Child poverty and an auditor general highlight first Ward 2 debate
Incumbent John Elliott is challenged by one other candidate, Fabio Costante
A report that says one out of three children is living in poverty in Windsor-West brought a passionate response from incumbent councillor John Elliott at an election forum for Ward 2 Tuesday.
"We've done the work — we don't talk about it," said Elliott, after his opponent Fabio Costante listed the statistic from Campaign 2000, a movement to eliminate poverty, as one of his three priorities for the City of Windsor to address.
"You know what the statistic is for Ward 2?" asked Costante, who is challenging Elliott for his seat on council.
"Almost 55 per cent," Costante answered, citing numbers from United Way Windsor-Essex for the specific area that sits in Windsor's west end.
Elliott responded by holding up his history in the community.
"We don't use a flashy neon sign 'oh yeah by the way, one in every two west-end kids is homeless, poverty.' We work in it. We raise these kids," said Elliott, adding he has hundreds of stories.
"We put our money where our mouth is about that one, and I'm not particularly happy that that's being shopped around, it's all over the city. We know we have low-income families in need, we've done the work for it for 30 years so we know."
This forum was the first Ballots and Brews, an election forum for Wards 2 to 5, hosted by YQG + Me, a group that's hoping to engage millennials so they will go and vote on Oct. 22.
Both Costante and Elliott attended and the audience had a chance to ask them questions.
One of the first questions from the public was if the candidates support an independent auditor general for the City of Windsor.
"If we look at the cost of the office at $300,000, $400,000 or $500,000 — with a city budget, operating budget of $807 million or $808 million, it's a drop in the bucket," said Costante.
"More importantly is what return in investment can an auditor general provide?"
Windsor currently has an outside accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, which handles reports on an as-requested basis.
"I support having a provincial auditor general," said Elliott, referencing the motion he voted in favour of during a 2015 council meeting.
"They want an auditor general because they think someone is cheating at city hall, so be it. I don't feel like that, personally I don't feel like that," said Elliott, adding he doesn't support an auditor general to "walk around and look over people's shoulder and make them feel uncomfortable."
He said he also supports the current system, believing that hiring a local independent auditor general would only lead to that person being so busy they would have to bring in an outside firm.
The next event is for Ward 3 on Wednesday from 9 to 11 p.m. at Craftheads Brewing Co.