Episode 29 continues our tradition of giving civic election candidates a chance to make their pitch and answer a few questions, with Elmwood -EK hopeful Abel Gutierrez up at bat!
Part 1- He was eager to explain what he learned from his second-place finish in last fall’s by-election. Hear why Abel Gutierrez was fast out of the gate this year and his ideas about how to address the “3 top issues” he’s hearing at the door” – crime, transit, and value for tax dollars.
That last concern is driven by a chart he published on his Facebook campaign page showing residential property assessments increased 18% in East Kildonan – highest in the city – and by 13% in Elmwood.
11.30– He says the focus of Elmwood-EK taxpayers is on getting broken roadways and sidewalks fixed, and in his campaign, “not one person has said the city is doing a bang-up job on mantaining my street, picking up my garbage, picking up my snow.”
In trying to unseat Emma Durand-Wood, Gutierrez believes she’s fallen short thus far: “Eight months have gone by and the advocacy for East Kildonan has not come to fruition.”
18.23 Part 2– With 5 candidates registered so far in the Elmwood-EK ward, competition will be fierce to garner voter support. One campaign plank Gutierrez is counting on is getting all civic employees back into the office, and implementing some productivity metrics to identify and eliminate waste inside City Hall. Another example is the Human Rights Committee, which diverts civic resources away from addressing “our backyard and being accountable for money being spent here.”
He’s been floating the idea of expanding working hours for city road projects to positive feedback, citing the Concordia overpass repairs as a prime candidate. Instead, it’s used as a “construction zone” radar trap.
Gutierrez discusses finding efficiencies in infrastructure contracts- and says the cost of the NDP’s Jobs Agreement is raiding taxpayer’s wallets without improving the end product one iota.
30.45- Marty raises the costly curb extensions installed on Talbot Avenue that are so visually ineffective the City put a sawhorse in front so drivers will notice. Gutierrez says the neighborhood wasn’t asked and got no notice – another failure of the bureaucracy to treat taxpayers with basic respect. He’s not in favour of blanket road speed reductions demanded by the anti-car lobby, and cites NK Councillor Jeff Browaty getting common-sense traffic calming design on Springfield Road.
38.38 – One issue that has certainly not been resolved since the by-election has been the public disorder caused by homeless encampments and addictions. “We need to do a better job with encampments,” says Gutierrez, “our streets are not a safe place for anybody experiencing homelessness.”
He mentions that even when housing is found, the system is failing those seeking rehabilitation – as residents have confirmed “there’s drug dealers living in the transitional housing” on Cosmo Place, disrupting neighborhood safety.
“I believe in the model of rehabilitation… Lots of people suffer with addiction… but at the end of the day we have to take a firm stance on what we’re willing to accept and what we’re not willing to accept.”
Gutierrez states, “Open air drug use has no place in our society. Scaring moms trying to leave a daycare with their kids because an individual is having a manic breakdown, we need to make sure we’re addressing these things quickly and efficiently.”
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