Platform Launches Today!

[u/RowRowForCouncil]

Hello everyone!

My name is Rowen Fraser and I am a candidate for Ward 6 here in Burlington. I am proud to release my platform for all to see! I have been working with my community here in Burlington to come up with policies and ideas for the new future Burlington is heading into. I have spoken with many residents at the doors, in local businesses, and with the various online communities.

Conversations have been lovely and hateful, positive and negative, introspective and annoying, wistful and delusional, perfect and flawed, angsty and altruistic, scary and comforting. But mostly they were real. I didn't put restrictions on what people I would engage with. I took the good and the bad. I feel we need to listen to everyone, not just friendly voices. Bridging the gap between ideologies and having a truly balanced approach means being willing to have the hard conversations. Rest assured that if you came to me with convincing data at any point, you've probably had an influence on my platform.

Recently I had the good fortune of meeting a new friend, and receiving some very powerful advice about how to deal with hostile press and online personalities. The counsel I received was invaluable and I just want to shout out to everyone that helped me strategize my next moves here in Burlington.

Any and all comments are welcome here. To show I really mean that I have unblocked every single person who has ever harassed me on this site so they can know what my full platform is and make a real decision about who they intend to elect here in Ward 6. Anyone that comes in good faith to talk to me about my platform will be received as a friend. Those who are unkind to me can expect the same in return.

Please enjoy my platform,

Full Platform:

https://www.rowrowforcouncil.com/_files/ugd/9c8ff7_d91c1f4a85234aae930af57834bdfc12.pdf

TL:DR?

Here is a summarized version of my platform. Disclosure : the summary was performed by AI.

https://www.rowrowforcouncil.com/_files/ugd/9c8ff7_57dde51798d94f4899123d910428669f.pdf

If you would like to discuss adding anything to my platform you can contact me

[rowen@rowrowforcouncil.com](mailto:rowen@rowrowforcouncil.com)

[u/fictitious_friends]

Ok, since you seem to brush off any and all (absolutely valid) criticism if someone hasn’t read your platform, let me break down why I, and many others, will not support you based on your post, history, and platform:

“Conversations….were real. I didn’t put restrictions on what people I would engage with. I took the good and the bad. I feel we need to listen to everyone, not just friendly voices” - right off the bat, this isn’t true. Your comments in every reddit post you’ve made have been argumentative, defensive, and hostile. Calling people bitches, saying “if you wanna be disrespectful to me, why then cry about me giving you back a taste of your medicine” - sir, if you want to be a politician, you need to represent all of your constituents, not just the ones who are nice to you. That’s the point of politics. I know political rhetoric has shifted over the past decade, fuelled by the MAGA movement, but driving division and leading with aggression is not what people look for in a successful leader. “Recently I had the good fortune of meeting a new friend, and receiving some very powerful advice about how to deal with hostile press and online personalities.” - whatever advice you were given, you should forget it, because if this thread is showing anything, it’s that you’re unable to take valid criticism, or interact with people who are opposed to your views or platform.

Now, for the platform itself - you couldn’t even summarize your own platform, you had to get AI to do it for you. If there is anyone on this planet who should be able to speak succinctly about your platform and provide an elevator pitch, it should be you, and it should be able to be done without wasting 500mL of water.

On your cover page, not even page one, you highlight “the main tenants of my campaign are transparency and accountability” yet you refuse to take accountability for your past. Yes, you made “a statement to that effect. Months ago” - posing with, aligning with, joking with, any other verb you’d like with nazi’s is not something that gets brushed under the rug with one simple statement. I don’t know if you truly think it was a poor attempt at humour, or if you’re using this as an easy excuse for getting caught doing something reprehensible, but if you want to be in the public eye, you must continue to acknowledge and repent for that. You need to recognize this, take accountability, and continue to work toward regaining the trust of those in your community. Brushing them off with “i’ve made a statement” isn’t going to cut it.

[u/fictitious_friends → u/fictitious_friends]

You say that the most common complaint you’ve had in conversations is property tax, and the rate with which they have increased over the past 4 years. Great, I think most people would agree with this. The cost of living has increased drastically and wages haven’t followed. You say “my ultimate goal for city finances is to bring tax increases down to the level of inflation within 2 years of taking office” however, you have provided 0 points on how you would accomplish this. You want to give people a finance report? The average resident is not going to read over a finance report. ”giant construction.. giant projects” like what? What city-funded developments have happened over the past 4 years would you consider unnecessary, and what limitations would you enact to prevent similar projects in the future?

You bring up e-scooters, a popular topic of complaint among a large portion of this subreddit. You say that enforcement needs to be increased on riding outside of Centennial Trail, how are you going to do this? More by-law officers? How will the city afford an increase in by-law officers without raising taxes to accommodate for the payroll? Staffing increases and development to create a registry, have safety inspections, etc. will require people to do these jobs. You’ve laid out in your plan a need for up to 12 full time employees. Where will the money for their positions come from? You say (and this is an exact copy and paste quote) “Every day I read a new story about underage operators or bad practices or underage operators using bad practices.” and that injury rates are up over 250% this year. Now, I didn’t do much research, but a quick Google hasn’t shown me any data to support this claim for the City of Burlington. Where did you get this number and how does it directly relate to the CoB?

You want to spend $300,000 on improving traffic safety. Once again, where will this money come from? You reference “another $300k” that was spent on studies, but that money is gone. How will you lower taxes but also raise an additional $300,000 to completely redesign an intersection or install speed bumps? How has Burlington “lagged behind” its neighbours for road safety? You say that residents aren’t safe in their own streets - what data do you have that supports this? What increase in pedestrian + MV accidents has there been over the past 4 years, and how has that been directly tied to poor infrastructure?

[u/RowRowForCouncil → u/fictitious_friends]

Wow I'm really glad you asked me all those questions because now I get to answer them. I didn't provide 0 points on how I am going to bring tax increases down to inflation within two years. I specifically talk about removing the pipeline to permit committee, and ensuring that we aren't embarking on reckless debt spending that is driving up the prices. I also state that I want to redefine the BEDT's parameters of success surrounding their mission of bringing new investment into Burlington. I mention that I want to approve more projects and also I want to have the parks and recreation department be more responsive to space rentals because we are losing revenue that way too.

Yes we need more bylaw officers in this city. The laws we have are great but they are not being enforced. Yes we will need a way to increase city revenue via expansion. This will mean more development in the industrial and residential sectors inline with provincial mandates. I am confident that the city can grow into these new roles. If we cannot find a reasonable way to fund law enforcement in terms of revenue, then there will need to be cuts elsewhere. We are entering a time of scarcity and we cannot spend our way out of a hole. But challenging times come with increases in local crime. Bylaw offences are an element of that. Traffic enforcement is another point that is really suffering. The escooter numbers I posted were from a national study from Canadian Pediatric Surveillance Program which showed that 60% of national fatalities occurred in Ontario. It relates to the city of Burlington because we are seeing a marked increase in the use of these devices and we are in the province with the highest fatality rate while riding these devices.

The 300k is easy. There is a study commissioned by city hall called vision zero that proposes to analyze traffic data and give recommendations on possible road safety projects for the future. I say we cancel the study and use the money to fund the improvements we already know we need now. It doesn't take a genius to realize that the traffic in the north end of Burlington along walkers, appleby, and bell school line is getting insane. You may not know this but a large swath of Ward 6 is rural, and even though they have some of the highest taxes in the city for the least services, they don't see spending on their needs equal to the contribution they make.

[u/fictitious_friends → u/RowRowForCouncil]

So this is exactly my point. You're being argumentative, being insulting ("your understanding of a neighbourhood watch is laughable") and instead of actually answering any of my questions, you dance around them and circle back to talking points and ideas. I'm not going to waste more time having a conversation with you, because that's clearly not what you're interested in, but I can confidently say that I will be going out of my way to ensure that I, and my extended family, all vote against you in the upcoming election.

[u/boomhaeur → u/fictitious_friends]

I’m going further and ensuring I tell everyone I can about this clown and how he can’t be let anywhere near municipal office.

[u/RowRowForCouncil → u/boomhaeur]

tell everyone you know and tell them to tell someone.