It’s with great pleasure that I announce my candidacy for the office of the Mayor of Deux-Montagnes as an independent candidate.
My wife, Hoda and I moved to Deux-Montagnes in 1989. I had just graduated from McGill University with an engineering degree, my wife with a business degree from Concordia University and we were ready to embark on our new life together. Little did we know that in very short period of time we would call Deux-Montagnes home.
Twenty four years later we are blessed with two wonderful boys who also call Deux-Montagnes their home. My son Sasha, aged 22 in July, is a graduate of the University of Montreal with a degree in law. He is an avid soccer player and volunteers as a coach as well as organizing and presiding over the annual Shamrocks soccer tournament. Justin aged 16 is in high school and as well as having played soccer for the last 10 years is also an excellent tennis player having reached the national level. At the end of the day no matter where the boys have travelled to, they will always consider Deux-Montagnes as home.
I decided to enter this race because Deux-Montagnes is my home and it is important for me that every person who lives in our town feels the same. This town needs people with business experience who care about the issues. There is absolutely no reason for Deux-Montagnes to be in any debt. There are long term and short term solutions that must be explored. I strongly believe that with proper leadership, honesty and hard work we can become more fiscally responsible, while remaining independent and maintaining our identity.
Having been involved in soccer as a coach since 1989 and more recently as the president of the Shamrocks soccer for the past 2 years, I have had the privilege to work with so many fantastic volunteers who have been involved in every aspect of improving our kids’ lives. This town has such a strong base of volunteers not only for soccer but also hockey, football and baseball and other organizations. Our volunteers are the backbone of our town. We can easily capitalize on this tremendous asset in order to ensure the well-being of our town.
With what we see in the news regarding corruption in municipal party politics, I believe the era of having one person leading and the rest of the team just following along the party line has come to an end. As an independent candidate, I’m confident that with teamwork, regardless of party affiliations, and with an ultimate goal of the well- being of our citizens, together we can have a balanced budget.
I was told by a good friend that the next 4 years will be very difficult for anyone to manage this city. Well I have never backed away from a challenge, and I believe this is a task for someone who has the proper business experience to make tough decisions for our town. As an experienced Civil Engineer, administrator of 4 companies in the North Shore, including our soccer club as well as a company in Central Asia since 1993, I have the necessary experience to make those decisions but always keeping as my priority the quality of life in our town.
The current administration has done a study to improve investment and add revenue to our town. We can take advantage of these studies and town meetings results to improve the situation particularly on Oka Road. My background as a Civil Engineer and as an Administrator puts me in a position to know what it means to balance budgets, choose projects that make sense for our town with a tight cost control, doing the essential infrastructure projects such as water and sewer replacement for our citizens without running to inflated and unnecessary over budget cost. I can assure you that no contract will be awarded to any engineering firm, lawyers, accountants or any professional without a fair public tender process. Furthermore, no contract will be awarded to any firm who is under investigation by the authorities in any way shape or form.
I hereby ask for your vote of confidence in November.
Finally on a different topic that is very close to my heart, is voting. Regardless of whom you like or don’t like, please vote. This is our democratic right that the majority of us take it for granted and don’t exercise it. Remember, this is your town so please make your voice heard.
Yours truly,
Jamshid Ghavami, P. Eng.,