Fred Winegust, Vaughan regional councillor candidate

Yorkregion.com
September 20, 2018

My name is Fred Winegust, your candidate for local and regional councillor.

Working at IBM for 32 years as a global marketing manager, I earned a combined MBA from Queen's and Cornell universities. Now I help community organizations improve their operations. My wife, Rena, and I have lived in Thornhill for over 30 years, raising five children who have become impressive adults.

I am an active community member, especially with my local ratepayer association. Using a collaborative approach to community issues, I brought together residents, developers, politicians and city staff to advocate for rational development. This led to a better result to the proposed Sobeys plaza redevelopment at Clark and Hilda and a real impact on the plans for the Promenade Mall redevelopment. This approach is needed at York regional council.

East Vaughan (Thornhill and Thornhill Woods) has grown explosively over the last decades into a desirable and diverse area. Our roads and transit have not matched this growth. In Thornhill, the region is building a Rapidway on Bathurst, causing uncounted hours of gridlock. Once the construction ends, there will still be only four lanes for traffic and two dedicated bus lanes. Is this designed to increase, rather than reduce traffic?

As a regional councillor, I will lead on traffic issues. We need the Yonge Subway Extension. We need to break the Unfair 2-Fare Wall that costs commuters an extra $1,700 annually. We cannot allow the new subway to makes our students’ commute to York University slower, more expensive and less safe.

I will also lead in preparing Vaughan for its aging population. We must ensure programs and infrastructure are ready.

Vaughan needs new blood rather than the same people who have represented us for decades. East Vaughan needs a real, local voice. Cast your vote for Fred Winegust.