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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , O ct ob er 1 5, 2 01 0 2 8 By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Four individuals, including two former councillors, are hoping to unseat Ward 6 town Councillor Max Khan who is running for his second term in the Oct. 25 municipal elec- tion. Running against Khan are former Ward 6 town councillors Janice Wright and Jim Smith, as well as Tom Altobello and Ross Bragdon. Tom Altobello The semi-retired Altobello hopes people will vote for him because he would have no distractions from doing his job, whether it be political distractions or otherwise. Altobello has lived in Oakville since 1988 and moved to Ward 6 five years ago. The 56-year-old is semi- retired after 22 years in the transport and logistics industry and now does part-time work in automotive sales. He has been involved with various local social, residential and sports organizations and groups. I just want to do a local job for my community. I feel strongly that because I live in the area I can repre- sent the community and be more sort of street level with everybody as opposed as being more superficial and in search of higher goals, he said. Taking a shot at Khan, who is also the Oakville Riding Liberal candidate for the next federal election, Altobello added, I think someone with a local focus and passion is more valuable to the community than someone with grander political aspirations. Altobello said hes running for three main reasons. The first is that a local representative should live in the ward he or she is serving in, which he said is not the case for sev- eral of the current candidates. Secondly, he wants to ensure the town is more stringent with its con- trols and procedures when dealing with developers, to prevent any more lengthy projects. The third item hes focusing on is traffic and noise con- trol in the ward. Altobello said he wants to control noise around the QEW, in communi- ties such as Falgarwood, which he said have been forgotten by past gov- ernments. Altobello wants to improve traf- fic flow in Ward 6 by restricting com- muters from using other roads when Dundas Street gets too busy. There are a lot of people who might be stuck on Dundas and they might choose to scoot down. Eighth Line we can control and other arteri- al roads and perhaps we can make them off limits during rush hour, he said. Lastly, when the town deals with developers, he said it needs to enforce its rules so that construction projects do not drag on for lengthy periods of time. The Town has to identify that they have processes in place and they have to put firmer deadlines on them and perhaps just show a bit more strength as opposed to giving builders far too much leeway. Ross Bragdon Another challenger, Bragdon is focusing on three main issues in his election campaign. He wants to cre- ate more services for seniors and youths as well as embrace diversity. Bragdon has lived in Oakville for 13 years and in Ward 6 for seven. The 65-year-old has retired after 45 years in the information technology indus- try. He has a degree in computer sci- ence from Concordia University in Montreal and has worked with a local youth group. Though hes new to politics, he said, I plan to be dedicated full-time, full-term. Im retired, so Im going to spend my time and Ill be trying to do my best to uphold the needs of the community. In addressing seniors needs he said, Im concerned weve entered a period when baby boomers have started to retire. I feel this will be a serious impact on the economy and my concerns are that there needs to be something set aside. Some (retirees) are having difficulty mak- ing ends meet and we cannot allow this to happen. Not only thinking of those who are already or are about to retire, he wants to focus on those who are not yet in the working world. Bragdon wants to create opportu- nities for youths so they can become better leaders and contribute to soci- ety. I feel we need more facilities for youths, offering them a safe and inviting place to gather to pursue and improve their skills, he said. We cannot always build the future for our youths, but we can build our youths for the future. Bragdon said Oakville needs to embrace its growing cultural diversi- ty. He was raised tri-lingual in a mul- ticultural home. He speaks his fami- lys native Italian, plus living in Quc he learned English and French. Hes also learning Spanish. He believes learning more lan- guages helps a person learn about other cultures, which helps people appreciate each other more. I feel Oakville must adapt and become more diverse, he added. We need to challenge the needs of the growing diversity and senior popula- tion; expanding organized and safe community projects, affordable housing, facilities and other munici- pal services. Max Khan Khan was first elected in 2006 and is running for his second term as Ward 6 town councillor. Hes also the federal Liberal Party candidate for the Oakville Riding when a national elec- tion is called. The federal election will take place no later than 2013, though it could be sooner. The federal elec- tion will take place before the next municipal term is over. However, Khan said even if he gets elected as an MP and leaves municipal council, he will continue representing his constituents. Khan said after he became a feder- al candidate, he still received support from the residents. A vast majority, Id say 85-90 per cent, of my constituents have said they expect me to run again for municipal council. Ive been serving my community for the past four years and they expect my service until they put me in a different capac- ity. I dont get to decide to go to Ottawa, they decide for me, he said. Khan has lived in Oakville for 22 years and does not reside in Ward 6. The 41-year-old is a trial lawyer with a Toronto firm and is a local businessman and a member of the board of directors of Oakville Hydro. He received his law degree from Dalhousie University after studying economics at the University of Western Ontario. He volunteers with various non-profit organizations, providing free legal advice. Khan said the town must proper- ly handle development and receive the appropriate amount of develop- ment charges. He said the town raised its devel- opment charges by 60 per cent. The purpose of that is that our present taxpayers are not required then to subsidize growth, he said. He added that, in the past when there was growth in Oakville, it was those who were already living in Oakville that had to pay for a portion of the growth. The increase to the charges eliminates that, said Khan. When the community grows there is an increased burden on the towns infrastructure such as roads, libraries and more, which is why he said the development charges needed to be raised. Furthermore, because the Province has mandated Oakville must grow in population, the town created its new Official Plan called Livable Oakville, which allows the town, not developers, to govern growth. Another issue is controlling traffic congestion throughout the entire town. Hes also calling for an increase in police surveillance to counter the increased number of break-ins in Oakville. He also wants to be pre- emptive in stopping guns from enter- ing the community, saying some- thing such as a gun amnesty pro- gram might work where people can turn in their weapon in exchange for a gift certificate from a retailer. Jim Smith Long-time Oakville resident and former Ward 6 councillor Smith said hes hoping to get his former job back because he wants to bring honesty back to town council. I just want to bring some hon- esty back into it, he said. I really do feel there have been some really deceitful things going on in the town. I have the time, I have the skills and I certainly have the background hav- ing been on council to bring some of these things forward and to negotiate with the other councillors and to get something done. The 70-year-old served as town councilor for two terms from 1991- 97. In 1997 he ran in the town/regional race where he was defeated. He has lived in Oakville for 43 years and in Ward 6 for 33 years. He was educated at a university in England in chemical engineering and worked as an engineer in Toronto. Smith said he is distrustful of the current council, especially in how it handled the new hospital and how the town will pay for its cost share. All of a sudden (the mayor and council) are coming up with all sorts of numbers less than $200 million. But theres never been a hospital built in this province for the past 50 years thats come in on budget. For them to ask us for $200 million, its probably going to be closer to $400 million, he said. Now, they seem to be able to find the money all of a sud- den. I just dont trust them. He also took a shot at the incum- bent, who is also the federal Liberal Party candidate, saying that if an election takes place and Khan gets elected as an MP, he will leave coun- cil, which will force an expensive bi- election. Smith also promised to put a motion forward to cut the size of council by half. We dont need 12 councillors. There are two in each ward. I think the job can be done by one councillor. . . We can save $1.2 million by getting rid of six. He added that after cutting coun- cil, he would go after cutting surplus town staff. I have a proven track record, when I was on council, of negotia- tion. We brought in some of the low- est budgets in the history of Oakville, especially when I was chairman of the budget committee. Smith said when he was on coun- cil the town was able to complete Upper Middle Road bridge one year early and $1 million under budget because of negotiation. Janice Wright Wright, a former Ward 6 council- lor, has had one term off from sitting in the position and now she wants it back. The 52-year-old served in the council seat for two terms between 2000 and 2006. In 2006 she ran for mayor, but lost the race to current Mayor Rob Burton. Now shes running back in Four candidates hope to unseat Max Khan in Ward 6 Eleventh in a series Tom Altobello Ross Bragdon Max Khan Jim Smith Janice Wright See Wright page 29