Meet the 4 candidates vying to take the empty seat in Ward 4 in St. John's

Four people are vying to represent St. John's Ward 4 in a byelection on March 12, with candidates focusing on transportation and taxes, among other issues.

Myles Russell, Tom Davis, Greg Smith and Nicholas Hillier are running for the seat vacated in December by Ian Froude, who cited a lack of motivation for the work.

Froude had represented Ward 4 since 2017 and was re-elected by acclamation in 2021.

Meet the candidates

Myles Russell, a civil engineering technologist, says that after 15 years working in the heavy civil industry and sitting in on government meetings about development regulations, he wants to be on the other side of the discussion.

"What we need in council are people who have a deep understanding of the actual engineering guidelines and policies. That's how our built environment is managed, and essentially, the City of St. John's, is civil engineering design and modelling with regulations on top," he told CBC News.

Russell said he wants to fix what he calls "broken regulations" by crafting better policies.

"The way we urban plan the city is very bad. It's a horrible method, should not be repeated. We've been doing the bad thing for 75, 80 years in North America. It's got to stop."

Russell also took issue with council's recent decision to reduce the Metrobus budget by $1.4 million — which was justified by council because of the additional money coming in for high ridership.

"That's a bad move. Imagine if all of a sudden, 'Hey, more people are here, we got more sewer tax. So let's just have less sewer,' like we're going to slow down the amount of septic systems and the amount of treatment we can do down at the South Side Hills. No, that's silly."

He added there are also ways to be more efficient with bus routes that can serve more people.

Tom Davis says he's a businessperson and involved with the community through the Rotary Club and other organizations.He ran in the 2021 St. John's municipal election as an at-large candidate.

"I really feel that there's an absence of courageous leadership to address the root problems of a lot of the big issues that we see in the news, which in my opinion, are symptoms of underlying lack of forward thinking," Davis said.

His main motivation was to address what he saw as a problem with increased city spending and increased taxes for residents and small businesses.

"There's other things that are really important. But for me, right now, it's dollars and cents. It's the pocketbook. It's the fact that the residents don't even realize the impacts," Davis said.

Back in December, he said, council voted unanimously to pass its budget — which included property tax increases — but downplayed the impact it would have on residents.

He also vowed he would not shy away from issues and was willing to disagree with others on council.

"Probably not going to be super-popular around the council table because I'm not going to stand idly by and be managed by the public relations people that are down there."

Greg Smith says he gets to see how policies impact people's daily lives through municipal politics.

"I think that my voice is necessary at city hall. As an openly queer man. As a person raised on social housing. A person that is a transit user, a pedestrian," said Smith.

"I think that I get to bring some distinct and unique life experiences and also some policy pieces forward to city hall that's, you know, that's going to set me apart from the rest."

He has a number of issues he wants to tackle if elected, such as creating more urban density that's pedestrian and cyclist friendly.

When it comes to businesses, he's interested in looking at ways to ease restrictions on small business owners, pointing to the time it takes for a restaurant owner to get permission to turn some parking spaces into an outdoor patio.

"I've always wanted to step up and represent this place and represent the people here. And I think that at this time more than ever, Ward 4, St. John's as a whole, is at a really pivotal moment," he said.

Smith ran in the 2020 Ward 2 byelection and then again in 2021 as an at-large candidate.

"I can make a lot of change and that's why this is my third time running and hopefully the third time is the charm," said Smith.

Nicholas Hillier, a substitute teacher and community volunteer, says he wants to be the voice representing the people of Ward 4 as someone who lives there.

"I know there are a number of candidates who don't live in the ward, and for me, I'm a firm believer that the representative should come from within," he said.

He said he's always been drawn to municipal politics, even studying it as a university student and sitting on a St. John's advisory committee.

"I see a gap there in what our ward wants and what our ward is getting in terms of a representative," Hillier said.

"My list of things is all about representing the ward, representing the wishes of the people who live here."

He said there are a wide range of issues in Ward 4, including getting help renovating heritage homes and concerns about flooding, water and sewage problems.

"This is my home. I live here and I experience these issues too. And you know, people are saying they feel like they don't have someone in their corner to fight for and they don't feel somebody is representing their wishes well."

He cited council's recent approval of a fourplex near the university. Dozens of people came out to a public meeting to voice their disapproval for it, including the strain it would but on the existing sewer system, but their concerns were dismissed. 

"That, in my opinion, is not good governance," Hillier said. "Government should be for the people. I always will stand by that."

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