Candidate prioritizes housing for unhoused residents; opposes Bell Creek development
She chuckled as she said she is one of at least three Cynthia Blacks in Belleville. She said her first campaign phone call came from former municipal candidate Richard Black, the husband of another Cynthia.
The candidate Cynthia Black is the president of both the Mood Disorders Society of Canada advocacy group and the Quinte branch of the National Association of Federal Retirees. Black was the executive director of a former not-for-profit organization in New Brunswick helping people with mental-health conditions rejoin the workforce.
Speaking to The Intelligencer by phone – the first interview of her campaign – Black described herself as an advocate for mental health and senior citizens’ issues.
Black said she is focused mainly on addressing homelessness, plus the environment and community policing in addition to fiscal responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
She also said she is not making campaign promises.
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” she said.
Black said she does not have access to the city’s inner workings, but if elected, she would meet with all department heads to understand their budgets.
“People aren’t going downtown. The stores are suffering, so we need to revitalize the downtown area to get the economy going,” she said.
Former not-for-profit director
Though she was born in Montreal, Black’s roots are in the Maritimes. Black lived in Prince Edward County for 10 years before moving to Moncton. She moved in 2015 from Cocagne, N.B., to Belleville to be closer to family.
Black has a certificate from Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick in non-profit organization management.
Black recalled her work with New Brunswick’s BUILT Network Moncton Inc. Eighty per cent of the program’s graduates found sustainable employment, she said, and the remainder saw improvements in their lifestyles.
She has also worked in an administrative role for a halfway house and as an executive associate for the chief internal auditor of manufacturing company DuPont.
The candidate added she is a former executive director of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council and, for three decades, volunteered with the citizens’ advisory committee of Westmorland Institution, a minimum-security prison in Dorchester, N.B. and at a parole office. She also served on a similar committee at the maximum-security Millhaven Institution in Bath, west of Kingston.
Homelessness response a top priority
She said the homelessness issue is “near and dear to my heart” and she has a housing-first approach.
“I’m running for all residents of Belleville.
“If you can resolve the homelessness issue, then everything else falls into place.”
Black said while community organizations need to work together to help the unhoused population, “each organization has to be responsible for their own client population.” There should be separate efforts to help veterans, people with complex mental illness, people who are newly unhoused, etc., she said.
“We need a detox centre here,” said Black, explaining it could be an early step in the recovery process. Local advocates, including senior executives of mental-health organizations and Quinte Health, have emphasized the need for such a facility.
“We need seniors’ housing that’s affordable,” Black added. She acknowledged it is costly but “more advantageous” in the long run.
She and her husband, John Lutz, have served as volunteer mental-health advocates in Belleville. Black said she has also advocated for senior citizens in hospitals.
More police on the beat
Black said police are “doing a great job,” in part by having a downtown community policing ambassador. Yet she also said more police should be walking the beat, or patrolling on bicycles, not in cruisers.
Recalling the history of the neighbourhood beat cop, she said that would improve personal connections with citizens. The Belleville Police Service’s new strategic plan assigns specific zones to patrol officers to foster those connections.
“I think there needs to be more police on the beat in the city, walking around downtown, making people feel safe,” Black said.
Against data centres
Black is a self-described animal lover and a supporter of the Friends of Bell Creek. The grassroots group opposes development of the wetland on Belleville’s east side.
She said she wants to protect wetlands and other watercourses.
“Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
With the rise of artificial intelligence, the data centres required to handle huge amounts of information have become controversial, including in Quinte West.
Black said she opposes data centres; she said they use too much water and electricity, and may pollute.
Nomination deadline is Aug. 21
The mayoral race’s other candidates are incumbent Neil Ellis and comedian Kyle Woolven.
All candidates must file their nominations no later than Aug. 21.
In addition to the mayoral candidates, there were 13 people as of Thursday evening competing to become the six councillors for Belleville’s urban ward, known as Ward 1. The former Thurlow Township, or Ward 2, has two seats, with three on Thursday’s unofficial list of candidates.
In total, six of the candidates for councillor roles were incumbents.
The election is Oct. 26. Visit the elections page of the city’s website for details.
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