact as a starting point. Other initiative such as special by-law enforcement officials and establishing an encampment allowance zones could reduce police and fire staffing needs and costs.
Question 6 – What message do you want the voter to know about you and your campaign and your priorities for the next four years?
I am prepared to bring focus to addressing the homelessness problems reviewing possible solutions and funding models carefully to minimize impact on taxpayers. Efforts to combat homelessness should have a direct effect on reducing need for Fire, Police, EMS and city services and therefore should help keep these costs from continuing to escalate. As an experienced financial manager I want to explore all options to improve financial prospects for taxpayers by exploring opportunities as we grow tax base in the years ahead. The city has tremendous opportunity in front of it to address its issues and make Belleville event better as we grow another 10% in coming years, adding /improving parks and trails, exploiting surplus properties to deliver affordable housing and parks, exploiting its great downtown and cultural attractions.
