Ken Wood wants more 'big city' ideas for Stratford.
Wood is running for Stratford city council in the upcoming municipal election and he hopes to bring some innovative thinking, if elected.
He said numerous things are done only because it was done that way in the past, a way of thinking that is the virus of bureaucracy, he suggested. Stratford needs out of the box thinking and collaboration with other municipalities and agencies to fix the issues that don’t have an easy fix -- roads for example.
"I've done research on it. There's a lot of technologies that city council could be using ... I recognise we're a small city, but there are all kinds of machines -- that are highly expensive -- that can do the job much better. The roads last longer. How do you get around the expense? Well, think outside the box. Go to another community or another city and say, 'hey, you want a timeshare this machine?' Let's get our roads in the proper order."
Wood brings to the table a life of being politically active on a local level, even if he hasn’t served as an elected official before. He has served on numerous boards and community initiatives and ran for Stratford city council in 2018 and Toronto city council in 2010, both times unsuccessfully.
Wood says that he ran for specific ideas and causes. He was pleased to see that though he wasn’t able to personally enact change, he spread the word on issues that were important to him.
One of the biggest things a new council needs to take on, Wood said, is a complete service review of everything, from transit to road repairs. That way, council can effectively look at what they are doing right and what they need to do better.
One of the things which distinguishes him from other prospective candidates is his position. Wood is on low-income, rents affordable housing on Brittania Street, and rides a mobility scooter. He suffers from mental health issues such as depression, he said.
While many candidates may say they will listen and speak to everybody, Wood argues that isn’t always possible. Everyone has a bias and his biases inform his policies.
Wood said Stratford’s council should reflect the diversity of the city and not all councillors should be cut from the same cloth. Over a third of the city lives in poverty, he said, and not many will be able to afford a house. He can speak from that perspective and represent that perspective at council meetings.
Wood is also pledging to have more accountability and transparency, if elected. He alleges that the in camera meetings, which are behind closed doors, have been overused and should only be used under specific circumstances. Transparency is how problems are fixed, he said.
“You don't (solve problems) in isolation. You talk about it with citizens … you engage other people. Somebody will pipe up with one idea, somebody else will build on it, somebody else will build on that, and you get the best answers.”
Stratford citizens can cast their ballot from Oct. 14-24 of this year. Voting is done online or via telephone, with a number and link to vote being released closer to the election.
For a full list of the candidates in Stratford and surrounding areas, visit here.
