Diana Huson cruised to victory in Monday’s municipal election and will represent Pelham on Niagara Regional Council for a second straight term. Huson captured 3,641 of 5,162 votes, defeating challengers Wally Braun and Fred Sarvis for the seat.
“There’s a lot of work to build off of,” Huson told the Voice at her victory party at Peter Piper’s Pub in Fonthill. The Fenwick resident has been both a moderate and progressive voice at Regional Council, sitting on the board for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and creating the Niagara’s Women’s Advisory Committee during her first term.
“There’s still a lot of work in defining what climate change means to the municipality,” Huson said. “There’s still a lot to accomplish in terms of having diverse and equitable voices informing council decisions.”
Huson said that on a grassroots level, she knocked on about 2,500 doors during her campaign and heard a lot of small-town and growing-community issues.
“There’s a lot of concern about speeding and road safety and I think there’s a lot of will to talk to the [Niagara Regional Police] about enforcement and maybe how we can make our roads safer, especially in the areas where we’re seeing a lot more population and development.”
There’s still a lot to accomplish in terms of having diverse and equitable voices informing council decisions
As far as the growing region goes, Huson knows further challenges lay ahead for Pelham and Niagara.
“Pelham will be directly impacted by the Region’s new official plan, because the Town will now have to pass a secondary plan that conforms to that,” she told the Voice prior to the election. “Growth and infrastructure in Pelham is impacted by the new plan. I recognize the tension over the need for more housing, as well as the desire to preserve our small-town feel. There is no longer a lot of affordable housing in Pelham … but we still want our seniors to be able to age-in-place, so we need more downsizing options, and housing that allows new families to enter the market. I think that’s going to be probably a real focus for the next term on council.”
