With less than 24 hours before the nomination deadline, David Lee of Stittsville has stepped forward to run against incumbent Shad Qadri for city council.
Lee says that his campaign web site will be online this weekend.
Lee is 47 years old and has been a Stittsville resident since 1996. He describes himself as a “lifelong entrepreneur and businessman”. He’s a University of Ottawa graduate, and started an IT firm in the 1990s that sold hardware, software and network equipment to the government.
He was the owner of iPlay (“a next generation arcade”) located in Iber Road and later at the Bell Sensplex on Maple Grove. The business operated for 11 years, closing in August 2013.
“I decided to take a year off to recharge and come up with new business ideas,” he said. “I’ve always been an armchair politician. I love politics at all levels and I’m very passionate about it.”
Lee says the city auditor’s report on the Orgaworld contract was what finally convinced him he should run.
“The audit came out and I was blown away. Tying taxpayers to a 20-year deal? No due diligence? Unacceptable,” he said. “Every week I’m reminded. I go to my trash bins and see those maggots.”
Lee has been a volunteer basketball coach for 21 years with the Goulbourn Basketball League and Kanata Basketball League, and he’s contributed to local fundraisers and charities through his work at iPlay.
Lee put in his nomination papers less than 24 hours before Friday’s 2:00pm deadline.
“I was hoping someone else would step up and run… I didn’t want to regret waking up on Saturday after the deadline and feeling that I did nothing,” he said.
He says he was surprised at how quickly word got around that he was running. Within a few hours of filing the paperwork, his nomination was posted online and he started receiving texts and messages from friends.
“That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen the city work, ” he says. “Last year it took four weeks for me to get a permit just to put up some drywall at my business,” he said.
“Win or lose, if I can educate people of Stittsville what happened with Orgaworld, then I’ve done my job,” he said.
The deadline to file a nomination for candidacy is 2 p.m. on Friday, September 12. Voting day is October 27, 2014.
Individuals wishing to run for the offices of Mayor, City Councillor, and school board Trustee can obtain nomination papers online at ottawa.ca/vote, at the City’s elections office at 1221 Cyrville Road, Unit B, the Ottawa City Hall government service centre, or any City of Ottawa client service centre. A nomination paper must be filed in person, or by an agent acting on the individual’s behalf at any of these locations.
The filing fee is $200 for the office of Mayor and $100 for the offices of Councillor and school board Trustee. The fee is payable by cash, certified cheque, money order, and debit or credit card.
To see information on the eligibility requirements to run for office and which candidates have filed their nominations, visit ottawa.ca/vote, contact the elections office at 613-580-2660, or call 3-1-1.
Good for Dave, we need more young business people running this city
Please advise your volunteers to NOT remove the Shad Qadri sign from my front lawn and replace it with yours!!! I am not impressed!!
What was your involvement in the Stittsville Main Street Community Development Plan, which contains a 20-year outlook for Stittsville Main Street. The CDP public consultations and workshops went from 2012 through 2014 and were well advertised in the Stittsville News, Stittsville Neighbours Facebook page, cards in all mailboxes.