By Kevin Woodhouse
www.thesuburban.com
Having served as councillor for Northview, district seven, in Pointe Claire for the last two terms, Dennis Smith is seeking re-election for a third consecutive mandate.
Smith has lived in his district for almost 30 years and worked as an educator and administrator before working as administrative assistant to Lac St. Louis MPs Clifford Lincoln and the current incumbent, Francis Scarpaleggia. During the fractious municipal mergers in the early 2000s, Smith also served on the city’s Committee for the Demerger of Pointe Claire.
“During my time on council I have acquired valuable experience about the workings of the city and have enjoyed working with both the residents of my district and my fellow councillors,” said Smith. “I am very proud that we have been able not only to maintain but also to improve the services available to Pointe Claire residents. More importantly, we have kept annual taxes at or below the cost of living index, while maintaining a balanced budget.”
In Smith’s Northview district, he noted that in the last eight years, “$15 million has been spent on street reconstruction alone that includes Spartan Crescent, Alexina, Arrowhead Crescent and sections of Braebrook. We have also started with blue and green recycling bins as well as a new urban plan that will prepare the city for the next 20 years,” Smith said. Other additions to the city that Smith was proud of include the library’s updated services, the city’s Aid for Seniors Program and the new aquatic centre.
Looking ahead, Smith believes that “while there is not much room for Pointe Claire to expand, we might have to think upward and not outward. We also want to update the industrial park in Pointe Claire by bringing in more commercial as well as industrial commerce to the city.”
Another challenge for the city will be to “protect the heritage of Pointe Claire Village while ensuring growth as it is a gem that we’re all concerned about.”
“We must move forward by looking forward and we must do so with a sense of cooperation and fiscal responsibility,” said Smith. “I know from working with Mayor Bill McMurchie what made him a great mayor was his experience and knowledge of the city and how it worked, along with his own ability, his work ethic and his patience.”
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[‘GoogleAnalyticsObject’]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,’script’,’//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js’,’ga’);
ga(‘create’, ‘UA-45892555-1’, ‘robertfrankmedia.blogspot.com’);
ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);
