Bhavesh Patel takes on Hildebrand in Ward 5

Until election day, The Brandon Sun will be running profiles on each of the city’s 10 electoral wards, asking candidates to identify the most important problems facing their ward.

Businessman Bhavesh Patel is challenging Coun. Greg Hildebrand for the Ward 5 seat.

Running for his second term, Hildebrand, 53, said pedestrian safety is the most important concern for him and ward residents going into the Oct. 28 election.

“Safety and scooters seem to be what I’m hearing at the doors, and that’s the topic that rises to the forefront,” Hildebrand said.

He said Ward 5 is a “pretty stable” part of the city, with far less construction than other wards.

The ward encompasses land between 18th and 26th streets, and between Victoria and Maryland avenues. It is mainly residential, though it does include the Shoppers Mall and other businesses on the west side of 18th Street.

Hildebrand said he wants the city to look at the province’s recently passed e-scooter legislation once it comes into effect and make sure that it works effectively for the city.

“We don’t want to jump the gun on that and then end up being in a position where we have to rewrite a bylaw to come into compliance,” he said, adding: “I think we need to look at helmets.”

Patel said last month that he wants the city to take the initiative for an e-scooter and e-bike bylaw and not wait for the province’s bill to be implemented.

Hildebrand, incumbent Mayor Jeff Fawcett and incumbent Ward 7 Coun. Shawn Berry all warned against that approach, though, as the city might have to revisit its bylaw and make amendments.

Patel, on Thursday, said while that could be the case, he wants the city to find out what timeline there might be for the province’s bill to come into effect, and if it’s more than a year away, the city should still take the initiative.

A provincial spokesperson last month said that “supporting regulatory amendments are still being developed and the provisions will come into effect once the required regulations are finalized.” There was no update to the timeline on Thursday.

Patel, 42, also said there should be more education for children around e-scooters and e-bikes, saying safety comes with education.

Hildebrand also said he wants the city and Brandon School Division to take the initiative around education in the school system.

“I think that we have a good relationship with the school division, and we meet with them regularly,” Hildebrand said. “And I would expect that they would be on board because I think that safety is a priority for the trustees as well.”

Hildebrand was first elected in 2022 with 78 per cent of the vote against Sunday Frangi, who is now running in Ward 2.

Ward 5 was known as the Meadows-Waverly ward before it was redrawn ahead of the 2022 election.

Hildebrand lives in the ward, while Patel lives in a neighbouring one.

Along with e-scooter and e-bike regulations, other major concerns for Patel are infrastructure in the neighbourhood, such as roads and sidewalk maintenance, and effective snow clearing.

Patel said he wants to work with the department in charge of snow clearing to figure out what problems need to be addressed. In the past, crews took far too long to clear snow from the street, he said.

He would also like the city to be more transparent with residents about timelines on road and other infrastructure repairs.

“I will work with that particular department, like what’s the problem they are facing?” he said. “And with the authority of that particular department, who is handling the public roads, snow cleanings and those things. Why that has not been done?”

Hildebrand said he wants to continue to improve pedestrian safety when it comes to crosswalks and implementing a four-way stop at the intersection of Brandon Avenue and 22nd Street.

“We have had Brandon Police Service put the secret spy and clock speeds along Brandon Avenue, and they’ve had people over 100 kilometres an hour on that stretch,” he said. “And so, putting a four-way stop there will be a commitment that I would like to follow through on.”

When it comes to business, Hildebrand said the city has a responsibility to ensure the business climate is predictable when council develops policy.

“That’s really the crux of business. If you can take away risk, then people will invest, and so if we’re looking for ways to eliminate unknowns, we make things easier,” he said.

He said predictability helps attract both small business and larger industry to set up shop.

“If we are able to have our economic development people be aggressive in chasing and attracting larger business, then small business also will thrive,” Hildebrand said.

Hildebrand said the South Village neighbourhood, which could include a mix of housing and commercial space just south Patricia Avenue, would be positive for his ward, despite being just outside its boundaries.

“Those will be jobs that are close by, easy access. It’s obviously expanding the tax base and making us a larger community,” he said. “When we have those opportunities to build housing and attract business, then the city becomes larger.”

It will also be interesting to see what the results of the federal census this year are, he said, as the city could be a popular new destination for companies once it hits a population of 60,000. The city had a population of 54,268 as of the 2021 census.

Patel said for businesses, the city needs to evaluate how it taxes commercial areas. Lower commercial property taxes would help reduce costs for businesses that pay rent, he said.

“We should … stabilize the property taxes, ensuring that business will not see an increase in rent,” he said.

He also wants the city to attract more development to increase the tax base.

Asked about the shuttered former Sobeys store that sits across the street from the ward’s eastern boundary, and what he would like to see happen, Patel said he wants an activity centre to set up in the space.

Sobeys left the 1645 18th St. building in 2017 to relocate across the street, but continues to pay rent, which prevents a rival store from operating at the location.

Patel said he has heard from a handful of people that there is a lack of “inside activities” in the neighbourhood and that a centre like that would be a good addition.

“Maybe the city or the entrepreneur come up with some kind of the solution to offer facilities for the youngsters and the young kids,” he said, adding a grocery store is also a good idea.

Hildebrand, when asked about the shuttered location, said he thinks the provincial government is doing a good job of advocating for Sobeys’ parent company to open up the location for another tenant.

“Having derelict or ghost buildings is not a real positive thing for a community,” he said.

Even neighbourhood morale drops when residents see a shuttered business in their backyard, he said.

“We want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity, and the more business that’s close by attracts other business and brings people,” he said.

Hildebrand said he’s also a proponent of advocating for the province to allow the city to set a default residential speed limit of 40 km/h.

“I believe that that should be a citywide initiative that we should be lobbying the province to make that an easier task to undertake.”

Brandon and Winnipeg councils have petitioned the province to make a change to that effect, but the province said municipalities already have that power by placing speed-limit signs at every residential intersection.

Placing those signs would cost the city $2.25 million, council has been told, with a city official saying that would be “fiscally irresponsible.”

Patel also said he wants to be an advocate for the downtown, and that all councillors need to work together to better that neighbourhood.

Patel isn’t related to any of the other three Patels also registered in the election.

Both candidates confirmed they will participate in the Oct. 14 debate.

Advanced voting is Oct. 14, 17 and 22.

» alambert@brandonsun.com