The councillor for Harbourview—Burnside—Dartmouth East has to represent both the residential and low-income families in their district, as well as steer the non-stop growth of industrial parks like Burnside and Dartmouth Crossing. All of which means District 6 is going to need careful attention to not spin off its wheels.
Eligible voters: 19,428 (as of 2014)
(Up by a couple hundred people from 2012)
Past voter turnout: 34.76 percent
The Candidates
Incumbent Tony Mancini has only been a councillor since February, having won the by-election to replace Darren Fisher after Fisher’s Trudeau-backed ascension to Ottawa. Having just gotten his feet wet, it’s not the greatest time for Mancini to once again hit the campaign trail. He’s up against Ceasefire outreach worker Carlos Beals, who’s running an anti-violence platform based around increasing youth programs in Dartmouth North.
The Issues
Burnside’s growth isn’t a new struggle for the area, nor—unfortunately—is some of the recent violence seen in Dartmouth. It’s hard to say whether those events are isolated to 2016 or, as Beals fears, a problem that will get worse as HRM’s population increases without suitable increases in affordable housing and support programs for its most-vulnerable residents. All of those issues aside, one of the biggest challenges (and opportunities) for District 6 will be the redevelopment of Shannon Park. Like the Cogswell Interchange across the Harbour, or the Blue Mountain Birch Cove wilderness park, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create something powerful for the future. While fears of all that land being squatted on by a useless stadium now seem unlikely, the next District 6 councillor has to help sculpt this project into something of real value and benefit for the residents of Harbourview—Burnside—Dartmouth East, and all of HRM.
Click here to find out more info on how, where and when you can vote in HRM’s municipal election.
