St. James city council candidate profiles

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This article was published 29/09/2022 (819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JAMES

Five candidates have been nominated in the St. James ward: Eddie Ayoub,  Tim Diack, Shawn Dobson, Daevid Ramey and Kelly Ryback.

Eddie Ayoub

City council candidate Eddie Ayoub has been the artistic director at non-profit community art space Art City for the past decade and has been involved with the organization for 20 years.

In recent summers, he ran Art City programs at three community centres in St. James.

“That really made me realize the need for community spaces to be activated and filled with accessible programs, not just for children but for seniors and families and people of all ages.”

He said increased community programming aligns with St. James residents’ responses to a recent community needs assessment.

Ayoub said he’s aware of the city’s financial deficit, and his time in the non-profit sector has provided the tools needed to get programs off the ground in an uncertain financial climate.

He said he’s “not intimidated” by the city’s financial situation, as he spent three years on the community advisory council that worked on the city’s 25-year development plan, which readied him for the city’s situation.

Ayoub’s website is www.elect-eddie-for-stjames.com

Tim Diack

City council candidate Tim Diack has been working with the Winnipeg Police Service for 35 years.

When asked for his priorities, he focused almost exclusively on crime and safety, saying that the “city is in crisis.” He said police are demoralized, and that is causing inefficiencies across the service.

“We are overworked, overstretched, and we’re not providing good customer service,” he said.

Diack said he wants to institute a program like Detroit’s Project Green Light, in which private citizens buy wi-fi surveillance equipment and send camera feeds directly to police.

He also said adding new fees to those already incurred by owners of derelict properties could help bring money into the city.

Diack’s website is www.diack4stjames.ca

Shawn Dobson

City council candidate Shawn Dobson is a former city councillor for the dissolved St. Charles ward, which covered areas of the current St. James and Charleswood-Westwood-Tuxedo wards.

Dobson said he has several priorities: “Potholes would be my No. 1. There’s many, many issues, but I would very much encourage co-operation with all levels of government.”

He said the city will have to “watch its spending” in the next few years, until revenues from sources such as Winnipeg Transit recover from the effects of the pandemic.

Dobson touted his experience as a council member and that he wouldn’t require the same level of training as someone who has never sat on council.

Dobson’s website is voteshawndobson.ca

Daevid Ramey

City council candidate Daevid Ramey is a communications manager at IKEA and president of the Bourkevale Community Centre.

He said his priorities are threefold: creating “accessible and affordable” community programs; renewing greenspaces and infrastructure; and addressing the “root causes of crime.”

Ramey said he’d like to see extended library hours as a means to increase internet access for those who need it, as well as other community programs. He said the city needs to better address addictions, gang activity, mental health and homelessness.

Ramey said the city’s crumbling infrastructure is evidence that the city needs new and better revenue streams, and suggested the city and province reopen the city charter to allow for something analogous to current Mayor Brian Bowman’s court-rejected development fees, which is a revenue stream open to all other municipalities in Manitoba.

Ramey’s website is www.daevidramey.com

Kelly Ryback

City council candidate Kelly Ryback is a retired call centre manager and “the original Buzz, of Buzz and Boomer.”

He said he decided to run after becoming more involved in municipal politics in the last year and half.

“I became a delegate for various agenda items at city council 20 times, on wide-ranging issues that had significant success,” he said.

He said his priorities were what he called the “seven Ps” — pavement, paramedic and fire protection, parks, pipes, police, poverty, and performance.

Ryback said improving performance refers to increased accountability for city departments in the form of employee feedback, annual reviews, and in general, intensified oversight of city administrators.

He said as a delegate, he recommended council cut spending in “different areas of waste.”

“We have crumbling infrastructure and challenged paramedic service, but the city did not change the budget of beautification,” he said as an example.

Ryback’s website is www.ryback.ca