About Me
I was born and raised in London where I grew up with my parents and two older sisters. My father was a local police officer, and my mother raised my sisters and me. We lived in the east end of the city before eventually moving to Masonville where I spent my formative years and where my parents continue to reside. Today, I live with my wife and three children while working in the centre-west of the city.
I’m a lifelong entrepreneur who runs a handful of community wellness businesses which earned me London’s Top 20 Under 40 Honours in 2016. I opened my first Ward 7 business in 2014. There are many parallels between running a community driven business and serving the city, and my skills and experience will bring sound judgment and innovation to city council.
Sensible resource allocation resulting in a prosperous community is critical to achieving our most important municipal aspirations. The richer the city, the more funds we have for essential initiatives in healthcare, education, infrastructure, and city services. Not to mention the less taxation that gets placed on the shoulders of residents. Fiscal responsibility and a thriving economic system during a challenging time is at the core of my platform. Economic strength gives Londoners of all ages and demographics the freedom and opportunity to thrive.
I’m an enthusiastic leader with a proven track record for successfully managing many moving parts. I attained my MBA while working full-time on my first business in Ward 7, and have since taken ongoing coursework through the Wharton School of Business and Harvard’s Professional and Lifelong Learning (PLL) program.
I want to ensure a bright future for all of our residents, both young and old, by leading council with integrity and authenticity while putting citizens first.
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My Primary Municipal Concerns
Controlling Violent Crime: Violent crime has increased by 50% since 2017, the arrest rate for local crimes is 28%, and our rise in violent crime is significantly higher than the National average. London is becoming unrecognizable. We have the lowest police per capita in all of Southwestern Ontario, and our officers are overwhelmed as they become the frontline professionals for the homeless issue in our core. A few days before writing this, a North London High School student stabbed two fellow students at lunchtime and attended class the next day. This incident came after a series of shootings in the previous weeks. This needs to stop. We can’t wait any longer before acting swiftly and seriously on the issue of local crime, and we require a council that takes the growing issue of crime seriously.
Curbing the Homelessness Issue: I have great empathy for homeless individuals who are plagued with mental health and addiction issues. We have several resources to aid this population, but the systems aren’t working. As a result, the homeless population is growing while downtown businesses can’t keep their doors open during the day. It’s no surprise that Londoners won’t bring their families to the city’s heart. Let’s focus on collaborative and rehabilitative programs that sincerely aid this population while reviving the core for residents and small business owners.
Economic Prosperity and Opportunity: The main job of a municipality is to create and allocate resources that result in job opportunities, competitive wages, new business, and lower taxes. Without a thriving local economy, we can’t fund the projects citizens care about most. I believe the city has lost its way in this department. If we want to build affordable housing, update critical infrastructure, and properly fund municipal services, we need to generate revenue beyond furthering the tax burden on citizens.
Rebuilding the Small Business Economy: Small businesses were decimated over the past two years. The average small business carries $158,000 in lockdown debt, and bankruptcies are steadily increasing in this sector. I was denied when I asked to speak about London’s small business situation on two occasions during municipal meetings. The reason? “There’s nothing we can do about the legislation.” I beg to differ, and small business owners deserve a council member who will stand for them.
Ending Local Bureaucracy: Politics is often self-serving and inconsiderate of the effect decision-making has in both the short and long term. When representatives don’t face natural consequences for their actions and errors, their decision-making incentives become misaligned. This is what is known as ‘agency theory’. As a small business owner, I understand the meaning of accountability and taking ownership of my mistakes. I won’t make decisions for the city with re-election as my first concern. I can think about long-term consequences and future problems that may result from initiatives that sound good today, because my goal is to serve my community, not to be a career politician. I am dedicating my first-year salary to community initiatives to show Londoners how serious I am about working for the people, not the paycheque.
In addition to my core concerns, I want to see environmental solutions that work for citizens as well as schools that provide the optimal experience for children. These two topics are complex and involve the influence of both Provincial and Federal governments, so it is difficult to summarize my concerns and proposed solutions in brief. I can assure you, however, that these topics will be part of my conversations in debates, on doorsteps, and if it is the will of citizens, in council.
More About Tommy
Do you have a political affiliation?
Partisan politics can be ideological and self-limiting, which is why I view it as a significant issue with Provincial and Federal systems. Attaching to a party limits our ability to think and act reasonably, and in reality, our political leanings should change with each issue and with each new leader or candidate. I have experienced the party system first hand, and it limits the ability of the candidate to run on their merits. Candidates become wrongly conflated with every characterization of party ideology, and they lose their voices to mischaracterizations. It’s unhelpful.
For example, when it comes to economics, I’m conservative. Fiscal responsibility is essential when the rise in the cost of living is out-paced only by the decline in the value of our dollar. When it comes to healthcare and education, I’m Liberal. Schools and Hospitals are critical to the well-being of all citizens, but we must run our institutions efficiently and with total transparency. When it comes to individual rights, I’m a Libertarian. The ability to live life as one sees fit, (assuming such lifestyle does not limit or harm the ability of another individual to live theirs), is critical to a function society. When considering those struggling socioeconomically, you could consider me a New Democrat. Those on the lowest socioeconomic rung require support from the community, and when we better the lives of those around us, everyone’s well-being improves.
Without the flexibility to address problems on an individual basis, it is impossible to get to the best solution. Party politics act as a burden on progress and a wedge in the community, and we’ve seen how damaging these political wedges can be. I prefer to approach each issue with a clean slate, free of preconceived notions or opinions, and do the work required to reach what is best for the citizens. We should be neighbours and Canadians first with shared concerns outside of political ideologies. If we focus more on what we have in common rather than what we have in difference, our communities will thrive.
What is your core municipal concern?
Government, by nature, devolves into wasteful, bureaucratic systems. Politics has become- or always has been- self-serving. Politicians are often concerned with their careers in a way that prevents them from standing for the community. The events of 2020 put a spotlight on this issue. That is why I am committing my first year compensation to local rehabilitative programs; to show the citizens that financial compensation is secondary to my service to the city. I am not looking to be a career politician. I am looking to be a genuine public servant.
We pour money into an inefficient system each year while getting less in return, and bureaucracy is at the core of irresponsible and unaccountable spending. We need people in public offices who will start holding the group responsible. Many of the items in the 2022-2026 approved municipal budget have already risen in cost alongside inflation and both supply chain and labour issues. Fiscal responsibility and economic transparency should be the top concern for city council. We can exercise such traits by putting the community, not our careers, first. That begins with shrinking the bureaucratic nature of local politics that prevents fiscal prosperity. Doing so allows us to fund the projects that matter to Londoners most without looking solely to taxation to make up the balance.
Why do we need a shift in council?
We require leaders who have shown sacrifice and the willingness to create opportunities within the city through their efforts. Many decisions made over the last few years were driven purely by politics; often by people without any skin in the local economy. When you continue to collect a paycheque regardless of the results of your decisions, the incentives are misaligned, and we are living with the result of this issue right now. For example, small businesses in Ontario are carrying an average debt of $158,000 and bankruptcies are accelerating. The cost of living skyrockets while the quality of our lives and the value of our dollar drops. And as a result, 50% of our citizens are worried about the ability to afford food. Hospitals are backlogged, children are suffering record mental health disorders and developmental delays, and much of this could’ve been avoided with strong leadership. The community suffers when our leaders are worried about re-election instead of making difficult, potentially unpopular decisions. It’s time we balance our municipality and elect strong leaders who put our future above their re-election or city relationships.
Tommy Caldwell 