Nicholson looking to clean up Oshawa
Brian Nicholson is returning to regional and city council for the 2018-2022 term after an eight-year absence. The 25-year council veteran says there are issues a plenty in the City of Oshawa, particularly in how the municipality has been maintained over the past few years. (Photo by Chris Jones)
By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express
Brian Nicholson is hoping to clean up Oshawa on his return to city council.
Nicholson, a 25-year council veteran who lost in seat in the 2010 election, says there are a few key issues that made him want to run again for public office.
“What I saw in the last couple of years was the things that we had worked hard to do in the community starting to slip, starting to deteriorate,” says Nicholson.
He says that waterfront properties being sold off for development was one of the triggers that brought him back, as he had worked hard to make sure that didn’t happen when he was previously on council.
Nicholson says that one of the biggest issues he was made aware of while going door to door is that the city needs to be cleaned.
“I’m sad to say that I think the city is dirty,” says Nicholson. “The city has not been maintained – not to any stretch that is acceptable.”
He says that just driving down Oshawa’s major roads show how poorly maintained the city is because they are cracked, and the sidewalks are cracked with weeds growing out of them.
“That kind of impression makes it hard to attract business,” explains Nicholson. “I had a businessman tell me years ago that when he comes to a city that he wants to invest in, he looks at how the public services are maintained above ground, and if they’re well maintained he assumes the pipes and infrastructure and the hydro are all well maintained as well.”
Nicholson goes on to say that if they are not well maintained above ground, the businessman assumes that the underground is also not well maintained.
He says that you can see a prime example of this coming off the highway at Simcoe Street. “It’s got to be the ugliest stretch of road anywhere in Durham Region, and this is the first impression of our city that a lot of people get, and that’s just unacceptable. It’s one of the reasons I came back.”
He also notes that while Oshawa hasn’t always had the newest things, they’ve always been maintained, and he doesn’t believe that this is happening at an acceptable level right now.
“Before we do anything, before we build anything new, let’s fix what we have,” says Nicholson.
In terms of issues with Durham Region as a whole, Nicholson says that he believes they need to rebalance the financing of regional projects.
“Right now, the older urbanized areas are subsidizing growth. But I look at a water bill today, and the cost of water is like 15 cents on the dollar,” says Nicholson. “The other 85 cents is basically for delivery, but it’s not delivery to my community. My pipes were put in 100 years ago. It’s for the new growth areas.”
Nicholson further explains that these new growth areas are accepting levels of service that they couldn’t accept if they had to pay for it themselves. “I think that we’re seeing it in South Pickering, South Ajax, South Whitby, Bowmanville, everything south of Rossland in Oshawa. The homeowners are paying a subsidy for all the growth neighbours in the rest of the areas of Durham, and I think that we have to look at how we divide up that pie.”
Nicholson says that he was always an advocate of the ward system, and he believes that it will help him because it will allow services to become equal across the city, and he believes that hasn’t been the case for some time.
After eight years away, Nicholson says that it’s time for a change in council and how its members approach their constituents.
He believes that people think city staff work for the corporation of Oshawa, but he continues to tell people, “No, the corporation is just a vehicle, they work for the city of Oshawa. We’ve got to get back to that idea of public service.”
He also believes that it’s time to end the secrecy he believes surrounds city council. He says he want to change the perception of the voters and he also wants to change the perception of city councillors that the people out there are the opposition, or the enemy.
“You shouldn’t have security keeping people out of buildings, you shouldn’t be putting your health on the line just to come speak to council. That never would have happened during the 25 years that I was on council.”