ANOTHER DAY< ANOTHER ADVENTURE.

This is a picture of one of the many antique cars that are in the annual Lobster Carnival parade held here in S'side. It is a week long event held in August.

Today I did some more door to door, it is most enjoyable plus you get to meet a lot of really nice people. Being well into the aging process (sounds better than getting old) I am a little stiff & sore when I first start but after a few doors & some nice people the legs are as good as new & I am looking forward to the job at hand also my body may be aging but I like to think I am young at heart & have lots of good ideas, hope I get to use them after the election on November 6, 2006.

I am going to visit every residence in my ward (5) before election day, I print up my business cards as I need them & paper clip them to my brochure, this keeps me going about 12 hours a day or more. I am enjoying this so much that it is not work but a labor of love. Kind of scary I am enjoying this but I have always been considered a people person & have been called a windbag more than once.

You never seem to get any news out of city hall so having at least one windbag on council is just what this city needs, one that will not only tell the residents what is happening at city hall but will speak forcefully for the residents of their ward. If elected I can promise you that you will never have to say, my sole that Champion fellow is awful quiet, I wonder what he is up to.

As I say in my brochure I will meet with the residents on a regular basis, the first meeting will be held before March 31, 2007 & at this meeting we will schedule the next meeting. The purpose of the meetings will not only allow the residents of ward 5 to tell me what is needed in the ward & what they think of the job I'm don't but will allow me to bring them up to date as to what is going on at council & what councils plans are for the future. One of the problems I hear on the doorsteps is there is no communications from city hall to the residents and they want to be informed. That's All for today folks.

Till next time, take care.

Street Condition

Today I was out visiting residents of ward 5, had a good day but it was a real eye opener. Above is a picture I took of a city street in one of the most exclusive subdivisions in our city. Upon talking to one of the residents they ask me if I could do something about repaving their street. They said the street was originally paved about 20 years ago and they thought it was time it was done again. This is a disgrace & just an example of the condition of a lot of the streets in our city. It is fine to build new infrastructure but maintenance should be kept up on our streets & sidewalks.

Back to my visits as it is most encouraging for a rookie involved in his first election campaign in S'side. The people I meet are real nice & a joy to talk to. One of the joys in my life is meeting new people & conversation with them. Regardless how my campaign turns out win or lose I will have so many good memories to cherish through the years.

Well I guess that is all for tonight.

Till next time, take care.

COMMUNICATE, COOPERATE, & COMMON SENSE.

Shipyard market located at the east end of the west end beach.

The 3 C's are what I will talk about today. These are 3 things I will practice after I am elected to council as it is important for the people who pay the bills to know what we are not only doing but what our long term plans are for the future, why we are doing it, and what it will cost. We have been involved in the Griffin Affair for 9 years now and still have no idea just what the lawyers fees will be. I imagine we must have payed out a bit of money for lawyers each year but try to find an entry identifying this payment in the budget or business plan.

We need an open & cooperative council, who not only keeps the citizens advised on what is going on but uses common sense when it comes to spending the taxpayers money.

ANSWER QUESTIONS.

Thank you for ther questions & as I have said this site is two purpose, (1) a way for me to get my views out to anyone who wants to read what I write & (2) to answer any questions I may receive. Now I will get on to the answers.

(1) Yes that picture is the Mobil home park but it was only takes as an example of just how dangerous the ditches can be. All homeowners in S'side own their own property & is private property plus the city claims ownership of all land within a certain distance from the center of the road making the ditch city property.

(2) I believe that the City lost a great chance to help downtown by not building the wellness center within walking distance of the business district so people attending tournaments or swim meets could visit the stores & spend some money. This is why I would have built it downtown.

(3 & 4) The cost of hocket is very expensive and sad to say out of reach for way too many parents. What we can do to keep costs down is the big question. One way may be is to have one of the councilors designated to attend meetings of the minor hockey council & report back to city hall. This idea of only meeting when we have a crisis is not the way to go. It just gets people upset, name calling & yelling does nothing to make matters better. Cooperation & communications sure would have helped in this situation before it became a major problem.

(5) As I am not familiar with how ice time is allotted I really can't offer an answer to this question & again I go back to cooperation & communications as a way to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties plus a member of city council at minor hockey meetings.

In closing I will just say that if only one child in S'side is not able to play hockey because of the costs than that is one too many. Maybe between city council, local, & national business plus the minor hockey council we can come up with a local concept where donations are accepted & help is provided where needed or donations are turned over to minor hockey to reduce everyone's fees.

There are lots of things we as a group can try or do if we work together, lets start by checking what other cites & towns do & we might just find the perfect solution. It will take a lot of hard work & cooperation but as we all know anything worth while never seems easy.

Till next time, take care.
Lew

MY FIRST DAY

Prince County Hospital located here in S'side, the health care center of the western half of PEI.

I started my visits today for the civic election & really enjoyed meeting the residents of ward 5. Some of the concerns mentioned today were, high taxes, graffiti, accountability, & the new wellness center, just about what I expected except for the graffiti issue. On graffiti what the people want is the perps caught & instead of jail time or fines make them supply the material & physically do the clean-up themselves with much publicity in the local papers. The idea was if they know when they are caught they will not only have to pay for the clean-up but also do the work. With this knowledge they may have second thoughts before doing more of this form of destructive activity.

All for tonight as I do not want to bore you so you will return.

Till next time, take care.

START OF PLATFORM.

A water filled ditch here in S'side, one of my projects as councillor is to accelerate in-filling as they are a health hazard.


One of the projects near & dear to my heart is to get the open ditches in our fair city filled in on an accelerated schedule to remove this hazard in a timely manner. They are not only a hazard to our little children & small animals but a breeding ground for mosquitoes and god only know what else.

I also want to find ways to have the city pay more so to be less of a burden on our homeowners. With the increase in our tax base, good budgeting & proper financial planning I believe this is possible.

Till next time, take care.

DAY 2.

A wooden soldier stands guard over Memorial Park in Summerside. A nice place to sit & reflect on the price of peace. Summerside should be very proud of this wonderful little park located in the center of our city just a few short blocks from downtown. More on this park in days to follow.

Called the local paper today to announce I will be a candidate for ward 5 & was suprised to find that the paper has no plan in place as to how they plan to cover the election so they may get back to me to do a story later. I phoned the reporter for the Guardian & he was not in so I left a message, hopefully I will have better luck with them.

Regardless if I get a story in the paper or not I am going to start to go door to door in the next few days. I hope to have more to report after going door to door.

Till next time, stay tuned.

I WILL RUN.

Here is a welcome sign located on the TCH #2 highway at the eastern entrance to our fair City.

I have decided to run for councilor for ward 5 in the city of Summerside, PEI. I will contact the local papers tomorrow to make an official announcement than its of door to door to visit all the homes in the ward. I understand there are about 900 homes & apartments I have to visit. The election is held on November 6'th so I will be starting next week on my visits. I have put together a brochure on things I have observed over the last few years at coffee shops & conversations I have had with residents of the city on changes they would like to see made to make our city a great place to live. On Nov 6 we will find out if the majority of voters in ward 5 agree with the list.

All for now, will be updating this with reaction & ideas I receive on my door to door visits so come back & keep updated on my campaign. If you have any ideas or suggestions send me an E-MAIL to let me know.