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Aurora Votes 2022: Mayoral candidate Anna Lozyk Romeo focused on fiscal responsibility




If Anna Lozyk Romeo secures the Mayoral Chain on October 24, one of her first priorities will be hitting the ground running on next year's Budget.

Fiscal accountability has been a hallmark of her campaign so far and, if elected, this will be her goal for her first 100 days in office.

“My simple answer is Budget 2023 and to start demonstrating our fiscal responsibility,” she says.

A last-minute entry into Aurora's Mayoral race, candidate Anna Lozyk Romeo met supporters last month at her first meet-and-greet of the election.

Held at Romy's, an eatery that has found its home in Aurora's downtown core, it was an informal opportunity for voters to get to know Lozyk Romeo.

While she registered to run on the last day of the nomination period, she said the reality of her decision to seek Aurora's top job first began to sink in when she got her fliers printed and began going door to door.

“People are very passionate when it comes to development, and even when it comes to services [like] cleaning sidewalks,” she said of the issues she's hearing at the door. “I have the same issues and can relate to a lot of the issues people have because I am always on the ground. We try to promote active transportation, but we're not getting connectivity that comes to the sidewalks for accessibility and clearing.”

At the outset of the campaign, Lozyk Romeo says she began with a “vision,” something she said is essential for a mayor.

“For a resilient community we need good leadership, we need good policies, to follow the policies, and [we need] succession. Succession is continuing within the process. It's human resources at the Town, even succession within Council. Do they have enough information to make a decision because if there's a break, if something happens and we lose a Councillor if they're sick, someone else can jump in because we have all the information. It's continuing within the system with people and with the information and centralizing the information.”

Succession planning, she adds, is something that should be the job of the Mayor and looking after that is something she pledges to do if elected.

“As a Mayor, we need to have high-level priorities. We have to actually look at this as a whole and then we have [to get] input and a lot of people on the ground have individual issues…and concerns living in the community. It is my job to look after those high-level items, including succession, because I think succession is big.

“Going beyond that vision, I have priorities and I'm going to stick with the most important one, which I think is fiscal responsibility. I think we have to maybe put aside some capital projects and focus on infrastructure like roads and sidewalks. I keep hearing at Council that watermains are breaking and our water bill is going up. I think we need to put more emphasis into that area.”

Another area she says needs further emphasis is making legislation that is “policy-driven.” Policy, she says, “still comes with division” but the processes and procedures should not be.

The third most important tenet of her campaign, she says, is the environment.

“I'm an environmentally-conscious person, so when it comes to development, looking at our parks, and getting Aurora cleaned up, too… we need to set an example. If we don't show that we're doing something about garbage it will never go away.

“I'm an analytical person and [while] I can't compare myself to [the other candidates], I'm a parent, business owner, I have academics, and having an engineering background is a bonus because when I look at the budgets, even now, I actually analyse them and there's missing information. How can I make a decision with so little information? For me, it's about analysing and collecting data and solution-driven problem-solving. I can't compare myself, but that's who I am: technical, analytical, and solution-driven.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Post date: 2022-10-13 23:47:41
Post date GMT: 2022-10-14 03:47:41
Post modified date: 2022-10-13 23:47:42
Post modified date GMT: 2022-10-14 03:47:42
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