After running in the Innisfil municipal election in 2018 for deputy mayor, Steven Fishman is once again on the campaign trail, but this time he hopes to represent Ward 4 as its new councillor.
Despite not winning in the 2018 election, the experience helped him get an even better grasp of the town which is what motivated him to run again in 2022.
“That woke me up to a lot of the issues that are facing our town at the moment,” he explained. “That was more of a learning experience—I was up against four other people—and I met a lot of amazing people in 2018 and a lot of people encouraged me to run again.
"This time people told me I should run in a Ward and based on the polling we did back in 2018, the majority of my votes came from the people in Ward 4. Innisfil Beach Park is very near and dear to me and I see a lot of issues popping up regarding the park, so I felt Ward 4 would be a good place for me to run."
With over 1,300 votes for deputy mayor in 2018, Fishman was proud of what he accomplished but wanting to meet with every resident he’ll potentially represent, he thinks running a councillor this time around makes more sense.
“Running for deputy mayor I met a lot of people, and it was a good experience,” he said. “I was a little naive in that Innisfil land mass wise is very big. You’re going from Cookstown up to Big Bay Point and you can’t meet everyone all the time. You get a lot of feedback from residents telling you they haven’t seen you or that you haven’t knocked on their door. People want the face-to-face approach, and they want to see the person who’s running. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to go to every door in Innisfil.”
Having lived in Innisfil for nine years now, Fishman says he’s gained a better understanding of the ins and outs of the town and hopes his involvement in the community shows how much he cares about making a difference.
“There’s a lot of issues that haven’t gotten resolved over the years and a lot of promises made by current members of council that have not been kept and I just felt it’s now my time to take another shot at it,” he said. “I try to be involved in the community where I can. I donate to the food bank, I donate clothing to clothing drives, and I try to attend events around the town as much as possible. I try to be as involved in the town as much as I possibly can.”
For Fishman, there are three issues that stick out to him as the most important in his platform and he plans to champion them if elected.
“Innisfil Beach Park is important to me, I know there’s a plan to commercialize the area and I really think that there’s enough construction—especially with Orbit—that we should really try to keep it the way that it is,” he said. “People in that area want to keep it the way that it is and not commercialize it. Another issue is Uber. I feel that when the town was smaller, Uber was a good thing but now we need a more centralized transit system. I’d also like to create permanent youth centres around Innisfil where youths can gather and drop in with mentors. It would be a safe place for them to hang out.”
The reason Fishman and his family initially moved to Innisfil was because of the strong community feel and he hopes to help nurture that as a voice for the people of Ward 4.
“Community is very important,” he said. “I think that making sure people are involved with one another and helping each other is very important. There’s a sense of belonging that comes with being in Innisfil. We moved here because of how lovely the area is and how friendly people are. You don’t get the same experience in other places.”
