By Amanda Pratt
Dawn Pickering says she wants to give back to the city that’s provided her with so much, whether she’s elected as Somerset Ward Councillor or not.
“It’s time for some new views to be heard and to take a look at some new solutions to old problems,” she says. “I have a lot of passion, I have a lot of enthusiasm and I think people want leaders, representation that they feel passionate about.”
She says the biggest problems she wants to tackle are traffic, parking and community safety, while emphasizing fiscal accountability with no tax increases.
The speed of traffic on streets like Bronson Avenue is a big concern to many residents, she says. She suggests reducing speed limits along some of the main streets to make neighbourhoods safer.
Pickering says in such a big city, there will always be complaints that there’s not enough parking, but the problem is that the majority of parking revenue does not go back into parking facilities.
“You have to make sure that when you’re taking that kind of money from a certain area, you give a little bit back,” she says.
People are also worried about crime, she says, and that’s why community policing needs to be more effective, adding that members of the community should get more actively involved in making sure the law is observed.
“It means instead of turning a blind eye to something . . . if you see something that looks like illegal activity, you call the police,” she says.
Pickering says her biggest goal is “to make sure there is representation for all people who live and work in the ward. Businesses in the area are important because it’s as much their neighbourhood as it is ours.”
She says council needs to do a better job of hearing people’s concerns and getting feedback from the ward’s residents and businesses, as well as informing them of issues like road closures.
Pickering says she has some innovative, cost-effective ways of doing this.
She says when collecting information from the public, the city should be asking for e-mail addresses so that issues like business development and construction in the area can be relayed to the public electronically as well as by way of regular mail.
“Many businesses do it to advertise, so there’s no reason why the city can’t do it. People of all ages are tapped in,” she says.
Internet surveys and polls are easy ways for the city to collect information from residents, she says.
Born in Chatham, Pickering came here about 10 years ago to earn her degree in political science and history at the University of Ottawa. As the corporate planner for the Standards Council of Canada and a business planning consultant, she says she provides a balanced approach.
Pickering is a big sister of Big Sisters and Big Brothers Ottawa, and a member of the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa.