Priorities

A homeowner reports a broken water connection. A renter needs help with unsafe conditions. A senior calls about a sidewalk that has not been cleared. Too often, people are transferred between departments or left wondering whether anyone is listening.

City services should be easy to reach and dependable.

Maria will:

• Build a ward office that answers people, follows up and stays involved until residents receive a clear response.
• Push for faster action on missed collections, damaged roads, broken streetlights, unsafe properties and other everyday concerns.
• Make it easier for renters, homeowners and small businesses to understand which City service can help them.
• Publish regular updates about common neighbourhood problems and what City Hall is doing to solve them.
• Protect the public services people rely on while challenging wasteful spending and costly delays.

A child should be able to bike to school safely. A senior should have enough time to cross the street. A person using a wheelchair should not find the sidewalk blocked. People taking the TTC should be able to get where they are going safely and reliably.

Our streets belong to everyone.

Maria will:

• Fight for safer crossings, better lighting and traffic calming near schools, parks, seniors’ buildings and busy intersections.
• Support a connected network of protected cycling routes that helps people travel safely through the neighbourhood.
• Improve winter maintenance of sidewalks, bike routes, bus stops and pedestrian crossings.
• Work for reliable TTC service and accessible stops, stations and vehicles.
• Support secure bicycle parking near main streets, parks, libraries and transit.
• Bring pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders and drivers together before major street changes are made.

Road safety should not be a fight between neighbours. Everyone deserves to arrive home safely.

The Ontario Line will bring an important new transit connection to Pape Station. But before the first passenger boards a train, residents and businesses will live through years of construction.

A shop owner cannot survive on promises about what the street might look like years from now. A family should not wake up to unexplained overnight work. Parents should not have to wonder whether heavy construction trucks are travelling safely near their children’s school.

Maria supports better transit, and she will insist that the community is respected while it is being built.

Maria will:

• Create one clear place where residents can find construction schedules, road closures, contact information and project updates.
• Hold regular public meetings where Metrolinx and its contractors must answer questions directly.
• Fight for meaningful help for small businesses losing customers, parking or loading access because of construction.
• Demand safe truck routes, clean construction areas and protected routes for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Help residents document and resolve concerns about noise, vibration, dust and property damage.
• Stand up for tenants and homeowners affected by construction, relocation or property acquisition.
• Push for local jobs, apprenticeships and community benefits connected to the project.
• Publicly track unresolved complaints and promises that have not been kept.

The Ontario Line must be built with Toronto Danforth, not simply through it.

A renter should not have to leave the neighbourhood because their building changed hands. A young family should be able to imagine a future here. Seniors should be able to remain close to their friends, doctors and community. Homeowners should not feel that every change is happening without them.

Toronto Danforth needs more homes, but growth must make the community more affordable and livable.

Maria will:

• Fight for more affordable, supportive, co-operative and non-profit housing.
• Support new rental homes and family-sized homes near transit and on major streets.
• Defend renters facing unsafe conditions, neglect, harassment or illegal eviction.
• Help homeowners understand proposed developments and have a meaningful voice in how their neighbourhood changes.
• Support options that allow seniors to age in place or move into accessible homes within their community.
• Insist that new development is supported by transit, schools, sewers, parks, childcare and other public services.
• Protect and expand the tree canopy, green space and community facilities as neighbourhoods grow.

Housing is a human need, not simply an investment.

The Danforth is more than a commercial street. It is where neighbours meet, families celebrate and generations of newcomers have built something of their own.

Independent restaurants, shops, cultural organizations and service businesses give Toronto Danforth its identity. They are facing rising costs, construction disruption and competition from companies with far greater resources.

Maria will:

• Create a direct line between local businesses and her ward office.
• Fight for construction support that reaches businesses before they are forced to close.
• Push for clean, safe and welcoming main streets with reliable waste collection, lighting and street maintenance.
• Improve loading access, bicycle parking and wayfinding so customers can reach local businesses.
• Support street festivals, markets, arts, live music and cultural events that bring people into the neighbourhood.
• Work with business improvement areas while ensuring independent businesses outside those areas are also heard.
• Encourage the City to buy locally and make it easier for small businesses to compete for municipal work.

A strong local economy keeps money, jobs and community life in the neighbourhood.

A city should care for people throughout their lives.

Seniors deserve safe sidewalks, accessible services and places to meet. Children deserve parks and recreation programs their families can afford. Newcomers deserve to feel welcome. Everyone should have somewhere to go without being expected to spend money.

Maria will:

• Protect and improve Toronto Danforth’s parks, playgrounds, ravines, trails, recreation centres and libraries.
• Work to make recreation programs more affordable and reduce long waiting lists.
• Improve benches, public washrooms, shade, lighting and other features that help seniors and people with disabilities use public spaces.
• Support community groups that fight isolation and help seniors remain connected.
• Expand access to cooling spaces during extreme heat and warm public spaces during severe winter weather.
• Support arts, culture, community festivals and programming that reflects the diversity of Toronto Danforth.
• Work with residents to keep parks and public spaces clean, safe and welcoming without pushing vulnerable people out of sight.

Public spaces should belong to all of us.

People should not need to be lobbyists, developers or political insiders to have their voices heard.

As a journalist, Maria has spent her career asking questions, challenging bureaucracy and helping communities speak for themselves. She will bring that approach to City Hall.

Maria will:

• Hold regular town halls and community office hours in different parts of the ward.
• Explain important Council votes in plain language.
• Publish who she meets with on major issues and development proposals.
• Consult residents before decisions have effectively been made.
• Report back on what she promised, what has been completed and what still needs work.
• Make her office welcoming and accessible to people who have historically been ignored by government.
• Tell residents the truth, including when City Hall gets something wrong or when a problem will take time to solve.

Maria will not promise that one councillor can fix everything alone. She will promise to listen, show up, work hard and never forget who sent her to City Hall.