John Elliott Answers Re: Community Engagement and Empowerment

1. Yes I share this value because we all have to play our part in our community to make it better in any way we can.  I believe starting with the youth is important because they will be the community leaders of tomorrow.  Engaging them now promotes a strong message and plants the seed with the youth that they must be the torch bearers of a community that needs to be even better than what it is now.  Youth have to be made to feel that they are the community ambassadors to serve and protect their communities. 

2. I canvassed the entire Bridgeview neighborhood and spoke in length with the residents.  They would like to see the parks maintained and utilized for their family purposes. Yes I feel that the  parks in Ward 2 should be preserved however we can also look at the parks on an individual basis and make determinations on what could be done with them by consulting consistently with the residents that reside around those parks especially.  My vision is adopting a park plan for the community residents to take up ownership in terms of up keep and maintenance.  We have to work together more cohesively as a community on all levels. 

3. The stigma that it is an unsafe place originated over 30 + years ago when a lot of it was relatively unsafe.  Our various community service agencies over many years have made it a much safer place to live and work since then.  I personally believe this stigma is beginning to re-emerge because of the board up houses issue created by the Ambassador Bridge, and the City of Windsor.  Also I feel it is a deliberate attempt to sabotage all the good the Westend is about.  

4. As a community leader I will have a look at the blueprint of this neighborhood strategy when it is finalized and then I will be able to see what my role could be in supporting it. If I am elected as a City Councilor providing positive available resources from the city is how I see myself assisting this strategy.