Belleville voters concerned about city leadership

By Joseph Quigley, Bevan Hamilton, Lashaina Blair-White, and Tyler Renaud

BELLEVILLE – Leading into the municipal election, Belleville residents and students from Loyalist College say they are concerned about candidate honesty, student involvement, downtown construction, and job loss.

In interviews with QNet News Thursday, residents said that there needs to be more transparency in the election campaign. A number of residents said they feel that local politicians are not trustworthy. Voters also said they’d like to see politicians be held accountable for their promises.

“None them are running a clean campaign,” charged Benjamin Merley, a Belleville resident.

Hayden Schneider was one of several students who also expressed a lack of confidence in politicians’ honesty. He said that he is not going to vote because he does not feel the candidates are “trustworthy.”

Many other students said they feel detached from the election. They said that there is not enough focus on student issues and that more information about the election should be communicated to them.

“They should say what they’re going to do for students,” said Loyalist student Jessica Murphy. “Make it more public knowledge, not something you have to look into.”

“I’d like to see more support for students. We bring a big workforce to the city,” said student Ian Leslie.

Build Belleville, the ongoing downtown revitalization project, is also on the minds of both residents and students. Several people voiced their worries about keeping the project on track.

“The current council didn’t make a whole lot of decisions,” said Paul Jennings. “They need to make things happen.”

Another area of concern for residents is job loss. The director of operations for Gleaners Food Bank, Suzanne Quinlan, said she is worried about what effect the new mayor will have on the issue.

Quinlan said that dwindling jobs and lack of resources have forced families to choose between feeding their loved ones and housing themselves. This has put the food bank under extra strain, she said.

“There has to be people out there with minds to figure out this issue,” said Quinlan.