Six pillars. One habit: do the work.
Three decades in the classroom and two decades on Stouffville's boards taught David the same lesson: listen first, read the file, and explain the trade-offs honestly. Here is what that looks like on council.
The Educator's Lens
Listen first. Read the file. Explain the trade-offs the way good teachers do.
Why it matters in Stouffville
Municipal decisions are complicated (budgets, zoning, growth, services), and residents are too often handed the conclusion without the reasoning behind it. People deserve a councillor who can take a complex file, break it into understandable pieces, and lay out the trade-offs honestly.
That's a teacher's skill. Thirty-three years of explaining difficult ideas, starting from what people already know and building from there, is exactly the habit of mind good municipal governance rewards.
What David has already done
David has taught science with the Toronto District School Board since 1993. He's written curriculum, work that taught him that words on a page have real consequences for real people, and that clarity is an ethical responsibility, not a nicety. He's presented at the Science Teachers' Association of Ontario, served on the TDSB's assessment and evaluation team, and twice facilitated provincial summer institutes for the Ontario Teachers' Federation.
Through his federation, the OSSTF, he represented hundreds of colleagues as branch president and vice-president, listening, synthesizing many points of view, and advocating clearly. That is the same work a council table asks for.
On council, David will
Read every report before the vote, not just the summary, the file. Explain decisions in plain language, including the costs and the trade-offs, so residents can weigh in with the full picture. Show the work, not only the answer.
Libraries & Lifelong Learning
Stouffville's library is one of our great equalizers. A growing town deserves a growing library.
Why it matters in Stouffville
The Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library isn't just a building. It's one of the town's great equalizers, free to all and useful to all: knowledge, programs, technology, and a warm place to belong. Who comes through those doors, and why, is a lens on how a community shares opportunity.
In a town growing this fast, the question of which public institutions we build and protect is foundational. A library that doesn't grow with its town quietly shrinks.
What David has already done
David serves as a trustee on the Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library and Latcham Art Centre Board, and on its Fundraising Sub-Committee, work that spans governance, fundraising, programming and outreach, and input into strategic planning. Library governance also taught him the nuts and bolts of municipal life: budget cycles, strategic plans, and genuine community consultation.
On council, David will
Make sure the library grows with the town in space, in funding, in programming, and in reach, and treat it as core public infrastructure, not a discretionary line to be trimmed in a tight year.
Arts as Community Infrastructure
19 on the Park, the Latcham Art Centre, public spaces, programming: the connective tissue of a real community.
Why it matters in Stouffville
The arts aren't a luxury line in the budget. They're the connective tissue of a real community, and often the first thing cut in a tight year and among the last things rebuilt. Good arts programming reaches people other services miss: seniors, newcomers, teenagers, people in recovery.
Venues like 19 on the Park and the Latcham Art Centre also carry a real economic and social return. They give a fast-growing town a place to gather and feel part of something.
What David has already done
David chaired the advisory committee at 19 on the Park (the Lebovic Centre for Arts & Entertainment) from 2015 to 2018, and has served on its staff working group since. He helped raise over $100,000 for programming and outreach, and continues to serve the Latcham Art Centre through its board. Very few candidates have sat at the nexus of arts policy, community programming, and municipal governance.
On council, David will
Champion the venues, public spaces, and programming that turn subdivisions into a community, and make the case for culture as essential infrastructure, grounded in governance experience rather than sentiment.
Youth, Seniors & Families
Safe streets, mental health, and programming for young people, seniors, and families, from school council to council chamber.
Why it matters in Stouffville
Stouffville has a large and growing family population, and a growing seniors' community alongside it. Parents worry about safe streets and well-resourced public spaces; older residents want programming and services that include them. Wellbeing isn't only a classroom issue; it's a governance one.
What David has already done
David's record here is practical, not theoretical. He helped create a safe drop-off zone at Oscar Peterson Public School (a parent problem, a community conversation, a concrete fix), served on the school Safety Task Force, and helped build an outdoor classroom. He coaches girls' and boys' softball, organizes the Strawberry Festival youth basketball tournament, and supports programming for the town's 55+ community. His equity and mental-health work, including White Ribbon campaigns and service as a Moose Hide Campaign Community Steward, runs through all of it.
On council, David will
Push for safe streets, real support for mental health, and programs that serve every generation, from playgrounds to seniors' clubs, with the same ground-level practicality that built that drop-off zone.
Evidence-Based Governance
Decisions follow data, consultation, and real outcomes, not ideology or political reflex.
Why it matters in Stouffville
Stouffville's population has roughly doubled since 2006. When a town grows that fast, the decisions about planning, infrastructure, and services carry real weight, and they deserve to be made on evidence, not reflex. A science-trained councillor asks three questions out of habit: what does the evidence say, how will we measure success, and what are we missing?
What David has already done
David holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto and spent more than three decades in science education, writing curriculum and serving on the TDSB's assessment and evaluation team. Science teaches a specific discipline: form a view, test it against the evidence, and follow the result even when it isn't what you expected. It also teaches you to tolerate uncertainty and still act decisively when the evidence points clearly.
On council, David will
Bring that same discipline to the council table: decisions that follow data, genuine consultation, and measured outcomes, never ideology, habit, or political reflex, without ever being dismissive of residents' lived experience.
Smart Growth & Planning
Stouffville's population has more than doubled since 2006. Growth should serve residents, not the other way around.
Why it matters in Stouffville
Growth is coming to Stouffville either way. The real question is whether it serves the people who already live here. The test isn't only “how many units,” but “what community?”
What David has already done
Two decades of reading files and budgets, on the library board, at 19 on the Park, and on school councils, taught David how infrastructure decisions actually get made, and how often services are left to catch up after the fact. He has seen first-hand what it takes for public institutions to keep pace with a growing population.
On council, David will
Push for growth that arrives with the infrastructure residents actually feel: library capacity, arts and recreation space, safe streets, and services that keep up with the subdivisions. David won't pretend to have every answer before he's read the files; on specific developments, his commitment is to review the evidence and consult the people affected before taking a position.