Municipal District of St. Stephen Ward 2 Candidate: Bernadette Cunningham
1. As candidates, what would be your key priorities over the next four years in your community?
Over the next four years my priorities are to have citizens and small businesses feeling like they are supported, valued and heard by the Mayor and Council. I want our vulnerable population of seniors and youth to be safer to walk the streets. I want to bring back events to the community that sell out and people are happy to line up to attend. Our community should make us smile and be a place we are proud to call home.
2. How would you achieve those priorities within your mandate?
An honest assessment of where we are at in all areas of the municipality’s responsibilities is crucial. Viable plans with both short and long term goals that are clear and can be tracked are key. Insure all roles and responsibilities are very clear and minimum standards are upheld in all departments. Revisit bylaws and policies to make sure they are meeting the needs of the citizens and businesses to help the community prosper and thrive.
How will you ensure transparency and accountability in council decisions and communication with residents?Transparency and accountability starts with me. I believe both transparency and accountability of council need to stand up to scrutiny from a variety of perspectives. If not, it cannot be called either of those two things. Council needs to be willing to function with honesty even if it is uncomfortable at times. Residents deserve to be heard, listened to, and responded to in a respectful and timely manner. Council may need to create tools to insure this is happening consistently.
3. What is your approach to managing growth and development while preserving the character of the community?
Step one to me is make our community one that residents want to stay in and businesses want to operate in. All of the data required to make it happen is easily accessible by talking with citizens, business owners and their staff. We need to listen and start chipping away at things to make it happen. We need everyone to know whose job is to do what, and then insure that it is done at least to a minimum standard. The tax dollars of the Municipality need to be used in a thought out way with a clear plan. The roads, water system, and the safety of citizens need to be addressed.
4. What is your position on property taxes, and how would you balance affordability with maintaining services?
I struggle to find people who feel like they are getting value for the property taxes they pay. I would like that to change. Consistent maintenance of what we have is a good start, with a clear, viable plan for where we need to go is key. Looking at all budget lines and assessing if they are providing value for the money spent is important. Addressing the bylaws to fit today’s needs so residents and businesses can have a basic living standard so they feel like the are getting value for their dollars to me is a good early task for the new council to take on.
5. Why are you the best candidate to represent your ward, and what experience do you bring to the role?
I have a unique skill set that could be an asset to the council table. I am creative, determined, and have the communities best interest at heart. I saw an opportunity this year to bring the community together and “Bernie’s Sky High Easter Egg Drop” was the result. I love to network with people of all different skill sets to achieve common goals. I am someone who needs things to make sense and if they don’t I will keep asking questions and doing research until they do. If they do not fact check I will not accept unacceptable answers or solutions. A massive part of my research is getting first hand information from residents who have lived experience to draw on. I have successfully lived and operated a business on the front street that was facing many of the same issues that are common throughout our community today.
Each candidate was provided with the same six questions and equal limits on response length and time. Candidates who did not have publicly available contact information through Elections New Brunswick were required to contact The Courier in accordance with its Municipal Election Coverage Fairness Policy. Candidates who did not respond or declined to participate are noted. Failure to participate will not result in additional coverage elsewhere in the newspaper.
