Who are these people and why do they think they can pressure city Hall?

Basically it is a bunch of people who give a damn.  The logged in hundreds of hour producing a report they felt could not be left to gather dust on a shelf and so they organized and lobbied and delegated and now wait to see what the city is going to do.

The only complaint one ‘might’ have with the group is that they are ‘self’ appointed.  You can apply to be part of the group but the group decides who will become members.  This approach invites the description: A “self appointed interest group” that was used by one Council member at a recent meeting.

Shaping Burlington consists of former members of the Mayor’s Citizen Committee on Civic Engagement (Shape Burlington) working to encourage the implementation of the Shape Burlington Report recommendations by the City of Burlington.

 

David Auger

David Auger has lived in Burlington for twenty-five years. His career spanned banking, marketing, planning, and publishing at financial, technology, and non-profit organizations. In 2009, David founded Community Media Burlington on the notion that individuals and communities benefit from a broad-based and inclusive exchange of public dialogue, news, and information.

John Boich

John is a retired educator who has been active in local government through involvement in a number of advisory committees to City Council.

 

 

David Conrath

Dave is a retired academic (information systems) who, after 25 years at the University of Waterloo, moved into administration, most recently as the Dean of Business at McMaster and then at San Jose State (CA). He is a political neophyte who hopes to bring the perspective of an outsider to Shaping Burlington.

 

 

Ken Edwards

Ken has been active in municipal government affairs for 20 years, when he chaired a local residential committee in negotiating a large land development proposal.  Since then, Ken has participated in a number of city, community and regional committees, including the redevelopment of the Burlington Art Centre, the City of Burlington Smoking Committee, Waste Water Management Committee, an information gathering committee pertaining to Governance in Halton Region, among others.

 

 

Larissa Fenn

Larissa Fenn is a Burlington-based communications professional with a background in public policy. She has developed and implemented communications and government relations strategies on topics ranging from municipal infrastructure projects, to environmental and consumer financial issues. Larissa currently leads the Communications function at a GTA Conservation Authority.

Shannon Gillies

After more than a decade working in the publishing industry, Shannon is now a teacher with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. A lifelong resident of Burlington, she lives in the downtown core.

 

 

Mark Henderson

Mark has been an active Burlington citizen and educator for years. Currently a member of the Ward 2 Citizen’s Advisory Committee, Burlington High School Parent Council, worked on the Shape Burlington Mayor’s Advisory Committee, and helps train Chinese teachers of English in China in his spare time.

 

Paul Mitchell

Paul worked for more than 30 years in daily journalism, including 27 years at the Hamilton Spectator where he was Business Editor and Business Columnist. After leaving The Spectator, he joined Brickworks Communications in Burlington, where he worked with clients in both the public and private sectors, including the City of Burlington and Burlington Transit. Paul graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in Politics and worked at the BBC in London before immigrating to Canada.

Walter Mulkewich

A Halton Regional and Burlington City Councillor from 1976 to 1991 and Mayor of Burlington from 1991 to 1997, Walter has had successful careers in education, business, and social services, and has been an active participant and leader in Burlington political and community life since 1962.

 

Liz Nield

For over 10 years, Liz has been involved in collaborative planning and community engagement throughout many different communities in Canada – on a wide range of topics and issues. Most of her work has been focused on public sector policy development and planning. Her passion is to better engage communities, committees, organizations, schools through all ranges of audiences. She is currently the CEO of Lura Consulting an organization focused on community-based planning and collaboration.

 

Peggy Russell

Peggy was a very active Halton District School Board Trustee for 10 years, including being elected Vice Chair, and continues to be involved in a wide variety of community activities regarding children, women’s and family issues. For example, she is currently a member of the Burlington Transit Advisory Committee and Poverty Free Halton as well as being involved in fund raising for the United Way via Burlington’s Amazing RACE. She has received numerous awards for her community work, including Halton Woman of the Year.

 

 

John Searles

John moved to Burlington 13 years ago from the United States where he practiced law for many years. Experience includes several years as a small business consultant in Canada and the USA. Married to a Burlington native in 1997; became Canadian citizen in 2007.

James Smith

A resident of Burlington for 23 years, James is a Designer, CAD Technologist & Instructor working with a wide range of clients across Canada and the United States and is part of Phillip H. Carter Architects Design Team that was recently given an Ontario Library Award of Excellence for Toronto’s S. Walter Stewart Branch. He is a founding member of the Burlington Conserver Society and was a member of Burlington’s Official Plan citizens advisory committee as well as serving on the board of the Burlington Arts Centre.

 

 

Roland Tanner

Roland Tanner is co-owner of Tanner Ritchie Publishing and Tanner Ritchie Web Applications, and has been based in Burlington since 2003. He manages development of websites and applications for a number of Burlington voluntary organizations and businesses, as well as publishing academic resources for leading universities and research institutions worldwide. Prior to coming to Canada, Roland worked as a historian, specializing in parliament.

 

 

Chris Walker (Chair)

Chris is a retired professional planner with wide community involvement experience e.g. the Burlington Sustainable Development Committee, the Rolling Meadows School Council, City of Burlington Council citizen representative on the Conservation Halton Board of Directors, and Shape Burlington. He is currently on the Niagara to GTA Corridor Study Community Advisory Group and the Stakeholder Advisory Group for the Dundas St. Improvement Study. He also serves on the Burlington Transit Advisory Committee and is Chair of Shaping Burlington.

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