I was sworn in as the city councillor for Ward 4 on 1 December 2014. I was re-elected in 2018 and finished serving my second term on city council on 15 Nov 2022. I served as Deputy Mayor for two years, ending my term in Dec 2020.
As a city councillor representing Ward 4, my job had several distinct aspects:
- Legislator: along with my colleagues, and with the advice of city staff (provided through reports and at meetings) and residents (often shared via email or at meetings), we work in standing committees and as a council to consider, debate and pass bylaws regulating a wide range of activity in our city, including, for example, parking, trees, land use planning, taxation, business licensing and animal protection.
- Resource allocator: we work as a council to set the City of London's operating budget ($867,194,000 in 2017) and capital budget ($215,835,000 in 2017) and allocate funding to the various services provided by the city (roads, snow removal, fire and police services, homelessness prevention, affordable housing, parks and recreation, etc). The city also funds agencies, boards and commissions, such as the library, London Transit and the public health unit, and some non-profit organizations.
- Helping residents navigate the bureaucracy at city hall and connect with the right city staff person to resolve issues. Our excellent five-person staff team in the Councillors' Office, which works with all fourteen councillors, does a lot of this work.
- Listening, connecting, advocating and informing: within our wards, the broader city and outside the city, councillors learn a lot about what's happening in the city and play a connecting role between residents and various businesses, nonprofits and other levels of government. Councillors also share information with residents about what's happening at city hall.
As a councillor, I serve on the following committees, working groups, boards and commissions (attendance record in %):
- Council (100%)
- Strategic Priorities & Policy (99%)
- London Transit Commission (100%)
- London Police Services Board (89%)
- Old East Village BIA (94%)
- Audit Committee (100%; Chair, 2018-2020)
- Community and Protective Services Committee (Chair, 2021)
- Civic Works (95%; member 2014-2015, Chair 2015-2016)
Past committee appointments:
- London Transit Long-term Growth Report Working Group (67%; 2014-2016)
- Planning & Environment (98%)
- Corporate Services Committee (96%; member 27 Sept 2016-30 Nov 2017; Chair as of 1 Dec 2017)
- Rapid Transit Implementation Working Group (100%)
- Waste Management Working Group (100%)
- Governance Working Group (95%)
- Lake Huron Primary Water Supply Board (81%)
- Middlesex-London Health Unit (Chair) (93% board of health; 87% finance & facilities committee; 77% governance committee)
All of the meetings that I have missed for the health unit and the Old East Village BIA have conflicted with council or committee meetings, primarily because of the more frequent meetings related to the City of London's strategic plan and budget in January and February 2015. I missed three meetings (one planning and environment, one civic works and one Lake Huron water board) during a June 2015 trip to the Canadian Urban Transit Association conference in Winnipeg and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Edmonton. I missed a Lake Huron water board meeting in June 2016 because I was attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Winnipeg.
I also attend meetings of committees of which I am not a member (audit, 88%; community and protective services, 98%).
My overall participation for meetings of council, committees, boards and commissions is 96% (733/766 meetings) as of 28 Sept 2018. See this Google sheet for details.
Disclosures of pecuniary interest
For the first forty months that I served on council (Dec 2014 - April 2018), I was a part-owner of Groundforce Digital, a company that designs and produces websites and trains people how to use digital tools effectively, and I declared a pecuniary interest in matters relating to current clients during that time period.
I own shares in Tesla, Seagate Technologies and Northland Power, publicly-traded companies that operate globally.
My father, Alan Helmer, was the general manager of South Muskoka Curling & Golf Club in Bracebridge for the first 17 months that I served on council (Dec 2014 - April 2016) and I declared an indirect pecuniary interest in matters relating to the City of London's golf courses during that time period. As of August 2018, he is employed by the National Golf Course Owners' Association, of which the City of London is a member.
As of Sept 2018, I am employed as a part-time teaching assistant at Western University and a member of PSAC Local 610. I will declare a pecuniary interest in matters where my employer or union has a pecuniary interest.
Disclosure of expenses
Each councillor has a maximum budget of $15,000 for expenses. Reports on our expenditures are published every three months on the City of London web site.
I've published a summary of my expenses on a quarterly basis in this Google sheet.
I usually attend the following conferences: Association of Municipalities of Ontario (August), Federation of Canadian Municipalities (June), FCM Sustainable Communities Conference (February), Ontario Good Roads Association (February), and the Canadian Urban Transit Association (May or June).
I usually do not charge per diems, home office internet, tickets to attend community events or pay for advertising that is self-promotional. I do not claim a travel allowance, as I am able to travel quickly from City Hall to locations in my ward on my bike or on the bus, which is very inexpensive.
Statement of Remuneration
In addition to quarterly disclosure of our office expenses, city staff report annually on the overall remuneration for each councillor. This report includes compensation, benefits and stipends or expenses paid for as a result of our service on agencies, boards and commissions.
Page one of the report for 2015 shows $33,427.91 in compensation (keep in mind that 1/3 of that is not taxable), $10,166.26 in benefits and $1,754.03 in expenses not included in my general expense account (for a tour of rapid transit projects in Ontario and attending the CUTA conference in Winnipeg).
Page two of the report for 2016 shows $38,306.27 in compensation (keep in mind that 1/3 of the council portion is not taxable), $10,488.84 in benefits and $1,728.91 in expenses not included in my general expense account (for the CUTA conference in Halifax).
Background
tl;dr: see my LinkedIn profile.
I believe politics can be a force for good in our community. I’ve been involved in politics since I was a teenager as a member of several political parties, as a student journalist covering politics and as an elected student representative. I was honoured to serve as a councillor representing arts co-op students at University of Waterloo, on the board of directors of the student union, on the Senate of the university and as president of the student newspaper. I learned that to be an effective elected representative, you need to be inclusive, transparent, responsive to your constituents and able to disagree respectfully with your fellow representatives (we're not going to agree on everything!). I’ve also worked as a volunteer on local, provincial and national political campaigns.
Curious by nature, I enjoy asking questions, learning about issues and bringing people together to figure out how we can innovate to solve problems. Recently, I led a team of grassroots Liberals who championed the idea of a basic income pilot to dramatically reduce poverty in Canada, reaching out directly to Members of Parliament, policy experts and Canadians more broadly. We were thrilled when the idea was adopted as party policy at the national convention. I also facilitated the Emerging Leaders working group on economic prosperity, which recommended at London X that we invest in a municipal fibre optic network to make affordable high speed internet more widely available to Londoners and to provide an economic advantage to London businesses.
Because I believe that Londoners are experts on their own lives and often have very good ideas on how to make our city a better place to live and work, I started Better London a couple of years ago to provide Londoners with a platform to share their ideas, get their neighbours to contribute, and create a better community and city together. Now in the capable hands of Michael McAlpine, Better London has helped in a small way to support the campaign to Save Lorne Ave, to bring food trucks to London and to encourage people to opt-out of the Yellow Pages.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my life, and with the help of my parents, student loans and a bursary, I earned a Master of Public Administration from Queen’s University, where I focused on the non-profit sector and international trade. I then joined the staff of the Loran Scholar program in Toronto, where I worked with a great team of colleagues and volunteers to raise over $20 million from business and community leaders that we invested in hundreds of young Canadians all over the country who demonstrate outstanding character, service and leadership potential.
Through my work and volunteer experience, I've helped to develop or overseen budgets ranging from several hundred thousand dollars (student newspaper) to several million dollars (at the scholarship foundation, the student union and on the Senate of the university). I have some experience asking uncomfortable questions about budgets (ask me about the time the now Governor General yelled at me in a Senate meeting).
For over 20 years, my Dad was a branch manager for TD Canada Trust, which meant our family moved every few years to a new community in Ontario. Moving got harder as we all got older and our family eventually settled in Bracebridge, where I attended high school and worked part-time as a crew coordinator at the local McDonald’s and as a cook at Santa’s Village. I spent a lot of time riding my motorcycle, shooting pool and playing golf. These days I’m riding a bicycle, but you’ll still find me on the course at Fanshawe Park or River Road.
Showing 75 reactions
Dump the mayor. Anyone who has to rely on an agency to help him;especially Brown being a teacher. Absolutely pathetic.
I just wanted my voice to be heard..
Thank you, Mark
Can we get an update on the number of people that have signed the petition for LRT in London? The momentum is there and we are grateful you have ignited this. Personally, I am sharing like crazy. Thank you! Christopher
For LRT Rail systems in London because London is growing
And expanding from Dorchester to Dutton and West Lorne and Rodney
And London will keep expanding into Komoka and Kilworth and Delaware
And ilderton and Lucan and Arva as well too.
And London Has already expanded into Hyde Park and Lambeth
And will eventually expand into Thorndale.
I think a Momorail will go a lot faster than a City Bus to get to all
Those places.
And I will give Mayor Matt Brown go ahead for the Monorail systems in London
If Kitchener and Toronto has it why not London?
Have a nice Day.
For LRT Rail systems in London because London is growing
And expanding from Dorchester to Dutton and West Lorne and Rodney
And London will keep expanding into Komoka and Kilworth and Delaware
And ilderton and Lucan and Arva as well too.
And London Has already expanded into Hyde Park and Lambeth
And will eventually expand into Thorndale.
I think a Momorail will go a lot faster than a City Bus to get to all
Those places.
And I will give Mayor Matt Brown go ahead for the Monorail systems in London
If Kitchener and Toronto has it why not London?
Have a nice Day.
For LRT Rail systems in London because London is growing
And expanding from Dorchester to Dutton and West Lorne and Rodney
And London will keep expanding into Komoka and Kilworth and Delaware
And ilderton and Lucan and Arva as well too.
And London Has already expanded into Hyde Park and Lambeth
And will eventually expand into Thorndale.
I think a Momorail will go a lot faster than a City Bus to get to all
Those places.
And I will give Mayor Matt Brown go ahead for the Monorail systems in London
If Kitchener and Toronto has it why not London?
Have a nice Day.
For LRT Rail systems in London because London is growing
And expanding from Dorchester to Dutton and West Lorne and Rodney
And London will keep expanding into Komoka and Kilworth and Delaware
And ilderton and Lucan and Arva as well too.
And London Has already expanded into Hyde Park and Lambeth
And will eventually expand into Thorndale.
I think a Momorail will go a lot faster than a City Bus to get to all
Those places.
And I will give Mayor Matt Brown go ahead for the Monorail systems in London
If Kitchener and Toronto has it why not London?
Have a nice Day.
For LRT Rail systems in London because London is growing
And expanding from Dorchester to Dutton and West Lorne and Rodney
And London will keep expanding into Komoka and Kilworth and Delaware
And ilderton and Lucan and Arva as well too.
And London Has already expanded into Hyde Park and Lambeth
And will eventually expand into Thorndale.
I think a Momorail will go a lot faster than a City Bus to get to all
Those places.
And I will give Mayor Matt Brown go ahead for the Monorail systems in London
If Kitchener and Toronto has it why not London?
Have a nice Day.
Comments based on your 16 points:
The LRT proposal has no return on investment and will permanently increase the tax burden on Londoners over BRT only. In addition London has a long history of over estimating revenue and significantly underestimating costs. This is not a good combination on a project of this scale. Proceeding could commit Londoners to 10’s of millions in cost overruns.
In addition the extra infrastructure and annual operational cost required to support the LRT will continue to be a burden on tax payers. Despite what the business case may say, it isn’t possible for annual operating costs to be lower supporting two different technologies. WestJet didn’t become profitable by flying 2 different airplane types, they did it by buying the same plane model as their support infrastructure was setup efficiently. It was only after they had been established that they increased their inventory, and their support costs.
The BRT system is all Londoners can afford considering the other high cost projects this council is considering. They don’t have their financial house under control and they are spending money like it was water. I would point out (working in Waterloo) that the Waterloo tax increase this year was lower than London and it already included their LRT transit increases and their LRT system is much longer.
Rob
I’m posting because I want to address a point in today’s lfpress article “Light rail gets thumbs down from businesses”. In the article, several magnates say LRT would stymie numerous downtown residential developments. This is backwards thinking. From the developers mindset, ‘if they build it, they will come’, but how are these people gonna move around the city? Indeed, as downtown residences invariably attract young people a great many of these will be students who will undoubtedly rely on LTC to get about town. If you think about other major intensification projects where public transportation planning did not take into account massive increases in riderships commensurate with residence development
- i.e. Liberty Village in Toronto- then this push back against LRT is simply small-town thinking that will stymie London’s development well into the next century, if the city even recovers.We could have bus only lanes and it would be easier to change routes etc. If there was an accident with LRT everything is shut down. Just think of the recent instances of this in Toronto.
Fix the roads, sewers, water lines etc. before even thinking of rapid transit.
From ES London -
“What you saw was a sander with a front plow. They do not use the plows in the back streets because without a wing they don’t have the ability to push the snow to the curb. Their front plows are used to open up main streets only.
All city and contracted plows will be in to run their entire beats starting at 11pm tonight weather dependant. By law the city is not allowed to have any snow accumulation on priority 1 roads, therefore we have been stuck on them since it started snowing.
Hopefully it will stop snowing in the near future and we can get into the back streets and start removing the snow."
So kudos the ES London for answering my question almost immediately!!
I live on Langmuir and have a concern about snow removal on the city streets. At approximately 7pm on Saturday February 13th I saw a city plow drive down my street with the plow up and not removing any snow. My street has not been plowed since the early hours on Friday morning. I realize that the weather has been awful but I don’t understand why full size city plows are driving around and not have the plow down removing snow? Is this because we haven’t had much snow this year so they are trying to use up our tax dollars? This also happened again on my street between 8 and 9 pm on Thursday night. What is really going on? My thoughts are they are wasting tax payers money.
Thanks,
Paul.
Considering the way the strike was handled, I’m starting to feel like Joe never left. Pretty classy timing for that conversation.
What exactly is the plan for orchestra london? If they don’t have a plan, can I have a few hundred thousand dollars?
I promise to entertain a very small percent of londoners and in no way justify myself.