ThoroldToday will be profiling every candidate in the upcoming municipal and school board elections on Oct. 24. First up: city council candidate Chris York.
This is the fourth time 49-year-old Chris York is looking to take a seat on city council. He hopes to finally get his chance to "shake up" City Hall.
“People have gotten too comfortable,” says York, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “Rights are being violated and staff has gotten lazy. It’s time to shake it up.”
York grew up in St. Catharines but has lived in Thorold since 1998.
“When I first moved up here I wasn’t so sure about it but it grew on me real quick,” York says. “It kind of reminds me of the TV show ‘Cheers.’ You walk around town and quite honestly everyone knows your name. That’s what I like about it. We need to go back to that small-town charm we once had.”
York is very critical of what he sees as misconduct at Thorold City Hall.
“I’ve had enough of the overspending, the reckless spending and the corruption going on at City Hall,” he says. “We need to get back to the basics of learning to work within the budget that we have. A big problem we spend a major amount of money on is the Canada Summer Games facility. We have a great big palace that only one percent of the population is going to use.”
York is also looking to abolish the city's residential rental licence program, and hopes to resurrect the city’s annual Italian festival.
For his campaign, York will keep it simple.
“The only thing I’m doing is door hangers,” says York. “I’m not doing any signs because to be quite honest it’s cost prohibitive. Everybody is going to have their signs on people’s lawns. It makes the city look like trash when you’re driving down the road and you see 200 signs in a three-block radius.”
If elected, York will not be afraid to speak his mind.
“I tell it like it is and I’m about accountability and true transparency,” he says. “Not hiding behind the bush, not hiding behind secrets and making backdoor deals. This is about being transparent and being open and honest to the taxpayer so they know exactly where their money is going. I’m not going to be afraid to ask the tough questions.”
York says people should vote for him because he will always have the taxpayers' interests at heart.
"[Councillor] Jim Handley having his pay suspended was a big deal," he says. "I can tell you this: based on my experience they will likely be suspending my pay for the full four years because I’m not afraid to speak out and I’m not apologizing for representing the taxpayer to the best of my ability."
