Kathy Vassilakos wants to return to city council, this time as mayor.
The two-term Stratford city councillor has announced her candidacy, telling StratfordToday that there is work left to finish and she would like to lead Stratford city council through the next term.
The Grand Trunk community hub, the transportation master plan and an update to the recreation master plan are among the big projects still to complete. There is also further discussion needed on an arts and culture plan, she said.
“These are foundational documents, which help us understand where our community is, where our community is going, where our community needs are going to be in the future.”
“To me, it’s exciting, it’s community building. We have an opportunity, coming off a very disruptive period, where there is a lot of potential for the community and to talk about how it grows and how we can serve its citizens.”
Vassilakos joins fellow city councillor Martin Ritsma and city businessman Larry McCabe as mayoral candidates. Stratford mayor Dan Mathieson will not seek re-election in October.
Ritsma is a retired teacher, vice-principal and principal and McCabe owns Pazzo Pizzeria in the downtown core.
Vassilakos said last month she would not seek a third term as a city councillor and would either run for mayor or step away from city hall.
Vassilakos said her PhD in biochemistry helps her bring an analytical approach to her work as a city councillor. Her background in social research and planning pieces go into understanding community from a quality of life perspective, she said.
That’s not to say economic development, for example, is not important to her. It absolutely is, she said, but there would be questions about what kinds of jobs are being created, who are the people that will fill them and what services a company may need from the city, to name a few.
Vassilakos said she is not the face of a lot of things and “that is something I will have to work on”, however, the councillor noted a lot of committee-level involvement and she has chaired some of those committees.
Vassilakos talked about what leadership should look like with colleagues and councillors in other municipalities, before deciding to run for mayor. With just one vote, and with 10 councillors, the mayor needs to build a “joint vision, a strategic plan,” she said.
One of the mayor’s tasks could be to find out who, within city council, is passionate about different topics. If they are a new councillor, they could work with a veteran councillor who has some experience to help the newcomer better understand, ultimately getting things done, she said.
Getting feedback from the community is also important during and potentially after the election. Vassilakos has an idea of bringing a yellow bench around the community and running an ‘ask me anything’ campaign to get dialogue going with citizens.
The councillor will roll out more policy and vision for the city later in the summer.
For more on the October civic election in Stratford, including profiles on mayoral candidates, click on our 2022 MUNICIPAL ELECTION NEWS TAB
