Sam Trosow on the Issues Facing London in the Next Council Term
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I continue to see housing, homelessness, transit, the environment and strengthening our arts sector as pressing issues, and I see the growing crisis of affordability as the biggest challenge the next council must address.
Whether it is escalating costs for housing, food or utilities, the growing lack of affordability for these essentials is creating greater hardship and uncertainty for more and more Londoners, especially those on fixed incomes. Too many residents are being forced to choose between housing and food and we must view the problems of homelessness and food security as inter-related.
But there is only so much a city can do. An effective Council must be able to tie these concerns together and identify what can and cannot be addressed at the municipal level, and then prioritize what actions should be taken given our limited resources and other demands on our budget.
Tying together all these concerns is the need for increased civic engagement and public participation.
I will be making more detailed policy statements on these and other issues in the coming weeks.
Safe Housing, Displacement and Homelessness
Local Solutions to Prevent Homelessness: Safe, Affordable Housing and Mitigating Tenant Displacement
Homelessness does not occur in a vacuum. It is a symptom of the inter-related issues of poverty, rising cost of living, mental health, and underinvestment by higher levels of government over several decades in creating and maintaining affordable housing.
London’s current system of managing homelessness has seen some limited success, but critical funding gaps remain that can only be addressed by the Ontario provincial government fulfilling its responsibilities.
As the housing affordability crisis in London persists, City Council must act with urgency by focusing on what it can control. We must use all of the tools available to respect the right to housing and safety of all Londoners. We must prioritize allocating more funding to create and maintain dedicated affordable, non-market housing, and ensure affordability is consistently reflected in broader municipal discussions about planning and developments.
Increasingly people are becoming homeless when they are displaced from their current living situation. When landlords allow rental units to deteriorate, increase the rent, or redevelop their property with the intention to displace the current residents, tenants are left to make difficult choices with inadequate support from their local government.
The next council must develop a more integrated and consistent approach housing and homelessness policy.
I will continue to work to improve the enforcement of housing by-laws, to fight against demolitions-by-neglect, and to advocate for more affordable housing.
Transit, Traffic and Mobility
The City’s Mobility Master Plan is now in effect, and the next City Council will make key decisions about how the Plan is implemented and funded.
The next council must provide adequate operational funding for public transit, connect more neighbourhoods to service routes, and ensure capital funding is allocated for the active transportation projects laid out by the Mobility Master Plan.
Neighbourhood traffic safety has become a major city-wide concern. The process for seeking local safety improvement measures needs to be simplified, and the review time-line needs to be shortened. The current staffing levels for reviewing mitigation petitions is inadequate, and more resources are needed to support this important resident-initiated process.
As a Councillor I have helped residents initiate traffic-safety requests, and I organized a well attended town hall which resulted in an area-wide study in parts of Old North.
I will continue to work for adequate funding for accessible public transit, for improvements to the active transportation network, and for enhanced traffic safety in all of our neighbourhoods.
Arts, Music, Culture and the Downtown
Our music, arts and culture sector needs more secure funding, enhanced coordination, better access to community space, and a deeper appreciation of local artists and musicians. This will promote tourism, economic development and core area regeneration, but the next council must more purposefully address the problem of vacant buildings.
Environmental and Planning Policies
The city has made inadequate progress meeting its emission and climate change goals and we are continuously faced with the loss of our natural and built heritage. While London’s development policies have been geared primarily to increase the overall supply of new units, the next council must take a more targeted approach stressing affordability, historical preservation, environmental sustainability, and neighbourhood compatibility.
I will prioritize allocating funding to support implementation of the next version of the Climate Action Plan, focusing on what the city can control. This will include adopting a city-wide adaption framework to ensure London is more prepared for future climate-related emergencies such as extreme weather and flooding.
Civic Engagement and Participation
Cutting across all these areas is the need to improve how the city interacts with the public. Transparency and civic participation must be improved throughout the term of council. The next council must develop a better understanding of why civic engagement is so low and how these barriers to participation can be addressed.
As Councillor, I will support reviewing the City’s approach to public engagement, making further improvements to Service London, reinstating and strengthening Advisory Committees, and implementing a Lobbyist Registry. I will continue my practice of publishing ward newsletters, mailers and social media notices while making myself available to constituents with questions, concerns or feedback.