Aurora mayoral candidate Anna Lozyk Romeo shares vision for town's future

Thestar.com
Sept. 26, 2022
Simone Joseph

Growing up in Poland, Aurora mayoral candidate Anna Lozyk Romeo was fairly environmentally conscious.

She brought her candy wrappers home and grew up with few plastics around. She remembers they used to have only one strong plastic bag, which her family reused repeatedly.

As mayor, she hopes to focus partly on environmental issues.

“We can’t overdevelop ... we still need green spaces,” she said.

It upsets her when she sees construction sites throwing away garbage on land or in creeks or she sees people littering with coffee cups.

She wants to bring in some initiatives to help solve the garbage issue and believes we need to educate the younger generation.

She has lived in Aurora for 25 years and first got involved as a parent, looking for events to attend. This morphed into an interest in town council. In 2013, she became interested in issues such as restoring the historic Petch House, a two-storey log home constructed in 1844 and located beside the Aurora Seniors Centre. She also helped get a sidewalk installed in the Earl Stewart Drive and St. John’s Side Road area.

Lozyk Romeo is also known for her blog Living in Aurora, which she has developed for over ten years. She is also known for taking photos. One of the main focuses of her photography has been the changing look of Aurora.

Asked to pinpoint positives and negatives of council, she cited lack of fiscal responsibility as a negative. “They overspent on some projects, more than we would have expected.” One example of this is the Aurora Town Square, she said. She also said more transparency is needed on certain projects, such as the Aurora Armoury. “They don’t want to show us the details of the lease,” she said.

Another negative? “Everyone (on council) releases their own information or the information they want to release,” Lozyk Romeo said.

Lozyk Romeo is a business owner and professional engineer who lives in Ward 1.

Asked about her hopes for Aurora, Lozyk Romeo was quick to respond: Sustainable, balanced growth. There’s a push to develop but also traffic concerns, she said. “I hope we think about the future, what might happen and plan appropriate, partly sustainable development.”

As for a positive? Council’s ability to push through during the pandemic, she said.