These are
not promises. They are commitments.
Simon led the West Niagara Minor Hockey merger when three rival organizations needed someone they could hold to account. He has been in the BIA merchant conversations every day of Downtown Reimagined, answerable to businesses that could not afford empty words. He knows what it means to deliver on what he said he would do. Every commitment below has a specific action, a public timeline, and a mayor who will answer when deadlines slip.
PILLAR ONE:
Execution and Accountability
Grimsby is not short on good ideas. What it has been missing is a mayor who will get them off the shelf and build them. The GO Station has been approved for years. Good projects are still in planning. Town Hall has no service standards, no documented response commitments, and no public accountability when deadlines slip. That changes.
Simon has already proven he can hold a complex process together. He coordinated three rival minor hockey organizations through years of resistance and built the West Niagara Minor Hockey merger when every politician in the room said it was impossible. He led the Downtown BIA through the most difficult stretch Grimsby's merchants have faced in a generation, showing up every day to fight for businesses that were losing revenue and needed an advocate, not an announcement. That is what accountability looks like in practice.
Every commitment Simon makes comes with a timeline, a public record, and a plan to address it when deadlines slip.
The current administration has had four years and a first-term mandate. The GO Station sits approved but without a municipal delivery timeline. Town Hall still has no documented service standards. There is no public accountability mechanism when commitments slip. Four years is long enough to get things out of the binder. Announcing progress is not the same as delivering it.
The West Niagara Minor Hockey merger did not succeed because of goodwill. It succeeded because Simon built a structured process, set clear expectations, and held everyone in the room to what they had agreed to do, including himself. That is the model. Town Hall gets the same standard.
PILLAR TWO:
Fiscal Responsibility
Grimsby property owners absorbed a 5.88% tax levy increase in 2025 and a 4.7% increase in 2026. This is happening in a housing market where the average sold price is $809,000. Two consecutive levy increases without a corresponding documented effort to pursue grants, alternative revenue, and other financing tools is not fiscal stewardship. It is the path of least resistance.
Simon's business background, managing multiple enterprises through difficult economic conditions and keeping them viable, signals fiscal literacy that the current administration has not demonstrated. The wastewater infrastructure project that secured a $7.1 million provincial grant is an example of what proactive grant pursuit looks like. That approach needs to be standard practice across every budget cycle, not the exception.
Taxpayers deserve to be treated as people who matter, not a reliable revenue line.
The wastewater infrastructure project that secured a $7.1 million provincial grant shows what proactive grant pursuit looks like. That outcome did not happen by accident. It happened because someone pursued it. The question is why that approach has not been applied systematically across every budget cycle. Two consecutive levy increases without a documented grant assessment on the record is not stewardship. It is the path of least resistance.
Simon has managed multiple enterprises through difficult economic conditions and kept them viable. The Peach Kings. Teddy's during COVID. A real estate practice through market volatility. He knows how to find alternative revenue, manage costs under pressure, and make difficult decisions without defaulting to the easiest option. That discipline is what Grimsby's budget process has been missing.
PILLAR Three:
Downtown Champion
Grimsby's downtown merchants have been grinding through Downtown Reimagined without visible support from the mayor's office. A press release is not a lifeline. Businesses on Main Street have been absorbing construction disruption, reduced foot traffic, and lost revenue, with no documented merchant support program and no daily presence from the mayor's chair. Simon has been in those conversations every day as BIA Chair. He will bring that fight to the mayor's office.
The downtown is not just an economic zone. It is where Grimsby's character lives. Every merchant who closes during construction and does not reopen is a permanent loss. Every business that survives this period does so because someone showed up for them. Simon has been that person. He will continue to be.
A mayor who is present only for ribbon cuttings is not what Grimsby's downtown needs. A Downtown Champion is.
There is no documented merchant support program in place. There is no coordinated recovery strategy for what comes after construction ends. Every business that closes during this period and does not reopen is a permanent loss to Main Street. That is not an acceptable outcome, and it is not one Simon will accept from the mayor's chair.
Simon has been Chair of the Downtown BIA through every day of this construction. He knows which businesses are struggling, which conversations have not been had, and what advocacy has gone missing from the mayor's office. He is not arriving at this file cold. He has been living it. That is the difference.
PILLAR Four:
Council Unity
Grimsby Town Council has been at war with itself for four years. Code of Conduct violations. Integrity Commissioner investigations that cost taxpayers $58,000. A 45-day pay suspension that was the longest in Grimsby's political history. Legal proceedings filed against residents. The mayor sets the tone of council. This is the tone that was set.
Simon built West Niagara Minor Hockey by bringing three rival organizations together through a structured process, genuine consensus-building, and forward accountability. Three organizations. Years of rivalry. Everyone in the room said it could not be done. He led it to completion. That is the credential. He also chaired the Downtown BIA through its most difficult period, managing a diverse merchant community with competing interests and keeping them working toward a common goal.
Residents want council to become boring again, because it is functional. Simon is the candidate who has proven he can build unity where others see only division.
The West Niagara Minor Hockey merger did not happen because the three organizations wanted to merge. It happened because Simon built a process that made cooperation more viable than conflict. He established shared goals, created accountability structures, and stayed in the room through every difficult conversation. The same approach applies to a council that has filed complaints against residents, spent $58,000 on an Integrity Commissioner, and handed out the longest suspension in Grimsby's political history.
Residents want council to become boring again, because it is functional. That is not a low bar. In Grimsby right now, it is exactly what is needed. Simon is the only candidate in this race who has demonstrated, in practice, the ability to build unity where others saw only division. The credential is not a promise. It is a record.
