As a lead pastor with her husband at a Stratford church and a hairdresser in the downtown core, Lesley Biehn interacts with a large cross section of residents in the Festival City.
With a unique set of experiences, Biehn feels she would bring a strong voice to city council.
“I feel like we need to have a diversity of voices around the city council table,” Biehn said in an interview with StratfordToday. “We all have to bring different perspectives because we serve a diverse community. I feel like I bring a unique voice with experience in the faith community, but also as a mother and someone who works in a small business.”
The Stratford resident, with husband Trevor Biehn, is lead pastor at Jubilee Stratford church. In addition to that experience, she has volunteered extensively with youth and community outreach through the church, including working with the city’s homeless community. Biehn also volunteered with the House of Blessing, mentoring teen mothers and has volunteered with the Perth-Wellington Conservative Association.
“One of my main reasons for running is to take responsibility for my city and to serve the people. As far as politics go, I have always been drawn to federal and provincial levels, but I started to see that at the grass roots level is where you can affect change, where the rubber meets the road is local politics.”
Biehn wasn’t motivated to run for council by anything she saw in the current or past councils, though she does believe the level of trust between council and residents needs to be solidified and that starts with being transparent, communicating and listening, she said.
“To be honest, the way I see it, I think everyone (on city council) is doing their best. I feel regardless of right or wrong there has been a breakdown in trust with council and citizens. You have to rebuild the trust…we have to work hard to rebuild that.”
Biehn said one of the bigger issues in the city currently is affordability. Council needs to work on ensuring the city is affordable for its residents and do what they can to keep the cost of living down.
“We have to be wise with how we spend money and what we invest in, with the whole goal of affordability. I have a family perspective: I have kids going off to college and university. I want them to be able to come back and work in Stratford.”
Biehn said it’s important that the city do what they can to help businesses succeed, including staying out of the way of small businesses and not bogging them down with red tape.
“I earn my living at a small business in downtown Stratford. It is absolutely critical that we as a city stay out of the way of small businesses so they can thrive. We can support and lift them up. But a lot of time what small businesses need is for the city not put up roadblocks for them. We need to do whatever we can to facilitate small businesses.”
“People are full of ingenuity, they are amazing at being entrepreneurs. They have ideas, they have the drive. We just need to make sure we don’t put up stumbling blocks.”
Like many others, Biehn has clearly noticed the increase in homelessness in the city.
“I feel there are so many individuals that want to help. I would be interested in facilitating a collaboration of energies and helping people, see what we can do, a bunch of minds getting together, and getting people connected.”
“We need to make it easier to help and get involved.”
Stratford has a lot going for it, Biehn said, noting the University of Waterloo campus, the chef school and the availability of skilled trades training and jobs, and a bustling downtown for residents and visitors. It’s a great city to live in, but city council needs to focus on improvement, she said.
“We are doing well, but we need to keep things moving.”
