By Dan Jones, LJI
Northumberland 89.7 FM
The three A’s – Affordability, Accountability, and Adaptability – are the pillars of Todd Attridge’s campaign for Port Hope’s top job.
He’s recognizing that the cost of living, U.S. tariffs, and housing prices are squeezing residents.
At the same time, Port Hope, he claims, faces $100 million in aging infrastructure issues that need attention. Yet, with struggling industry, much of the burden of repairs or infrastructure replacement will fall on taxpayers.
Attridge proposes changing that by shifting the tax percentage away from citizens and onto the agricultural, tourism, and manufacturing sectors.
“Taxes are really high, and people are struggling to really afford their houses,” he said. “We can diversify the tax base. Most of the taxes fall on the shoulders of residents.”
Attridge wants to pursue new industrial development and grow current industries, which he hopes will generate more revenue for the municipality. Part of this will be to identify lands prime for labour force development to attract business opportunity.
With increased business, comes increased population. Attridge said Port Hope has a zero percent vacancy rate, no rentals, and seniors are over-housed and looking to downsize, with few options; creating a mix of housing is a must to support economic growth.
He asserts that Port Hope has many outdated bylaws and that overhauling the Official Community Plan will make it easier to develop multi-unit residential buildings. Attridge said adjusting the “As of Rights” requirements for apartment and townhouse builds will speed up the approval process.
“Our bylaws make it slow and clunky to get builds in the ground,” he explained.
The current councilor said he is hearing that many in Port Hope feel they are not being heard or that Council is not transparent in its decision-making.
“Documents are written in jargon you don’t speak. Decisions are made before you even know they’re coming. There’s a sense that you’re not being heard or included,” his platform said.
To address this, Attridge is committing to having the municipality answer questions clearly and immediately, and to implement a system to track residents’ concerns and publish an accountability and performance audit of Council’s yearly progress.
Attridge is contesting against Olena Hankivsky, Angela Grogan, Ian West and David Stambrook for mayor of Port Hope.
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