Council candidate Maggie Horsfield says she can relate to the frustrations that citizens have in dealing with City Hall, and says part of her platform includes changing the lack of transparency and improving the response of city staff.
“When meeting people in North Bay, at the doors and out in the community, I am hearing about the concerns with trust and transparency with City Council and the culture at City Hall and I can relate,” she says in a release.
Horsfield has been advocating for community safety zones and says she has often had her emails left unanswered or with no follow-up.
“City Councillors need to be accountable to the community especially when they reach out with concerns and ideas,” Horsfield says.
Her approach to being a city councillor will be to create open communication channels between the City and the community by hosting neighbourhood town halls and relaying information on plans and decisions to the community through social media, the media, and on her website.
“City Council should be open and accessible for the community to speak at Council meetings to have their voices heard.”
She has joined a growing list of candidates that have committed to having Integrity Commissioner George Valin come before council with ideas to strengthen the City's code of conduct bylaw."100 per cent I would support Valin speaking to council with no strings attached."
She also wants public access to Valin's invitation, which the City Hall staff have refused to release.
"I don’t see why it shouldn’t be made publicly available," Horsfield says.
See: FOI filed today to see contents of Valin invitation
And: Council/City staff stall Valin conflict presentation to avoid embarrassment
Horsfield calls herself "solution-driven" and understands the purpose and value of having plans and executing them.
She wants to add measurable targets, steps, and goals to the City’s 10-year Strategic Plan and also to ensure other plans remain priorities and in discussions, such as the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan, the Asset Management Plan, the Active Transportation Plan, and the Parks Master Plan.
Horsfield has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Nipissing University and a postgraduate certificate in Global Development Challenges from the University of Edinburgh.
Her volunteer experience includes devoting time to various boards of directors including Near North Crime Stoppers, Lindsay Weld Centre for Children and the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce. For several years, she was a St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog Handler with her dog, Nixon.
Horsfield lives just outside the downtown core in the west end of North Bay with her husband and pets. As a lifelong North Bay resident, she has lived in neighbourhoods across the City and says she understands the challenges and opportunities they each face.
“I will listen to the concerns and ideas from the community and advocate for the well-being of everyone.”
In 2020, Horsfield was named the Chamber of Commerce Young Professional of the Year.
“I have the lived experience to understand what drives young people away from the City,” Horsfield says, “and what we can do to keep future generations in North Bay. With an aging population, City Council needs to include the voices of younger people who can represent and advocate for the decisions, and plans that will engage, attract, and keep future generations in North Bay.”
