Since becoming a part of Niagara-on-the-Lake council four years ago, Maria Mavridis has taken it upon herself to deliver regular updates to the public on Facebook concering events happening in town — including legal disputes, divisive development plans and explanations of how the municipality is run.
While it’s not easy keeping an ongoing dialogue with the community, she says it’s important to her that NOTL’s residents have clear and accurate information about what’s going on in the place they call home.
Mavridis, who was elected to council for the first time in 2022, is once again throwing her hat into the ring of this fall’s election, hoping to serve another term.
The resident grew up in town. She and her family own and operate a handful of restaurants in downtown Old Town.
Since her term began, she said, she’s been focused on being “as transparent as possible.”
“I said that if I got elected, that I was going to share and make sure that everybody knows as much as I know as councillor,” she said, describing her stance during the 2022 campaign.
It hasn’t been easy, she said: some of the negative comments and attacks she’s received online and in-person have been hurtful.
Regardless, she said, if re-elected, she plans to continue sharing everything she knows about the municipality’s daily affairs, whether they’re happening in council chambers or out in the neighbourhood.
“It’s not right, but it’s not going to stop me from sharing everything,” she said.
As for what she hopes to accomplish from a governance standpoint, if re-elected, Mavridis said she wants to continue with the progress council made this term in updating its policies and bylaws — such as the special events bylaw passed in January that allows the town to fine organizers who host events that violate the town’s rules.
“There’s still half a dozen outdated policies and bylaws that I’d like to dig deep and look at and update,” she said.
She also hopes the town will continue to improve services and programs for both its aging population and its young people.
She cites some of this term’s successes in that realm, such as long-awaited upgrades to the St. Davids Pool, increasing parks and recreation programs by 72 per cent and beginning the installation of new playgrounds at Memorial Park and Simcoe Park.
Mavridis hasn’t been afraid to voice her opposition against the majority of councillors. When council approved the planning bylaws for the Shaw Festival’s new Royal George Theatre in November, Mavridis was one of three councillors — along with Couns. Andrew Niven and Sandra O’Connor — who voted against them.
Mavridis said she voted against the new Royal George because of its size — the new theatre, set to open in late 2028, will be around 38,000 square feet above ground, noticeably larger than the venue that used to occupy 85 Queen St.
With the construction of the new theatre underway, she said she hopes those behind the project consider making some adjustments, and generally hopes the new theatre is a net good for the downtown core.
“At this point, am I going to stop and put up roadblocks and just cost the taxpayers money? No, I won’t do that. I mean, we’re a democracy,” she said. “I voted the way I voted. Others voted the way they voted … I’m not going to attack anyone that voted the other way. That’s not me.”
Mavridis is the fifth person to join the race for council, which will be made up of six members in the next term, down from eight. As of Aug. 5, six candidates are registered to run for a seat at council.
While she’s concerned how the town will fare with a smaller circle of councillors at the helm, the reduction was a necessary concession to stave off the threat of amalgamation that cropped up at the start of this year, she said.
“At that time, we all said, ‘OK, we got to do what we got to do to save our town. We cannot amalgamate,'” she said.
Coming into council four years ago, she had heard that the job could be demanding — not the part-time position some see it as, she said. But with two less councillors serving, she said she expects the pressure to increase.
Still, she said she hopes council can work together to be “one voice” on the issues that matter most, she said.
“We’re all looking for the same thing. We all want solutions. We all want a better community.”
The last day to file nomination papers for this fall’s election is Friday, Aug. 21.
