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Recent Posts
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LONDON COMMUNITY UPDATE ON WEARING OF MASKS
Over the past two weeks I’ve heard from many of you, both in support and in opposition to a “mandatory mask” order for public spaces.
I’ve heard many “while Toronto is doing it…” or some other community. This is a refrain I heard about the supposed river front renewal of “Back to the River”, and many other issues from BRT to flex streets, to industrial land use. I want to be very clear, while I will always look at the experiences of other communities and possible lessons learned, my focus will always be on what makes sense for London. The same is true of masks.
I’ve had a number of people say, “we need to do this now, look Kingston was doing well too and then they had an outbreak of new cases”. It is true, Kingston did have an outbreak, connected to a nail salon where masks were already required under provincial orders. Masks orders did not stop the Kingston outbreak from occurring. Again, while I will look at the experiences of other communities, I will look to do what is best for London.
I think it is also worth noting that in other communities, action has also been taken in coordination with or directly by the Medical Officer of Health for the regional health units of those communities.
Last night at Council’s Strategic Priorities Committee, we had a motion brought forward with only 3 hrs notice asking staff to consult with the county and Middlesex-London Health Unit and come back with recommendations for a temporary by-law.
First, I will say I was very critical of an important motion coming forward on such short notice. This by the way highlights one of the problems with a so-called “part-time” council. Several colleagues were at other jobs and had less than an hour’s notice on this. That is not acceptable.
We ultimately ended up amending the motion (thank you Councillor Josh Morgan for your leadership on this amendment) to have our Chief Medical Officer of Health come before council at the earliest opportunity to answer our questions about masks, the advisability of by-laws, and what impact, if any, it would have in terms of public health benefit.
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New Playground for Kiwanis Park
A great update for Ward 2 residents from council. We have officially approved the contract to begin the work for a new play structure in Kiwanis Park!
Way back in 2017 we voted in the first Neighbourhood Decision Making program. Back then, before I was your councillor, I was promoting this opportunity as the chair person of the Argyle Community Association, encouraging people to submit their ideas and participate in the online voting. That year the Argyle area voted to have a naturalized playground installed in Kiwanis Park as our top choice for a community investment.
However, at that time we were also working to get the pedestrian and cycling bridge over the CN Rail corridor to connect the Argyle and Fairmont neighbourhoods through Kiwanis Park. We also had to undertake bridge replacement work in Kiwanis Park South, over Pottersburg Creek at Trafalgar. This meant a delay in moving ahead with the playground. But, although the project was held back until this year, because of partnerships with the federal and provincial governments around the bridge work, we were able to invest a larger amount of dollars into the playground than the original Neighbourhood Decision Making program provided.
Below is the concept drawing for the play structure with lots of wood and stone (instead of plastic and metal used in other play structures). This is not replacing the play structures elsewhere in the park, this is a new addition that offers a different type of play experience for our children than the other structures, because after all different kids like different things.
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New Crosswalks Coming to Ward 2
There are several areas in the Argyle neighbourhood where crossing the road safely can present a challenge.
I worked with the Ward 2 community, including our school communities and the people at Trinity United Church and Community Centre. Then, I took that community feedback to city staff. As a result, 10 of the 34 new pedestrian crosswalks approved by City Council for 2020 installations are in Ward 2!
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COVID-19 & News from City Hall Newsletter Update June 1st
Read my full email newsletter update on the local COVID-19 situation by clicking the link.
You can also get future updates direct to your inbox by subscribing through the button on the top left hand side of the newsletter page.
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Go Gold For Grads
On June 25th, 2020, the community will be glistening gold to celebrate the graduating class of 2020. “Go Gold for Grads” invites families, businesses and everyone everywhere to light up or decorate your home or business to recognize graduates from all institutions across our community on Thursday, June 25th. Go Gold for Grads is organized by The Thames Valley Council of Home and School Associations (TVCHSA), along with Councillor Shawn Lewis and TVDSB Trustee Corrine Rahman.
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