Downtown Burlington Councillor is Running for Mayor

A Burlington city councillor has announced that she is running for the city’s top job.

A Burlington city councillor has announced that she is running for the city’s top job.

Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward let residents know via a YouTube video that she will be running to become Burlington’s next mayor in the October municipal election.

In her announcement video, the councillor cites one of the main reasons she is running for mayor is that citizens input has been seemingly pushed aside in favour of the developers’ wishes when it comes to development in Burlington.

“We’re told we must grow bold, by putting neighbourhood character and unique retail at risk, while threatening the price of real estate through land speculation,” she says. Another issue raised regarded the need to prioritize spending to focus on Burlington residents’ quality of life, not the quantity of people.

If Meed Ward’s name sounds familiar to halton.insauga.com readers, she has been quite vocal about the proliferation of high rise developments in the downtown ward and overall change to the character of the Burlington city core. A number of recent condo buildings that halton.insauga.com has covered are in Ward 2.

Meed Ward also promised a more open and transparent city hall, refocusing the budget on core priorities, keeping an arms-length professional relationship with developers, challenging the “no” culture when it comes to new ideas, but also having a ‘respectful attitude’ towards citizens’ input.

While she was first elected as Ward 2 councillor in 2010 by ousting an incumbent councillor, it was not Meed Ward’s first foray into politics. She ran for the Ontario Liberals in the 2007 provincial election, losing the Burlington seat to PC candidate Joyce Savoline, the former Halton Regional Chair.

Prior to entering politics in 2010, Meed Ward was also a communications professional with over 20 years experience in print and broadcast journalism.

Meed Ward joins former Conservative MP Mike Wallace, who announced earlier this year he would also be running for mayor, as well as current Mayor Rick Goldring who confirmed he would be seeking a third term.

Candidates for mayor, councillor, and school board trustee can begin registering on May 1 until July 27 at 2 pm, which is the deadline to file your nomination as a candidate.

Municipal elections take place in Burlington and across Ontario on October 22.

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