Municipal Government Should Be About Building, Not Dividing
Municipal Government Should Be About Building, Not Dividing
As this election unfolds, I've been reflecting on the conversations taking place across our community and online. It’s important that citizens and council candidates challenge ideas and ask difficult questions. These discussions help us make better decisions.
What concerns me is when disagreements stop being about finding better solutions and become personal attacks. Over the past four years, I've learned how important it is to keep our focus on solving problems and delivering results for residents. I've always tried to approach my role with an open mind, listen to different viewpoints, and focus on working with people to move our community forward. Progress happens when people work together. This is especially true in municipal government.
Some of the most meaningful work I've been involved in has happened when people with different perspectives came together around a shared goal.
Through the Community Safety and Well-Being Advisory Group, I worked with community agencies and municipal staff to share information and data, identify emerging issues, and better coordinate local efforts. That coordination helped support a number of community initiatives, including enhanced downtown safety measures and security, improved vandalism response efforts, outreach programs connecting people to needed services, expanded after-school programming, a youth transit pilot, stronger coordination among food and social service providers, and ongoing work to improve addiction treatment pathways and affordable housing. It also created opportunities to share best practices, such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design training and school-based threat assessment and trauma response approaches. United, we were also able to advocate more effectively for support from other levels of government.
At the Council table, Council's endorsement of a project between Re-Nature and two local school boards, helped the project access external funding. Because of this, 13 local schools will gain micro-forests and natural learning spaces. I was pleased to lead the endorsement and help connect community organizations and local expertise to expand its impact, thanks to feedback from fellow Council members.
On a smaller scale, after hearing concerns about winter access from a resident at Marina Point, I worked with City staff and the citizen to explore snow-clearing options and help create a maintained walking loop so residents could stay active outdoors.
Our budgets are limited, and the biggest challenges we face are complex. That's why relationships matter. When Council members work together and collaborate with residents, businesses, community groups, Indigenous partners, and other levels of government, we can accomplish far more than any one person or organization can achieve on their own. We keep our energy on the big problems, and the resources and attention go there.
The challenges facing our community are too important to be overshadowed by division. We won't always agree, and that's okay. Progress doesn't come from everyone thinking the same way. But we do need to listen and respect one another.
Municipal government should be about helping people live better lives. And that’s where I will put my focus during the next four years if elected.
Justine Mallah
North Bay City Councillor Candidate
