Collaboration is the cornerstone of Rob Russell’s campaign.
Hoping to be elected to Stratford city council, Russell has 15 years experience as a member of the Stratford Rotary Club and as a volunteer at the Stratford BIA, though most probably know him as the business owner of MacLeod’s Scottish Shop.
Russell has owned the downtown staple for 15 years, after purchasing the location from his parents. He has called Stratford home for twenty years now and hopes to give back to the community.
In conversation with StratfordToday, Russell said that years of working with various groups helped him realize a strength: to learn together, find a consensus, and solve problem as a collective.
“There’s going to be nine other councillors, a mayor, and, of course, our entire community,” he explained. “It’s going to be listening to each other, taking in everything, the good, the bad, the compliments, the critiques, and figuring out the best path forward. I look forward to that if I’m elected.”
Key issues Russell is worried about are affordable housing, healthcare, and the environment.
As a business owner, employee recruitment has been tough in recent years. Not having enough housing, specifically for young people, is a big hurdle in filling many of the vacant jobs in the community, he said.
Intensification and ‘building up’ is one way Russell wants to address the housing problem. The push back he hears, that Stratford’s skyline will change, is not something that he thinks is likely – at least not in the short term. The alternative solution to growing up is growing out and reducing Stratford’s spread into prime farmland.
Russell understands that healthcare is in the provincial realm, but a lack of doctors, a nursing shortage, and a lack of a walk-in clinic are also on his mind in this election. Taking a supportive stance, he hopes to work with other municipalities and emulate what other areas have done to retain their healthcare workers.
The climate crisis is another major concern. He hopes to look at future projects through a climate lens. To keep pace with global changes, Russell wants to invest in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in the city.
Russell is grateful for all the work that city council has done. Through a few decades of living in the city, he has seen things get progressively better. There will always be missteps along the way, he reasoned, but they are learning opportunities.
Russell noted a push for transparency from other candidates and while he does not disagree, he mentioned that the citizen engagement he has seen over his campaign has been fantastic.
“If there’s a silver-lining to all that,” Russell explained. “It’s that people are sitting up and they’re taking notice and getting involved. That’s exactly what we want out of the community and that’s the community that’s going to make sure that the right people move forward.”
Voting opens at 10 a.m. today (Friday) and runs until Oct. 24. Stratford citizens can vote either online or over the phone.
