Fawcett making the most of unopposed campaign

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This article was published 27/08/2022 (1273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Though Jeff Fawcett is still the only registered mayoral candidate in Brandon’s upcoming municipal election, that doesn’t mean he’s resting on his laurels.

The Assiniboine Ward councillor has been attending events across town and visiting residents since announcing his candidacy in April.

“That’s not the expectation when you enter,” Fawcett said of being unopposed so far. “You have a whole bunch of things sitting on the backburner, not spending money on signs and such — which are ready to go — but why have them out now?”

Compared to his previous three campaigns for councillor, one of the biggest differences is that he has a campaign team beyond immediate family and friends.

It’s also been unusual for them, Fawcett said, not having to prepare for debates or any other formal campaign events.

However, Fawcett said he’s ready to start door-knocking to start discussing issues with residents and drumming up interest in other council and school board races. Concerns he has heard from residents so far include infrastructure improvements and developments in south Brandon, as well as complaints regarding the city’s on-demand transit service.

Earlier this summer, the city announced it would be changing providers for that service after riders expressed frustration with the system.

That changeover was scheduled to take place earlier this month, and Fawcett said he’s already heard from residents that they’re having a hard time keeping their schedule with the service and take taxis more often as a result.

He’s also heard a lot about issues facing downtown Brandon.

In particular, Fawcett said the city should work on making downtown a place where women feel safe and comfortable to visit and do business, especially since they’re frequently the ones making financial decisions in their households.

“If they feel safe downtown, you and I feel safe downtown,” he said. “I feel pretty safe, but I’m a bad judge, I can’t speak for my wife, my niece, my mom.”

Downtown Brandon also has an image problem, he said. While newcomers may not immediately see any issues affecting the city’s core, longtime residents know different.

“In perspective, someone coming from a major urban centre maybe found our downtown quaint and nice and functional, but we tell them different once they get here. We do that a lot.”

Improving that image problem starts with economic development and social services, among other groups, he said.

The city launched a downtown safety and wellness task force last year to address some of the issues in that neighbourhood. As a member of that task force and the Community Wellness Collaborative, Fawcett said it’s become clear to him the city needs to widen its partnership with the provincial government on social services and social issues.

“We are concerned about the trickle-down we might get from the provincial government and the federal government,” Fawcett said about the cost of social services. “We’re seeing it even with the police force, we’re seeing it more and more as they provide social services. We’ve got to talk with the government about that — how can we continue to do policing and not have it just turn into social-service work?”

Those conversations with the province should also include increasing funding to municipalities, Fawcett said, which hasn’t happened since 2015.

With a provincial election on the horizon next year, Fawcett said he knows how to work with both the current Progressive Conservative government and the NDP, who were in power when he first joined council in 2010.

In recent months, the province has made several joint funding announcements with the federal government on files like child care and transit. Fawcett would like to see Brandon included in those announcements more often.

One project he said could benefit from federal funding is the drainage improvements planned for southeast Brandon, especially with an eye toward climate change.

“We have existing parts of the city that can just no longer handle the way our rain falls,” he said. “We’re seeing it consistently, all the time. Even the rain that came the other day was an enormous amount of rain in 25 minutes. Our system can handle it, just not all at once in those 25 minutes.”

Earlier this month, Brandon released some results from Phase 1 of public feedback for the development of a new city plan. Much of the feedback concerned transportation options and making Brandon a more walkable city.

Fawcett said he wasn’t surprised by the results, having heard similar feedback from residents, but it’s something the city really needs to consider especially with gas prices so high.

While Fawcett remains the only registered mayoral candidate so far, there are still opportunities for those interested in the race to sign up before the nomination process opens next month.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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