BIOGRAPHY
I recently retired as a personal support worker (PSW) and moved to Listowel. After becoming familiar with Listowel, I found the need for PSWs in the community to be overwhelming, so I re-entered the workforce, where I continue to care for the elderly and most vulnerable.
I’m from the Christian faith and have felt satisfied spending my spare time volunteering in my community at local schools, churches and hospitals, where I serve my community as an intake worker for sexual assault and domestic violence.
I’m new to town council, but anyone who’s worked with me knows I’m a quick learner and I get stuff done. If elected, I will work hard to support my fellow Listowel residents.
I recognize that I’m new to a close-knit community, but so far I’ve felt sincerely embraced, and feel that Listowel is my forever home. I know that things have been changing rapidly here, but a balance of old and new is a good thing.
It will be a great privilege to serve my community on town council. I will do so by listening openly to the concerns of all-out goals of building a better Listowel and maintaining that “small town” feel in our neighbourhoods.
We live in a great town! Let’s work together to make it an even better place to live, work and play!
If given the chance to serve, there will not be disappointment.
Please consider me, and vote Vanos!
BIGGEST ISSUE
Listowel has undergone so much expansion in such a short time. This phenomenon is known as urban sprawl. A lot of families have moved to Listowel to avoid traffic jams, unaffordable housing, and congestion, so we must ensure that the people of Listowel are not met with the same fate that is pervasive in larger cities. In other words, folks are moving here to escape these problems, so we have to ensure that the problems do not follow them here.
In my walks around town, knocking on doors, these are some of the biggest challenges that are at the forefront of this town.
Listowel is experiencing major growing pains right now as a result of this rapid expansion, and for the most part, what we have seen is reactivity as opposed to true proactivity. Council needs to take an active role in solving these growing pains.
Urban sprawl is a complex challenge and comes with road congestion, cell phone and internet service disruption, and lack of affordable housing, to name a few. However, it also comes with positive impacts, such as an increase in economic production, more opportunities for employment and better research and development opportunities to foster progress. We have been seeing an influx of families, skilled workers and retirees.
Families are in need of activities for their children. Skilled workers have been drawn here due to new developments, causing Listowel to become a bedroom community (a place inhabited largely by people who commute to nearby cities for work). The retirees are on a fixed budget, so the rising cost of taxes, along with the inflation we have seen in recent years, will be financially devastating for them – if nothing is done soon.
We are in a post-pandemic world, where so many of our public amenities and support channels were not only challenged but totally depleted, and urbanization has intensified here.
Being on council, I will be proactive about these growing pains experienced by our existing school systems, infrastructure, and rising taxes. Moving forward, we need to stop playing catch up.
We can choose to look at this as a challenge, or as an opportunity. We are not being faced with any unsolvable problems here.
I will work diligently with experts to restore and progress Listowel towards solutions and making it great for folks who have lived here for generations, and the newcomers alike. We must act, and start acting proactively, towards a better future for everyone.
