“To speak for the people and get things done”
Ken Paige recently entered the political race for Mayor in Halton Hills. Paige is hoping to fill retiring Rick Bonnette’s position as head of the council. Paige is no stranger to business and politics, he spent the bulk of his career in business and leading many companies into success. Early on in his political career, Paige was elected for two terms as an alderman for East York, now part of Toronto. Currently residing in the community of Glenn Williams, Paige joined Acton UP in an interview to discuss why he believes he should be elected Halton’s Mayor.
“I had this sense of getting the attention of issues that were important to me and the community was like pushing a string uphill, which felt like the wrong way a municipality should be because at the end of the day the municipalities are the closest levels of government to the residents who live there.”
Traffic, development, and safety of the community are all significant issues that Paige desires to focus on during his campaign and possible election. “As an elected Mayor of the town council you need to be open and approachable and sometimes I think that gets lost. You need to be somebody people feel they can pick up the phone and give you a call.”
Paige believes communication with the council and its residents is absolutely key in order to run a successful and harmonious district. Paige believes in the five seconds rule, commonly associated with dropping food, however, Paige applies it to kindness, “if you're about to reach a door and you know within five seconds the person behind you will also reach the door, just stand there and hold it open for them–it's a sense of building for kindness and community is what is important.”
Being a chartered accountant, Paige will focus on finical issues front and centre, “being the budget Chief for other municipalities before I am in tuned to the kinds of things that will have to change.”
Paige believes the most important thing is to be transparent and that he is hearing the communities concerns, “getting back to people, even the issues that may not seem important to the individual is being heard by the Mayor, because if you are not doing that then you are not doing your job.”
The hallmarks of Paige’s previous experience as CEO of multiple businesses are "integrity, respect, communication, and transparency", Ken says, “these are all traits that are significantly important to have–treat people how they should be treated.”
If you would like to find out more about Ken Paige and his campaign you can visit his website....http://www.kenpaige.ca
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