Board member bios

The WCA elected a new board at the October 2009 meeting. Full board bios will be available shortly. If you’d like to get in touch with the WCA,  please send an email to hellowestboro@yahoo.ca.

Our 2009-2010 board members are:

• Gary Ludington (Chair)
• Andrew Balfour
• Karlis Brouse
• Don Christie
• Jennifer Davies
• Irmi Elbert
• Andrew Hickey
• Jean McKibbon (Secretary)
• Terence Nelligan (Treasurer)
• Stephen Sandiford
• Andrea Tomkins

Jennifer Davies

I have been a resident of Westboro since 2006. Like you, I feel that Westboro is the best neighbourhood to live in and I am committed to keeping it as such.

I have an enthusiasm for the maintenance of historical buildings and the landscapes that make up this community. This, and my desire to learn more about the people that make up this area, drove me to join the board.

My focus will be to continue to uphold the quality of the community while being an advocate for the residents.

Irmi Elbert

My name is Irmi Elbert and I have been a resident of Westboro for over 13 years and a member of the WCA board since September 2007. I run a business of transferring video, audio and photo material to customized DVDs. We moved here because we wanted to raise our two boys in a safe and livable village atmosphere.

Through involvement in a new construction project on the street where we live, I learned that the voices of people working together can be heard. Westboro is growing and changing with immense speed, and I think a good community association can support this healthy growth.

In the past year I have been involved in event planning, membership outreach and zoning issues. I am also very interested in the rich history of Westboro Village. As much as I welcome smart intensification, it should not interfere with existing laws, safety issues and/or changing the character of the community.

Jean McKibbon

Jean has been a resident of Westboro for many years and attended Churchill, Broadview and Nepean schools.

Jean would like to see Westboro remain a safe, people-centred community where walking on the streets without sidewalks, remains safe from speeding vehicular traffic. Traffic and speed of vehicles appears to have increased substantially over the last year.

Jean believes in the Westboro Community Association and that it is important the individual resident has a collective voice.

Terence Nelligan

In the past 15 years I have had the privilege of living in some great areas in Ottawa such as The Golden Triangle, Centre Town, and Old Ottawa East and for the past 5 years Westboro.

I joined the WCA to get to know my neighbours better and having worked in the past for Regional and Municipal government I understand the enormous burden on city staff to meet the demands of all the unique communities in Ottawa. The city cannot do everything alone, community participation is necessary and it is my hope my 18 years of experience with all levels of government would assist the community association with its activities. Westboro has many unique qualities and is very diverse with respect to the ages, incomes and the amount of time people have lived here (some have lived here all their lives and are now senior citizens).

Westboro is being redeveloped and it is an exciting time to watch this transformation before my eyes. At the same time, I believe it is a great opportunity for the community to join together with the city and developers to create a Westboro that is attractive to newcomers, comfortable for those already living here and preserves its natural history and community identity.

Stephen SandifordStephen Sandiford has been resident of Westboro for over 15 years and a member of the WCA board since September 2007. He has two children attending Nepean High School and Broadview. In the past, he has been active in immigrant host programs in Ottawa and has had a long career in international development. He seeks to participate in WCA in order to help maintain the character of Westboro as a liveable, people-centred and sustainable urban community. His interests over the next year are: 1) to continue to support WCA’s efforts to promote smarter intensification that respects the current character of the community and 2) to build linkages with other associations in order to encourage the City of Ottawa to adopt better planning approaches for sustainable growth and intensification and that also reflect the views of members of our communties.

 

Andrea Tomkins

I have lived in Westboro for the past 11 years. I work as a freelance writer and web content developer and my children attend school in the area.

I was involved in obtaining heritage designation for La Maison Jeanne D’Arc on Kenwood Avenue back in November 2006 and have been a member of the WCA board for since its rebirth in September 2007. It was the experience with La Maison that made me realize that ordinary people have the power to shape their neighborhoods, and that an active community association is an incredibly important part of living in a developing neighborhood.

In this past year I have played a communications-related role with the board, helped with membership outreach and event planning, and also designed the WCA website which I currently maintain. I would like to continue to focus on making Westboro a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly environment.