Downtown Accountability

I can walk past the same problem every day. A new plan does not make it disappear.

I have lived downtown for eleven years. I have heard the plans, seen the renderings and watched the announcements come and go. The test is what changed on the street: is the storefront occupied, is the sidewalk usable, is the construction finished, is the area cleaner, and who answers when it is not?

Start here

Make the street match the announcement.

Position

Where I stand

Downtown does not need another plan people are asked to trust. If City Hall approves an action, show who owns it, whether it is funded, when it is due and what changed on the street.

Action

What I would push for

Put every active City-backed downtown action on one public list: what is funded, who is responsible, what is late and what happens next. I would also bring forward the 24-hour public-washroom pilot, construction closeout reporting and the selected City-managed parking pilot on this page.

Authority

Who controls what

Council controls municipal budgets, bylaws, public-realm work, City property, construction standards and approved incentive programs. City staff administer those decisions. Private owners still decide whether to lease, sell or redevelop their property. The City can use lawful standards, incentives and enforcement tools; a councillor cannot simply order a private building occupied.

Plan

What this looks like in real life

You read that downtown is being revitalized, then walk the same block and still see the same dark corner, long-vacant storefront, construction barrier, garbage pile or unusable sidewalk. The question is not whether a plan exists. The question is: who owns this specific problem, what are they doing next and when should you be able to see the difference?

Result

What residents should see

You should be able to open one page and see what is funded, what is late, what is finished, what moved, what did not and who owns the next step.

First moves

What I would do first

30 days: request one clear list of downtown actions. 60 days: publish that list. 90 days: flag the three most overdue items and request a public deadline and name the department responsible for each.

Full file

Detailed downtown record, proposals and accountability measures.

Open the full downtown file

The current recordTwo ways to answer the same downtown problem

Announcements about downtown are easy to make and almost impossible to check. That is the part I would change.

The Current Record

Two Ways to Answer the Same Downtown Problem

On June 17, 2026, councillors gave initial approval to a ten-year plan for downtown London. Council endorsed it on June 23. Here is what was said, what the plan carries, and what this campaign would add to it.

“A stronger downtown will help us understand what it feels and means to be a Londoner,” he said. “It will give us our identity.”

Coun. David Ferreira, Ward 13 — quoted in “Despite some skeptics, councillors back 10-year reimagine downtown London plan”, Andrew Lupton, CBC News, June 17, 2026. The same article notes that Coun. Ferreira pushed for the report and that Ward 13 covers downtown.

Call It What It Is

That is a real public statement from the councillor representing this ward, attached to a report he asked for. I do not doubt the intention behind it, and a plan is genuinely better than no plan.

But the empty buildings residents walk past every day need more than an idea about identity. They need a tenant, a deadline, a named responsible process, and a public way to see what is blocking progress. Aspiration and measurement are not opposites — a ten-year vision is exactly the thing that needs something checkable underneath it, early, while there is still time to correct course.

What I would add: a public vacancy-accountability record for the core — which properties are empty, the ownership information the City already holds, how long each has been vacant, the known barrier, the responsible process owner, and when it was last updated. Subject to what the law and the City's data actually permit.

Downtown Reimagined — status as published

Plan: Downtown Reimagined: City of London Downtown Plan, prepared by the Canadian Urban Institute — 58 actions and four “Big Moves”, over ten years.
Decision: Initial committee approval June 17, 2026. Endorsed by Council June 23, 2026.
Projected cost: $48 million.
Funding: Not allocated. Council referred actions needing new operating or capital investment to its future strategic planning and budget processes, including the 2027–2031 Strategic Plan and the 2028–2031 Multi-Year Budget.
What that means: Council approving the plan does not mean the money is approved, and approved money does not mean the work is finished. Those are separate steps.

Sources: CBC News, June 17, 2026 (linked above); City of London, “Council endorses roadmap for economic growth and downtown revitalization”. Verified July 29, 2026. The vacancy record described above is a campaign proposal, not an approved City project, and carries no launch date until the data access, system, owner and workflow behind it are confirmed.

Office vacancy downtown sat at about 29.6 percent in the second quarter of 2026 — down from a peak near thirty-two percent, but still among the highest of any city core in Canada by the City’s own numbers, and a world away from the under-fourteen percent of 2019. A ten-year plan is the right response to that. A ten-year plan with no funding attached yet is the part I would keep a public eye on.

Source: media reporting on CBRE figures, London downtown office vacancy, Q2 2026.

What I would put forwardPut funding, deadlines and responsibility beside every downtown promise.

Ward 13 does not need another link to a plan. Residents and businesses need action they can see, with the funding, the timeline and the responsible department attached.

▹Downtown Accountability Proposal — First 30 Days.

▹A public vacancy-accountability record for the core.

The proposal is to require each major downtown plan to show funding, timelines, enforcement standards where applicable, responsible departments, and public results.

The issue is whether approved plans are tied to visible action, public reporting, funding, timelines and somebody clearly responsible for what happens next. Ward 13 residents and businesses shouldn’t have to keep hearing about future strategies while the same problems stay right in front of them.

An existing City program — made public

I wouldn’t be inventing a program here. The City already runs a Vacant Commercial Space Fit-Out Grant to help businesses move into empty storefronts, and its own plan called for that grant to be reviewed in spring 2026. I would require the review and its findings to be public, so any decision to expand the program can be judged against the evidence.

Sources: City of London, Downtown Reimagined (endorsed June 23, 2026; 58 actions); City of London Vacant Buildings By-law A-35; CBRE London Office Figures Q2 2026.

How we would knowWhat must be tracked and reported

The scale isn’t in doubt — the gap is a public, property-level record: which downtown properties are empty, who owns them, and how long each has sat. That is the record I would push to build, and the enforcement authority to back it already exists — the A-35 vacant-buildings by-law is a tool the City already has. The gap is a public property-level record showing when and how that authority is used.

The full dated vacancy starting point — office, storefront, upper-floor, registered-unsafe, stalled and in-approvals — with the verified A-35 figures and the complete evidence file lives on one page: Downtown Vacancy & Empty Buildings.

Downtown Reimagined

Problem — Years of plans, strategies, renderings and announcements without enough visible change downtown.

Solution — Require every downtown plan to show funding, timelines, responsible departments, and public reporting.

Result — Residents can track whether each plan is actually delivering results or collecting dust.

Storefront Vacancy

Problem — Long-term vacant storefronts concentrated in a small number of ownership portfolios with no visible consequences.

Solution — Push for a vacancy audit, ownership transparency, escalating enforcement, and redevelopment incentives tied to results.

Result — A public report showing vacancy rates, ownership concentration, enforcement actions, and occupancy changes.

Public Washrooms

Problem — Inadequate washroom access forces people into doorways, alleys, and business lobbies.

Solution — Bring forward a costed 24-hour public-washroom pilot at the existing Dundas Place Field House, 179 Dundas Street, with staffing, safety, cleaning, accessibility and neighbourhood-impact standards built into the test.

Result — A defined Dundas Place pilot with published hours, usage, operating cost, incidents, cleaning performance and a Council decision on whether 24-hour access should continue, change or expand.

Cleaning and Maintenance

Problem — Garbage, needles, graffiti, and damage accumulate without consistent cleanup schedules or visible response.

Solution — Require regular cleaning with coordinated outreach so displacement is not treated as success.

Result — Monthly reporting on cleaning locations, outreach interactions, repeat hotspots, and response times.

Lighting and Public Space Safety

Problem — Poorly lit areas create unsafe conditions and drive residents and customers away from downtown.

Solution — Lighting audit with prioritized upgrades tied to safety data and public reports.

Result — Published timeline for lighting improvements with measurable safety results.

Property Standards

Problem — Repeat-offender properties drag down whole blocks with no visible enforcement consequences.

Solution — Public reporting on enforcement activity, repeat offenders, and ways to recover City costs.

Result — Residents can see which properties are under enforcement and what the timelines are.

Parking and Business Access

Problem — The Core Area has free two-hour on-street parking, but many customers use City-managed lots where that same support is not consistently available.

Solution — Put forward a Council request for staff to cost and design a time-limited pilot extending free two-hour Core Area parking to selected City-managed lots, with utilization, cost and business impact reported before any permanent expansion.

Result — More participating parking options for customers, with a public record showing whether the pilot increased use and whether the cost is justified.

Construction Disruption

Problem — Construction timelines extend without clear communication, damaging businesses and frustrating residents.

Solution — Real-time construction updates, corridor alerts, contractor-performance reporting, and a public close-out record with dated completion photos and a short video within 30 days of substantial completion where lawful and appropriate.

Result — Residents see the original timeline, actual completion date, contractor, responsible department, material deficiencies and visual proof of what the City accepted as complete.

Business Impact

Problem — Downtown businesses absorb safety, vacancy, cleaning, and construction costs with no voice at City Hall.

Solution — Regular engagement, documented business impacts, and a clear line between businesses and council.

Result — Business concerns tracked publicly with response timelines and responsible departments identified.

If elected — timelineFirst 30 / 60 / 90 days

Downtown has enough plans. The first 30 days is about making the existing plans visible in one place — with funding status attached.

30 days — Request one downtown action review60 days — Publish the full list90 days — Flag the three most overdue items and request a public timeline for each

Council responsibility — what I can commit to

Council decisions require support. My responsibility is to bring the action forward, build the case, vote, track the decision, and report back. If something stalls, it will be named publicly.

AccountabilityWhat should be reported publicly

The commitments I would request

Downtown action review — Request one list of approved downtown actions showing whether they are funded, which department is responsible, where each item stands, what decision comes next and when the next update is due.

Downtown Conditions Report — Request recurring public reporting covering cleaning, lighting, washroom access, public-realm conditions, property-standards actions, sidewalks, and identified service gaps.

Construction Impact Mitigation — Request a standard communication, detour, access, and business-impact plan for major projects affecting downtown streets and storefronts — published before work begins.

What would be tracked

A public Downtown Delivery and Conditions record — listing approved actions, funding status, responsible division, current stage, conditions data, and identified service gaps. Reported quarterly, sourced from City of London Planning, Engineering, By-law Services, and Operations. There is no single public page that shows all of this in one place today. Owner-of-record or ownership information will only be used where lawfully available through public records.

What should be reported publicly

▹Funding attached to every announced plan.

▹Public timelines with clear milestones.

▹Responsible department named for each promised action.

▹Enforcement standards stated publicly.

▹Visible action residents and businesses can actually see.

▹Quarterly results reporting in plain language.

Where to go next.

Continue

What actually got delivered, tracked A downtown that works for business

BISSON13 · Ward 13