A city council candidate in the upcoming municipal election says she is running to make a change in the community.
Robin James says after two decades of working with Lethbridge families and individuals in the community as Chief Administrative Officer of Lethbridge Housing Authority, she has seen firsthand how the city is impacted by the pressures of growing housing affordability, increased homelessness and the healthcare access strain.
“These aren’t abstract policy issues. They’re real urgent challenges faced by many people across our community every day,” James says. “I believe we can do better, and I’m ready to bring forward solutions that work.”
“I think the opportunity I have with council is to bring forward that 20 years of experience to the council table and kind of have the opportunity to be the expert sitting within those conversations so that I can directly impact some policy decisions that our council is making on a day-to-day basis on, you know, community safety, affordability, housing attainability, those types of things.”
James says when it comes to future discussions on housing projects or rezoning property for future housing projects, if she is voted onto council, the advantage is that she can help impact policy to make it easier for development to happen.
“I’m always going to the council chambers asking for different changes for housing types. If we had bylaws in place, or we had zoning requirements in place, that actually said this space will be used for, or this development will have multifamily. This development may have supportive housing. This development may have the opportunity for group homes.”
She adds that if these pieces of property or these communities were zoned this way, then people would know what they really get and are buying into.
According to James, if she is elected and another major infrastructure project is brought before council, she believes it is important to make sure there is someone who will be able to give proper oversight to the project, read the financial disclosures and be in tune with what is happening. According to the candidate, moving forward with other projects, she thinks it is important to learn from previous projects and experiences.
If elected, James says she plans to dedicate her evenings to community consultation and be available for people in the community to meet with her. Along with blocking time for community consultation, she will continue to read disclosure, something she already does regularly, with the main difference being that if elected, she will focus on the entire discourse and not just the pieces on affordable housing, attainable housing, homelessness, community and social development.
James says that while during the election people can share what they want to do, it is important to remember that until someone is voted onto City Council, they’re not going to be able to get those disclosures and know how those tough decisions were made and then know how to impact change. She adds that what sets her apart from other candidates is that she tried to stay in her wheelhouse.
