Greg Cox

My plan for a downtown that works for the people who run it

Downtown is Ward 2's business heart, and it's home to thousands of residents too. Both have to win. Here is what I'd focus on for the people who own, run and staff businesses down here, in plain terms, and all of it is within what a councillor actually controls.

1. Parking built for the people who work downtown

A parkade spot runs about $202 a month, and the only discount, around $90, is for downtown residents. There's nothing for staff, who can't absorb the $24 daily maximum. I'm proposing a Downtown Worker Pass: an affordable monthly permit for downtown employees, in the lots closest to the shops, priced in that resident range or lower where the numbers allow. Targeted, capped, piloted, and priced to what actually gets used. The full write-up and the numbers are in the parking post below.

2. A City Hall that helps you get to yes

When approvals are quick, clear and honest, businesses grow and hire. I'd push the city to publish how long permits actually take, split between city time and time waiting on the applicant, because right now it isn't measured. I'd add a fast lane for simple projects like patios, signs and small renovations so they don't wait behind major developments, and have incomplete applications returned right away with a clear list of what's missing. The city has shown it can move when it wants to: its new downtown system was built to cut minor approvals from about 180 days to 45.

3. More reasons for people to come downtown

Foot traffic is what keeps a main street alive. That means construction done on time and with businesses rather than to them, real support for the Downtown Business Association, and clear wayfinding and open-for-business signage while work is underway so a torn-up street doesn't quietly close the shops on it.

4. Safety done right, for customers and neighbours

You shouldn't have to step around someone in a doorway to open your shop, and that person shouldn't be left there either. I'd push for one clearly accountable lead for the downtown response so you know exactly who to call, stable multi-year funding for what works like the Welcoming Streets outreach team, reliable cleanup and better lighting at the recurring hotspots, and public reporting so we can all see whether it's working.

The honest part

Some of what hurts downtown, like interest rates, provincial health funding and the courts, isn't council's to fix. I won't pretend otherwise. What I've listed here is the part that is, and it's where I'd spend my energy. This is a starting point shaped by the owners I've talked to, not a finished script, so if I've missed something that would make a real difference, tell me on the Ward 2 form or grab a coffee with me.

A dry place to catch the bus, starting with the stops that are half done

A bus stop should be a place you can stand out of the rain and snow, sit down, and be seen after dark. In Guelph, most aren't. I asked the city for the numbers so we could start from facts, not a feeling.

As of September 2026 there are 640 Guelph Transit stops, and only 196 have a shelter. About seven in ten are just a sign on a pole, with no cover, no seat, and no light.

The part most people miss: another 302 stops already have the concrete pad poured, they just have no shelter on top. The pad is often the harder, more disruptive part of the job, and at these stops it is already done. A shelter runs roughly $7,000 to $15,000 depending on size and whether it has solar lighting, and a new pad is about $5,000 where one is needed. So the cheapest wins are the stops where the concrete is already down.

The honest part: a pad does not guarantee a shelter will fit. Some sit on boulevards as narrow as a metre, where there isn't room or clear sightlines for a shelter. So this isn't 302 easy installs. It's a ready-made shortlist to work through, busiest stops and the ones near schools and seniors' homes first.

A smarter way to pay for it: Guelph already lets private companies sponsor the purchase and installation of a shelter, and several have. It does not put a company logo on the shelter, so it isn't advertising, it's local support that stretches the budget and gets more stops covered faster. I'd lean into that alongside the city's own capital plan.

Guelph Transit is a city service, so shelters, benches and lighting are squarely council's job. If there's a stop in Ward 2 where you or your kids wait in the cold, tell me where on the Ward 2 form and I'll keep a list.

Source: City of Guelph, Guelph Transit stop and shelter data provided to the campaign, September 2026. Shelter and pad costs are the city's stated ranges. Route and stop locations are on the Guelph Open Data portal; stop-amenity detail is not published there.

A downtown worker parking pass

When I talk to people downtown, parking comes up again and again. Someone earning an hourly wage at a shop, salon or restaurant can't afford $24 a day, so they feed a meter, run out mid-shift to move the car, or park blocks away and walk back to it alone after dark. That's lost time for the business, lost wages for the worker, and a safety worry I keep hearing about.

Here are the facts, so we start from the same place. The city already sells monthly permits, but a parkade spot is about $202 a month. Downtown residents get a discounted rate of about $90 with proof of address, and some surface lots run $99 to $150. The daily maximum is $24, and since January 1, 2026 the lots and parkades are paid 24/7. So there's a resident rate and a full-price rate, and nothing built for the downtown worker.

The idea: a Downtown Worker Pass, an affordable monthly permit for people who work downtown, in the lots closest to the shops, so staff aren't dashing to feed meters or walking to a far-off car at night. A resident already pays about $90, so a worker rate in that range isn't a stretch, and I'd push it lower where the math allows.

The honest part: parking is run to pay for itself, so a deep discount for everyone would land on property taxes or on other drivers. That's why this is a targeted, capped pass tied to specific lots, sized to the off-peak spaces that sit empty anyway. We pilot it, measure it, and price it to what actually gets used.

Parking rates are set by council, so this is squarely in a councillor's lane, which is more than can be said for a lot of downtown problems. If you work or run a business downtown, I want to hear whether this would help and what a fair price would be. Tell me on the Ward 2 form.

Guelph doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a decisions problem.

City taxes have gone up nearly 25% in three years while big projects blew past their budgets, our reserves slipped below target, and the city went back to borrowing. Now, at election time, the message suddenly becomes "we'll listen." Listening was the job all along.

The trajectory

These are the city's final, approved tax increases. Not projections.

Compounded, that is nearly 25% in three years on the average home, while the foundation weakens: reserves are projected to fall below their minimum targets, the city issued $58 million in new debt in June 2025 (its first since 2021), its own outlook warns of a possible lower credit rating, and a 2025 update projected a year-end deficit of about $3.1 million.

Project after project, over budget

• South End Community Centre: first pegged near $80 million, it landed around $121 million after council added $35.5 million.
• Wilson Street Parkade: planned at about $12.7 million, approved at over $20 million.
• Police headquarters: a $34.1 million project where the contractor was removed and is suing the city for $7.1 million.

In fairness, the parkade and the police headquarters are funded largely through development charges and reserves, not your property tax bill, so this is about the city's cost discipline across the board, not a claim they landed on your taxes. Reasonable people can defend any one of these. The point is the pattern, and some span more than one council, which is why this is about the city's habits, not any one person.

A different financial model

• Plain-language budgets you can actually read.
• Real project discipline: honest first numbers, firm controls, and public reporting before a project doubles, not after.
• Growth pays for growth, so existing residents aren't left with the bill.
• Protect the reserves instead of draining them to paper over this year.

Work with every level of government, don't grandstand at them

Guelph depends on the province and Ottawa for a large share of what builds our roads, transit, water and community projects. The smart play is a working relationship that brings funding home. I'll disagree when Guelph's interests are on the line, and I'll do it with facts, but the goal is results, not theatre. A megaphone doesn't build a rec centre. A good working relationship helps fund one.

Sources: City of Guelph approved budgets and 2025 long-term financial strategies; GuelphToday and CBC reporting on the South End Community Centre, Wilson Street Parkade and the police headquarters lawsuit.