The following was provided to BIG-FM, on behalf of Jay Woodruff, Mayoral candidate for Clarence-Rockland:
In my work over the last decade, I have seen the power of people coming together and using the systems designed to keep us at arm’s length and prevent progress, to enact true change.
Working with individuals, unions, organizations, politicians, and other groups to train, support, and build campaigns and movements based on the story of self, us, and now.
The story of self is learning how to use your story to connect with others.
The story of us is learning that once you connect with others, you become more than just a collection of individual stories, you become united.
The story of now is learning the true power of this united group and how to utilize it to force the change needed.
This is our community, we have the right and the moral duty to ensure that our collective wealth is used to improve our lives and is put towards building a better future for us and our children.
It should be us AND the city and not us VERSUS the city.
I am running for mayor to disperse power, not hoard it.
I do have personal goals, but my focus is on empowering community members to have more of an impact on our daily lives and future.
My personal agenda is to remove the barriers to access, gatekeeping, and control that keeps our resources out of the reach of the many for the benefit of the few.
My core focuses:
TRUE EQUITY AND TRUE IMPACT
I will create true equity committees, not advisory, but empowered, with actual impact on budgets, bylaws, and planning.
That includes committees for (but not limited to):
Francophones
Women
2SLGBTQ+ community
Disability community
Youth
Seniors
Multicultural
Truth and Reconciliation
No more performative surveys or consultations, no more tokenization, direct input.
OUR CLARENCE-ROCKLAND
I will launch a full review of all public contracts, and past deals that sold or privatized public land and assets.
Where reversible, we will reverse. Our parks, buildings, green spaces, and future belong to us, not to developers or private interests.
We have been led by a fear of owning our own futures and that needs to change. The way things have been done have prevented progress in our community, left us with few public amenities, and led to constant property tax hikes with little to show for our money.
VACANT HOME TAX
A Vacant Home Tax is a compassionate, community-first tool designed to ensure that houses in Clarence-Rockland are used as homes for families, not left empty as investment commodities.
At a time when youth, families, workers, the disabled community, and seniors are struggling to find attainable housing, allowing residential properties to sit vacant weakens our social fabric.
By nudging absentee owners to either rent or sell their properties, we can organically open up housing options, bringing vibrant life back to our neighbourhoods.
It would also immediately add supply to the local market without the delays or environmental footprint of breaking new ground.
More availability helps stabilize rental costs, allowing our kids to stay in Clarence-Rockland when they grow up.
Filling empty houses translates directly to more local shopping, dining, and foot traffic along Laurier Street and will lead to expanding our commercial options, not just another pizza place.
COMMUNITY LED
You know what this city needs better than any consultant. We will unite neighbourhoods, empower local voices, and support a people-driven plan that grows community wealth, not just tax revenue.
A proper community center that offers safe and inclusive access to far more than just the desperately missing affordable recreational programs our community needs.
That means real amenities: gathering spaces, recreation, arts, and opportunities that keep our young people here.
A safe 3rd place for our youth.
We will review every department to remove wasted time and resources and pointless administrative barriers for community members organizing and hosting events.
We will audit all municipally owned public use spaces to ensure each community has access to their spaces for private and public events, many who wish to access these spaces are priced out or considered competition for contracts the municipality is a partner on, and ensure they meet AODA standards.
Removing barriers that make getting permits and licenses easier for all who wish to provide events and services to our communities, not just a few well connected people.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Right now, Clarence-Rockland has ZERO public transportation.
That is unacceptable, no one should be stranded in their own city.
Establishing a localized public transit network is a vital step toward creating a truly connected Clarence-Rockland.
By building a central transit hub in Rockland, we can design a network that seamlessly links our smaller surrounding communities to the municipal core.
This central hub will then provide a direct commuter gateway into Ottawa, offering residents a reliable, affordable, and accessible service opening up better access to jobs, education, and regional services.
This will also relieve the school bus congestion and reliability as less and less people are willing to take on the job of driving school buses due to poor working conditions, pay, and benefits.
A COMMUNITY FOR OUR CHILDREN
I want your kids, and mine, to live comfortably in Clarence-Rockland for their whole lives, if that is their wish.
That means affordable housing, good local jobs, climate resilience, and a deep sense of belonging.
Not just survival.
For over a decade it has continued to get harder for my daughter to be able to live her whole life in Clarence-Rockland, we have failed our youth by trading their future for quick fixes to the problems of today.
Developing a new ten year plan centered on our youth, smart design with a focus on upgrading not patching, looking beyond profit and focusing on people.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Let me be direct… I hear the anger.
You’re watching people blow through stop signs, weave onto sidewalks, and ride modified e-bikes and scooters at unsafe speeds. You feel unsafe on your own streets.
Many of those people are just trying to get around a city with no public transit and few safe places to ride. They aren’t villains.
They are our kids, our neighbours, and they have nowhere else to go.
We will build the infrastructure we have never had.
Protected bike lanes, slow zones near schools and senior residences, and designated parking.
Give youth a safe place to ride, and most will use it.
We can be firm and compassionate. We can protect pedestrians and give young people a way to move around, and we can start building towards a better city with smart design.
Doing so will also force us to address the disgusting road conditions that make it dangerous for bikes and cars alike; this isn’t a car vs bikes battle, it is a battle against gentrification.
Clarence-Rockland is big enough for both.
ACCESSIBILITY
I will ensure all council meetings are available with French and English translation as well as full virtual participation.
There is no need for barriers that can easily be removed which are preventing us from knowing what is going on and participating in those discussions.
Most think accessibility means ramps for wheelchairs but it also means access to information, support, resources, participation, and more.
HEALTH
The Clarence-Rockland Family Health Team is an amazing collection of resources, but we need a stronger focus on the future of our healthcare.
We need to start the process of getting a hospital built here, not planning steps and alternative options.
If we put the focus on a Band-Aid solution for the issues of today it will be a decade behind where we need to be by the time it is completed.
A mayor should be willing to be aggressive when working with our provincial and federal partners, not playing nice in hopes of favors.
Hawkesbury and Ottawa should not be our only options in an emergency or for healthcare services that are inaccessible due to boundary limits.
MINIMUM STANDARDS
When we go to parks and events we are used to trying to locate if the porta potties are set up yet, and often we have to leave because the one or two are occupied (if they are set up at all), accidents and shortened outings because our few amenities are treated as after thoughts.
Permanent bathrooms, with maintenance, security, and meeting the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA).
We will audit and modernize our parks to stop wasting what little public spaces we have left and offer more to our community.
Here is what I ask of you:
Don’t just vote for me.
Get excited. Get loud, get ready!
Share this message with your neighbours, your friends, your coworkers, your fellow community members, because I cannot do this alone, and more importantly, one should never govern alone.
Help me gain the power so I can turn around and give that power right back to all of us.
Let’s build a Clarence-Rockland that doesn’t just survive but thrives, let’s build one that belongs to us, every language, everyone, every generation.
We have the power to elect people who support our needs, we have the power to enact real, tangible change, we need to stop accepting the bare minimum from our elected officials and elect people who lift us up and bring us together.
We need to elect someone who shows up day after day, week after week and builds community, not some “elected official” who shows up for the pictures after the work is done.
Vote for yourself, vote for your children, vote for community; vote for Jay Woodruff
Want to have a conversation? Want to invite me to your table, your group meeting, your book club or your barbeque? I will come and sit with anyone who wishes to talk and I will go and meet you where you are. Email the address below for more information
Jay Woodruff
Mayoral candidate for Clarence-Rockland.