Sudbury Ward 9 Candidate Wanda Berton-Heyerichs: Making City Services Work Better

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Hello, everybody. It's Eric here from Love the North. And the municipal election is coming up very soon. And we're going through the candidates that have contacted us or reached out to us in order to let their constituents know who they are and where they want to help lead the city.

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So today from Ward 9, we have Wanda Burton Hyrics. And she's joining us here in studio. And first question we're going to ask her, Wanda, what's prompting you to run in this year's municipal election? Well, I'm running this year for a few reasons. But mostly I'm running because I just want the city services to work better. I think that it can. And then I have a few of my own personal reasons

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two winters ago because of road conditions. They canceled my son's school bus.

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And so that was concerning. I want to make sure that it doesn't happen again. And then I also noticed this past winter during the ice storm

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that because the snow banks weren't reduced halfway through the winter, I think that that made it worse.

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And so it prompted me to consider running for council this year in order to improve services. So Ward 9 is a pretty spread out ward. What are some of the communities that it actually covers? Ward 9 is unusual because it's over a large area and there's more than one community. So it basically encompasses the South End, Coniston, Wanapate and Wanap. And a lot of these communities share common concerns.

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But maybe their needs are a little bit different. So that's kind of what I've discovered from talking to people. So when you're outdoor knocking, what are some of these concerns that people are bringing up? Well, I've gone door knocking in Coniston so far and the South End. And the concerns in Coniston have been around speeding, safety.

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I've had a few people mention there was some vandalism at the park. And I thought, well, maybe if we had better lighting, all of them have similar concerns there, but they overall seem happy living in that community. And the South End, it was around taxes and roads seem to be a priority. So where do you stand on? What's your position on the property taxes? Well, I think if we're asking residents to pay more every year, I think that we should be able to see and feel the impacts of that so that it works better. And for me, I've looked at my property tax bill. And in 2020, I think my taxes were around $8,000 per year. And then you fast forward now to 2026. And I'm now paying roughly around $11,400. So that's a 42% increase. And I just don't know really if I've seen or felt that kind of improvement in my,

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like in the, like how the services feel, basically like the basic municipal services like roads and whatnot. So to me, that's kind of concerning. I just want to know if we're getting good value for what we're paying. Yeah, I was going to ask you, are we getting reasonable value for money or is water somehow getting through the drain? Well, I mean, that's the question, right? We have to ask those questions. You know, are we getting good value?

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Are we seeing services improvement throughout the city? And not only that, I think if you're living in the South End or in Coniston or downtown, I think that you should expect a reasonable level of service based, like wherever you live in the municipality, you should have, like basic services to me should be roughly the same wherever you go, if that's what our priority is, right? Okay, so I know you mentioned downtown and Ward 9 doesn't have anything to do with downtown, but what would you do to, how can we make communities safer?

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Well, I think we do a lot of things already to make things safer. I think police are in that mental health, addictions, that kind of thing.

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And I just want to make sure that, like, I would want to know what's causing it. Like, what's causing these problems to keep re-occurring? Because if we're investing in policing, like, what's the outcome? And so I think that we need to look at how the system works, because if you don't have

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a system working properly in one area, it just creates a problem in another area. Okay, the homeless... And you know what, one other thing too, before we...

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And for example, we could use, like, there's other little things that we can do to improve safety too, like for the example that I mentioned about the girl that I was speaking to in Coniston that mentioned about the park and how there was some vandalism there. I mean, maybe we could do some lighting, you know, something like that, maybe some cameras, I don't know, but it's something that we can look at to find out where the gaps are.

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Okay, what about the homelessness and drug use and panhandling that we do see around the city?

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Well, again, I would want to know what's causing it. Like, why are we seeing this increase? It tells me that something's not right in the system, right? And so I think that you have to have involvement with other community members. We're going to talk to people and find out what the problem is to make sure that we're addressing the right problem. And like I said, police are part of the solution. There's mental health addiction. So I just want to make sure that we're putting resources in the right area and finding out, you know, what we can do better. So I think we really have to listen and coordinate. Like, where are the gaps in that system? And I think that's really what I'm interested in finding out. Okay, affordable housing, what does it mean to you?

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That's a good question, affordable housing, because I ask myself that all the time. I hear that word, those words, affordable housing. And who are we trying to make affordable housing for? Are we trying to, what type of affordable housing? Is it home ownership or is it

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renters? Like, I think we need a better definition because, you know, if we're making three bedroom units, but somebody is coming out of homelessness and requires a safe one bedroom unit, and we're only making three bedroom units, then there's going to be a gap there. And so that's what I think that we need to do. We need to find what exactly affordable housing is, what we're trying to do, who needs this affordable housing so that we can make sure that we're housing the right, providing the right amount of the right housing for the right people. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes sense. Because definitely, if you're homeless, and you're coming into a housing unit, you don't need a three bedroom place. You need a, maybe even a bachelor, just a studio, just something or, you know, I know the city here may not yet allow for tiny homes. What about a tiny home? I've thought of that too. And I've looked at other areas that have considered it. And there it has been offered in other communities. I haven't done a deep dive into it. But maybe it is something that we need to decide because, you know, just if we have an affordable housing target, that's a target on paper. But how do we know we're meeting the needs of the community, right? It looks good on paper. But if it's not meeting the needs, then there's something wrong with the system. And so that's why I think it starts first with defining what type of affordable housing we and where, who needs it, you know? You know, these, going back to the tax situation and these major projects that are ongoing, what's your stance on these major projects that the city is currently working on or is about to encroach on? What's your stance? Because someone's got to pay for that. Well, that's true. And we do have some projects that are ongoing in the city. And what I think is that we need to be focused on preventative maintenance and making sure that our services are running efficiently. That would be my priority. And it's not to say that other things aren't important. It's just that we have to prioritize these things. And if they're working good and meeting the needs of residents in the community, then I think then we can consider other things. But I just want the city to work better for the people that live here.

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What's your background and what would you bring to council?

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Well, my previous experience has taught me to work with people, listen, and

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my previous background has taught me to work with people, come up with solutions, ask questions. And basically, my background includes I've worked previously at Canadian Blood Services. So I was a clinic coordinator and community development coordinator. So I had to have measurable, I had measurable success in increasing donor retention and participation. I've also worked as a mental health worker at Canadian Mental Health. So I have some experience with mental health issues, addiction, and housing issues. I also have an education background in corrections. And I've also have an experience in human resource management.

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Okay, so that's a good diverse range on the spectrum. I call myself a generalist. A generalist, okay.

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So Wanda, you said you were in your past life, you were a coordinator at

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Canadian Blood Services. Can you give me an example of some process that was going on where you maybe changed it somewhat?

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Like I said, I'm a systems thinker. So when I started at Canadian Blood Services as a clinic coordinator, I had to deal with different departments. So there was a volunteer department and a transport department. So if I had a clinic going on that I needed volunteers, I would have to call volunteer department and ask them, Hey, you know, I need three volunteers. And sometimes I would have groups coming in to donate blood, like a high school or business. And so I would have to coordinate with the transport department in order to get them to pick them up. And so for the longest time, they, they just would pick up the phone and call these departments and sometimes they'd be there. Sometimes they wouldn't, and it would take half the day to coordinate these things. And so I realized that there was a shared drive, um, uh, at the blood donor clinic, and I said, Hey, how about I make a spreadsheet and, uh, we'll do it for the month and we'll, I'll put down in the spreadsheet that what I require on each day. And then this way here, the departments can look each day to see what it is that I need and fill those roles. Uh, and then this way here, it would save time. They wouldn't have to call me. I wouldn't have to call them. And then this way here, the, uh, uh, the clinic would run smoothly and everything would be coordinated to the amount of donors that was expected to bring in that day. So that specific process was running for how many years before you got there? Oh, forever for decade. And at least, uh, they've always done it that way. And I mean, the blood donor, donor clinic was there a long time, but, uh, I was there and it just didn't make sense to me that it would seem like a waste of time. Uh, and I just wanted things to be more efficient. So, um, and it solved the problem. And, uh, I think, uh, even after I left, I think they continued on with that process. Uh, that's a great example. Yeah.

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With, should you become the Ward 9 counselor, what would you do different than the current council? Like, let's say something was going forward, and you may or may not agree with it. How would you handle that?

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Well, I tend to, I'm a systems thinker, and I tend to operate from first principles. So what I would do first would be define the problem, see what we're already doing,

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identify some gaps, and then that's where I would want to put the resources. And then, then you would measure it to see if we're making, if we're meeting the needs or the objectives. And if not, then you have to go back to the board, basically. So that's, that's what I would want to bring to council if I was elected. Yeah, that sort of seems like breaking the problem down into a simplest form. That's right. Exactly. That's what first principles is. Oh, okay. It's perfect. You know it. Okay, okay. So at the end of the day, why should the constituents vote for you?

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Well, based, well, I am a first principles and systems thinker, too, so I think that that would bring a lot to the table. Not only that, I think that I, kind of like on my sign says, that I'm ready to listen, learn, and you know, I'm ready to work hard to work for people of my board and the city as a whole. Last question. Oh, gosh. Yeah. Last question.

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Towing the party line. What's your stance on that? You know, everyone, you're going to vote a certain way because everyone else is voting that way. Right or wrong on the subject, what would you do? I think that you have to vote on the issues that are important to you and the issues that are important to me or making sure that city services work well. I mean, we pay a lot of tax and so I that the city is meeting the needs of the residents that live here. And I mean, I look at, you know, snow removal, roads, infrastructure. To me, those are basic services and I think that that

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that needs to be addressed and that should be, in my opinion, if the person that's running is,

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you know, for those things that, and if they're important to you, then I would, that's where I would put my vote. And so I would ask, you know, that you put your faith in me and vote for me for Ward 9.

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