Immediate Priorities for Stratford
As Mayor, I will come to Council with clear priorities and a plan to get moving. I will work with City Council and the community to build consensus on what our priorities will be early in 2027. The next step is to turn these priorities into action.
1. Build Supportive Housing and enhance Emergency Shelter Services
After six years of having a plan for building supportive housing with 24/7 wrap-around supports, it’s time to finally build it. This 12-unit project will provide a safe, stable home for individuals who need housing first, so they have a safe place to live and be supported as they work to address other challenges in their lives. Review our current emergency shelter plan to ensure that everyone has a warm place to sleep at night.
2. Create a Housing Strategy
Use the information from our updated Official Plan, staff expertise and recent City staff reports and research on local housing needs to create a Housing Strategy. This strategy will move us forward with a focus on the gaps we've identified: supportive, transitional, and affordable rental housing.
3. Make Stratford Streets Safer
Launch a review of our Level of Service with a view to improve city streets at a faster pace, using the recommendations in our Transportation Master Plan as well as our Asset Management Plan. Make pedestrian and cycling safety a priority by upgrading crosswalks with raised crossings, warning lights, and other safety features.
4. Encourage Economic Growth
Support economic development, working with Invest Stratford and regional partners to attract new and diverse industry to the City, while supporting existing businesses to thrive and grow in the face of tariffs and other current challenges.Identifying new employment lands and investing in servicing those lands is a key part of attracting new investment in Stratford.
5. Launch a Mayor's Communication Plan
I've created the framework for a Mayor’s communication and engagement plan that I can launch immediately. This will include a regular newsletter and other consistent communication about City projects and services, public forum meetings co-hosted with individual Councillors in different neighbourhoods around the community, a Mayor’s speaker series, and several other ways for the residents of Stratford and City Council to understand and engage with each other.
6. Build a Community Facility at the Grand Trunk Property
Along with the YMCA and the Stratford Public Library, move forward with a multi-generational, net-zero community facility that brings together a pool, a childcare centre, a seniors’ centre and adequate parking in one accessible community space. The data collected in the (ongoing) Recreation and Cultural Plan development and the new Downtown Parking Study will inform the design of this facility, and current discussions with our partners will move this project forward.