ThoroldToday will be profiling every candidate in the upcoming municipal and school board elections on Oct. 24. Today: current city councillor Nella Dekker.
Nella Dekker is finishing up her first term as Thorold City Councillor. She hopes to get re-elected by letting the last four years speak for itself.
“We had a tremendous amount of successes on this council considering we were going through a global pandemic,” Dekker says, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “I’m really proud of a lot of our accomplishments.”
Dekker, who just turned 61 years old, was born and raised in Thorold and she says that being a Thoroldite is an inextricable part of her identity.
“I’m really proud that I’m from Thorold,” she says. “People always want to gravitate back to Thorold. Thorold is probably the best place, it’s home.”
Dekker sought election back in 2018 because she felt frustrated that businesses, such as banks and liquor stores, were leaving Thorold. Dekker says that there were many different milestones during her first term on Thorold City Council.
“I’m really happy that we got the Pathstone Mental Health satellite office at the Thorold Public Library, especially during that period of time when we needed something like that in Thorold,” she says. “I’m really happy that we’re going to be developing the new fire hall. That was something that was really important to get done with this term of council, [as well as] improving the parks and the trails.”
Dekker says she has volunteered for decades in Thorold, notably at her old job with the bank in the Pine St Plaza, and with the Thorold Community Activities Group where she was a board member for 15 years.
Over the past two weeks Dekker volunteered at the Canada Summer Games and she says it was one of the most amazing experiences of her life.
She is proud to have been a part of city council's decision to go in on the Canada Games facility.
“That was something that was part of my campaign when I was first running,” Dekker says. “I think Thorold needed a complex like that. Especially for recreation, having a facility to go to, the Thorold Elite Track and Field needed a place to do their training.”
Dekker already has a long lists of projects she would like to see happen if she gets re-elected. She points to big construction projects like St. David’s Road and the rebuilding of Broderick Avenue.
Another issue she hopes to tackle in her next term is the current shortage of doctors in Thorold.
“A huge focus is getting more doctors into the Thorold area,” says Dekker. “We had a lot of doctors that were here a long time. I had my doctor for over 40 years and he retired during the pandemic and he never had a replacement. There’s a few other doctors from the clinic that left. That is huge. There are still thousands of patients that don’t have doctors.”
Affordable housing initiatives are also on Dekker’s agenda, as well as improved public transit for Allanburg and Thorold South.
If she gets elected again, Dekker hopes to continue to strengthen the community.
“I’m a very positive person,” she says. “It’s going to be a very positive campaign. I made a positive difference in our community and I want to continue to do that. I want to build a strong community for everyone.”
