Five candidates on ballot for Mynarski ward councillor

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This article was published 29/09/2022 (776 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MYNARSKI

Five candidates have been nominated in the Mynarski ward: Ross Eadie (the incumbent), Aaron McDowell, Ed Radchenka, Natalie Smith and Steve Snyder.

Ross Eadie (incumbent)

Ross Eadie has been Mynarski councillor since 2010.

He said he has six commitments that he is working toward: establishing a property tax credit that would see people with homes valued under the city average receive $150; improving safety and reducing crime; increasing focus on parks and recreation services; consolidating waste management services; improving pay for city jobs; and improving infrastructure.

He said he’s advocating for the creation of a system to unburden 911 operators of some of their calls for service, which he said are overwhelming the current system. That would require better supports, triaging and public education, Eadie said.

“Twenty-five to 28 per cent of Winnipeggers don’t know that you can call the non-emergency number,” he said.

He said garbage dumping is a problem for the Mynarski ward, and elsewhere, and that combining waste management services would help to address that issue. He said he advocates for a frontage fee to bring in additional revenue for infrastructure renewal, and for the re-establishment of a dedicated parks and recreation department in city administration.

Eadie’s website is reelect.rosseadie.ca

Aaron McDowell

Aaron McDowell is a lifelong resident of the Mynarski ward, a former welder and until recently, assistant to incumbent councillor Ross Eadie during his 12-year stint in office.

“I am running… because I feel that we are lacking a lot of leadership on council. Not pointing fingers at anyone directly, but the city needs to be a lot more proactive about core service delivery, and especially arson and crime,” McDowell said.

McDowell said his main focus will be to address derelict and vacant buildings, which he said “are constantly victimizing the neighbourhood,” as they are targets for arson and are linked to drug use and crime.

He said the city is taking too passive an approach, and he would advocate the city taking “title without compensation,” meaning taking over legal ownership after a building has legally qualified as a derelict building for 24 months.

McDowell’s website is aaronmcdowell.ca

Ed Radchenka

Ed Radchenka is retired from customer service in auto sales and a small business owner in home repair.

Radchenka said he’d advocate for a better neighbourhood watch in the area, including block parents. He expressed his support for police chief Danny Smyth and said he supports the current proportion of the police budget in relation to the overall police budget (around 26.8 per cent).

He said he’d like to address potholes in the city, as well.

He said he’s “a fixture in the North End,” and he plans “on running my campaign on basically a popularity contest,” opting not to put out signs.

Radchenka does not have a website listed with his campaign information.

Natalie Smith

Natalie Smith is a resident of Mynarski who has worked for the North End Renewal Corporation and Women’s Health Clinic, and as an assistant to MLA Lisa Naylor and incumbent Point Douglas councillor Vivian Santos.

“The most important issue is we have a serious issue with homelessness in this city, and that relates to our issues with safety. We need to develop plans — basically shovel-ready plans — so when rapid housing money comes forward from the federal government we can start building units immediately in our ward,” Smith said.

Smith said the city also needs to address the police budget.

“It’s taking up way too much of the city budget,” she said. “I’m campaigning on reducing the police budget by 2.5 per cent a year for four years, or 10 per cent total, and we can take that money and implement it into mobile crisis units staffed by mental health professionals, safe consumption sites, community-led patrols and more after school programs. All these are preventative measures that will help reduce crime in the long run.”

Smith’s website is natalie4mynarski.com

Steve Snyder

Steve Snyder works for Scotia Street non-profit Marymound, an organization that provides programming for vulnerable youth.

Snyder said if elected, his priority would be to focus on “people over projects.” He said crime and safety are a particular concern, and said that the city needs to address these issues at their root causes. That means addressing homelessness and addictions, he said. To address these, Snyder said he would use recommendations from expert non-profits such as the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.

“Another thing I want to focus on is businesses. I look at some of the vacant properties around Selkirk Avenue. It’s gone from 100 or so businesses five or six years ago, down to 60. It’s becoming more and more barren and as that happens, there’s less money in the local economy,” he said.

He said he wants to make it easier for citizens to improve vacant lots through cheaper rezoning fees.

Snyder said he believes the city needs to look at both increasing revenues and spending money more efficiently.

Snyder’s website is votesnyder.ca