BarrieToday recently reached out to each candidate for Barrie mayor for a 300-word profile in their own words about their background and why people should vote for them.
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As mayor of Barrie for the past eight years, I have had the honour of moving our city forward.
Barrie must not be a bedroom community – we need to be a place where people can find careers and our local economy is strong. Since 2010, employment in Barrie has grown by more than 13,000 jobs and in 2016, we had the best year ever for industrial building permits.
Moving forward, we need to support entrepreneurship and ensure we have everything we need for companies to grow in Barrie. This means building new industrial parks, helping to grow education in skilled trades and university degrees, and keeping our business climate competitive.
Barrie must continue to tackle its backlog of infrastructure repair. We’ve made huge progress in catching up but there are still far too many roads, pipes, bridges, and buildings that cost more to repair than they should because they were left too long. Doing proper maintenance now keeps taxes down and improves our city.
In addition, if we’re to keep taxes down, we need to transform government to be proactive. Too much of what the city does is react to problems rather than preventing them in the first place. From using accident data to make roads safer, to using cameras to prevent watermain breaks, to paramedics doing house calls – we must shift government to being proactive – this can save millions and provide far better services for your tax dollars. We must also invest in homelessness prevention and collaborative services to help reduce poverty and build a stronger community for all.
In terms of my background, I have a B.A. from Queen’s University, and a Master’s Degree from the LSE. My parents built a business in Barrie, and I founded and built a small business as an economist, so I know the challenge of making a payroll and working hard.
I love my job and my ongoing commitment is to work hard every day I have the honour of being your mayor.
Campaign website: jefflehman.ca
Twitter and Facebook: @4more4Jeff
