By Ryan Baker
Many Centretown community groups are disappointed Somerset regional Coun. Diane Holmes is calling it quits after nearly two decades in office.
First elected to Ottawa city council and regional council in 1982, Holmes announced Jan. 4 she’ll retire when her term is up at the end of this year. The decision has sunk the hearts of many local activists.
“I think she should be paid more and made to stay,” says Loraine Redford, co-founder of the Centretown Action Committee. “We need people like her. She just is a great person, a very kind person. There will be a big hole (when she’s gone).”
Holmes, a 17-year council veteran, spearheaded numerous initiatives over the years in an effort to keep downtown Ottawa livable for families. She was active in protecting the city from development and by repairing what she calls “the damage of the 1960s” when downtown roads were widened and trees were cut down.
Holmes also championed numerous downtown housing programs, both private and social. She battled for expanded bus service and fought for pedestrian safety, putting up several new traffic lights in her ward as well as installing speed humps along Lyon Street.
“She’ll be missed,” says Cliff Gazee, who is active in several community groups and is co-chair of the regional task force on poverty. “She makes things happen.”
Gazee says he’ll remember Holmes’ constant presence the most, adding that she seemed to be involved in virtually everything going on in the community.
“I think she did as much as was humanly possibly. All of her efforts were above and beyond the call of duty. I think that more politicians of her calibre are what is needed to make things work and put respect back into the word ‘politician.’”
But in her 17 years, Holmes hasn’t been able to please everyone.
She’s never been a big supporter of small business downtown, says Peter Harris, a member of the Preston Street Business Improvement Area.
“She’s always pro-affordable housing. It never really helped the core of the region. I don’t think the business community has really felt that she’s been a strong ally of business in general.”
Harris says he’s not surprised Holmes’ is retiring. It would have been hard, he says, for her and city councillor Elisabeth Arnold to run against each other in the upcoming elections for the new amalgamated city council.
But Holmes says her decision to retire has been a long time coming.
“I’m retiring because I think it’s time. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, talking it over with my family, and I’ve decided that I’ve spent enough time of my life on this project and it’s time to go off and do different things,” she says.
She says she wants to be remembered as a defender of downtown residents and businesses.
“I want to be remembered for fighting to keep downtown neighbourhoods and business streets alive and for working to keep downtown an interesting place.”
Despite the community’s disappointment, Holmes says she won’t reconsider her decision, but adds her retirement won’t mean the end of her community involvement. She says she’ll probably still participate in the Centretown Community Association, although not as a key player.