Council Priorities 2019-2022 Refresh

Provide Cycling linkages from outer areas to downtown

Safe cycling routes are spotty Bath road is nice now but how do you get to it if heading West? What if you are not going to link to Bayridge Drive - Front Road is deadly Collins Bay doesn't even have a shoulder in some locations and yet it links to Cat Woods extension

Park and rides for buses to west and east ends

It would reduce traffic downtown and could be cheaper for users currently paying for prime parking spots downtown.

Wildflowers in medians

Stop spending money on activities that actively harm the environment

Road widening, highway expansion and elevated expressways +200-300M$ (unpaid debt) Free* parking (*spaces bought and maintained from prop tax, roadside and at city lots in 2020) Airport Expansion (unused capacity w/ no payback) Empty buses/unused capacity (use more efficient fleet, or use on-demand transit)

Get on with downtown intensification, e.g. the capitol condo, and homestead plans, though encourage homestead to modify height and design.

Cap rental prices

Have regulations on rental prices. There is too much variance and people are charging ridiculous prices which is making it almost impossible for some of us to rent.

Eliminate shelters & move to providing emergency housing with individual units to stabilize homeless providing wrap around support services

use funding efficiently to build as many supportive housing units as possible

more supportive housing

There's only one way to fix affordability: build more housing.

New social housing is a powerful economic multiplier contributing to local, provincial and national prosperity and economic recovery efforts. It's the only way forward. The private sector will never fix this issue on its own, neither will loosening requirements for families to rent out their basements.

Quit acting like there is no money to house people, and just start housing people

We need a little less conversation and a little more action. The market solution has failed so a public sector or PPP solution has to be found. What gain was made by evicting people from the park at the barrel of a gun?

Upgrade transit fareboxes

Kingston Transit's 5-year business plan (2017-2021) identified numerous important upgrades for transit service, most of which have been achieved, with the exception of farebox upgrades. Upgrading fareboxes to allow "real-time, online payment options using a credit card or other emerging payment methods" will lessen the need for in-person smart card replacements AND reduce the amount of cash used on transit. This upgrade will reduce in-person interactions, helping to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

Funding for road expansion reduces resources for basic maintenance and upkeep. Stop funding road expansion and repair existing streets

Backlog of road and sidewalk repair has been a long time issue in Kingston. Wheelchair users frequently have to use the roads due to rough and cracked sidewalks, and cyclists are often forced onto the sidewalks to avoid hazards on the roads (johnson st). The funding for repairs is a comparably small amount in comparison to the hundreds of millions spend on widening and extending J. Counter Blvd and providing free roads into future subdivisions, but both draw from the same funding budget for roads. Council can set state of good repair a priority over road expansion.

Bus route servicing the base

CFB Kingston is NOT serviced by a direct bus route from the East end of the city. A large number of military members live in the East end of the city and in order to get to the base they need to take 2 buses. The 602 bus goes by the base and no longer goes through as it once did years ago. I'm sure more people would commute if there was a direct bus and would take 15-20 mins to commute rather than 45 -55 it is now. Even if the bus was only offered during peak base hours it would be beneficial and allow for members to commute without a car.

Improved bicycle/pedestrian access to airport, train station, and bus terminals.

There should be continuous safe routes to these important hubs from all parts of the city, in all seasons.

Cycling-Specific Maintenance Plan

This is an addition to my previous post about road maintenance for cyclists. I decided to look at the City's Walk'n'Roll/Active Transportation Master Plan. Section 4.5.1 notes that the city looks to the "Provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards to inform their maintenance practices" on roads. These practices, according to the Plan, "are based on the potential for hazardous road conditions for motorists." This gets to the crux of the problem - road maintenance (potholes, snow, cracks, debris, etc.) are evaluated based on hazards to motorists. Anyone who both cycles and drives knows that hazards for cyclists and motorists are different - cyclists are more at risk with major hazards. Therefore, the city should develop a new Cycling Road and Pathway Maintenance Standards & Schedule that meets and exceeds the Provincial Standards and reflects the specific roadway hazards that cyclists face. The Master Plan notes the costs of maintenance for bike lanes, winter maintenance, etc. However, as a cyclists I am not seeing this maintenance happening out on the streets, year after year. Would a new Cycling-specific Maintenance Standards Plan & Schedule help the City keep up with cycling lane/path/shoulder maintenance? Would this approach help keep the City on track?

Talent attraction campaign

With many workplaces going remote, now is a great opportunity to bring more high skilled workers to town from overcrowded cities with poorer quality of life.

Future Economic Growth means investing today

We need to ensure projects such as a deep water dock and a multi use/Conference centre receive proper consideration now to ensure our industry rebounds and returns to a strong growth pattern. Tourism requires continual investment which results in economic wins through long term employment opportunities as well as supporting relocation to the Kingston community. We currently lose significant economic gains to our competitors in surrounding regions without the above assets. I understand these projects will not happen overnight but to postpone development will place us in a further competitive disadvantage and ultimately detrimental to Kingston's tourism industry.

I think in light of COVID, priorities must be chosen based on city-preservation and best for YGK citizens....

Economic development and affordable housing become top priorities in light of this...

Coordinate/cooperate with Queen's to help spark activity in fields that produce high-paying jobs

It would be a win-win for the city and the university to cooperate more on advancing more favourable conditions for startup activity, in economically relevant fields. It's clear from the start that Queen's students coming from away, do not settle here in large numbers despite longstanding efforts to encourage that. We need to create conditions under which locals can deepen knowledge that is economically valuable, in fields like engineering. Working engineers are shut out of graduate courses that require attendance during the day, which is mainly the case at Queen's right now. City should encourage Queen's to teach courses in areas that produce saleable skills, in an asynchronous way or in the evenings. In Ottawa, many telecom and software companies have been founded by people in industry who met in graduate courses taught at night, at Carleton and Ottawa U - they have been doing this since the 1990s and the Ottawa economy is much more balanced between the public and private sectors in terms of six figure jobs. There are night courses in economically hot fields like drones and the students are thinking about how they can capture the economic opportunities by starting businesses. The universities there are demonstrating a strong interest in contributing to their community. Another missed opportunity is that there is no way for a working St. Lawrence grad to upgrade to an engineering degree because the courses are taught during the day. Part-time is not allowed because the six year time limit the faculty sets, totally blocks part time study by working people. St. Lawrence grads are very close to practical problems that industry faces, have great ideas, but are being held back from developing further insight and credibility that can lead to startup companies. Queen's' offers to promising professors are quite often declined because nonacademic spouses have little economic opportunity in Kingston. Even when the offer is accepted, there are retention problems when the spouse is unable to find a job commensurate with his/her education. One of the drivers of the family doctor shortage is that nobody is going to open a practice here if the husband or wife has no chance of getting a good job. The city and the university should work together to give Kingston the best chance to develop a more resilient economy, one less dependent on the public sector for six figure jobs.

Keeping looking ahead with vision for full recovery; tourism

Tourism is a $36 billion industry in Ontario, we need to keep current, competitive and looking ahead to keep our piece of that pie. Tourism is the largest employer of youth in Ontario with some of the highest employer rates in Canada here in Kingston (Conference Board of Canada). As we continue to work through Covid- 19 impacts here in Kingston and with our Provincial and Federal counterparts, I would stress that we need to continue to look ahead so that we can continue to be relevant and at the table in the future, our municipal economy and SME's depend on this. It's important to keep considering the heavily researched Integrated Destination Strategy for Kingston and how a multi purposed Conference Centre and Deep Water Dock will greatly benefit our community in the long run, and help a very successful and integrally connected industry get back on their feet and continue to thrive producing jobs and tax dollars. Consider too, the massive economic spin off the tourism industry produces.

Continue to foster ways people can socialize but physically distance outside in the colder weather

BIPOC - equity diversity inclusion

all residents feel included -what is City Council doing to include representation and direct input from BIPOC?

More community garden spaces and education

Due to covid 19, there has been a huge spike in interest in gardening, local food and our food system as a whole. It is a great time to harness this momentum and support people as they endeavour to grow their own food and learn more about local producers. There is a need for more spaces and support. Even last year, I had to email almost every community garden to find a plot and was put on several wait lists. Plot availability should not be a barrier to growing your own food in a city with so much green space. Many first time gardeners are also going through a learning curve, and outdoor education / support through existing local organisations (ie funding for current gardening groups, Loving Spoonful, newcomer support groups, schools etc). This not only supports healthy eating and food security, but also fills an unique social void during this time.

Community exercise for all, not just the low income

More community exercise programs for kids and adults that are not income based. The whole community should be able to play and be physically fit not based on income, job, or association

Get Queens to enforce social distancing

If students are stopped by bylaw officers, have Queens also punish them academically. Expulsion would work better than fines which their parents would probably pay.