I first had the opportunity to meet Councillor Dave Gittings on a freezing cold day in early winter. There he was in the middle of Wallace Park with a garden hose slowly flooding an area of the baseball diamond. He was determined that Ward 3 had an outdoor ice rink. So when it became apparent that, OakvilleNews.Org hadn’t done an article about him, it was something that needed to be addressed.
Dave Gittings altered his candidacy from Town to Town & Regional Councillor when Keith Bird announced that he would no longer be running for Town and Regional Councillor in August. He initially entered the race on January 2, 2014, since he loved serving his community.
Dave is originally from Montreal, and his family moved to Mississauga when he was young. His father was transferred into MacLean Hunter's head office in downtown Toronto. He and his wife moved to South-East Oakville 27 years ago from Mississauga. They really enjoyed downtown Oakville, Oakville Trafalgar High School had a terrific reputation so their child was going to get an excellent education, and many of their close friends lived in the town. Moving to Oakville was the right thing to do.
When asked why he wanted to continue as a town & regional councillor Gittings commented that, “I was critical about the level of communication that was being given out by the then serving councillor”. To solve the communications problem, Dave established an email bulletin that is sent out monthly to 1000’s of his constituents.
He worked at the Toronto Star in advertising sales management. He understands what it means to commute into Toronto for year on a daily basis. So really appreciates being retired from that daily commute. Dave stated, “what an ideal job to work in your community, for your neighbors.”
While at the Toronto Star he was the chair of the Retail Advertising club of Toronto, and became the President of the Star News Credit Union. He retired in 2010 and promptly was elected as the Town Councillor for Ward 3 in October. Dave adds, being a town councillor is, “a full-time job.”
The issues that Dave feels are facing Ward 3 are the Downtown Oakville Revitalization which is well on it’s way to completion; Mid-Town development that will see 12,000 residents plus 8 ,000 jobs which needs the infrastructure, the maintenance of our Tree canopy through the protection of the ash trees, and ensuring stable neighborhoods by protecting the character from in-appropriate development.
“I enjoy being a voice for residents,” states Dave. “And am looking forward to the additional things that I would be involved with at the regional level such as conservation, and EMS.”
Contact Dave Gittings
home: (905) 844-1529
email: [email protected]
web: www.gittings.ca
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dave.gittings.984?fref=ts