South London: Summerside · south of 401 · Pond Mills (London's largest ward by land area)
Ward 14 is an open seat: two-term incumbent Steven Hillier isn't running again, and four candidates are on the register. Nominations closed August 21, 2026; the City certified the list on August 24. Steven Hillier won his second term in 2022. The redrawn ward is by far London's largest by area, mostly south of the 401. Check whether it now includes you.
One candidate carries a prior election record. Sarah Lehman ran for Ward 14 council in 2022, under the old boundaries: the certified result was Steven Hillier 1,766 votes (45.99%), Sarah Lehman 1,538 votes (40.05%), and Danalynn Williams 536 votes (13.96%), out of 3,988 ballots cast. Ward 14 has been substantially redrawn since that election.
The rest of the field, in alphabetical order: Ubaid Bhatti, Jason King, and Gurinder Pal Singh.
Listed alphabetically. Identical treatment for every candidate. That's the deal.
The certified list has no campaign email for this candidate, so the questionnaire could not be sent. Identical questions went to every candidate with one; answers are published verbatim if they arrive another way.
Sent out September 3, 2026. Answers are posted here word for word when they arrive. Anything back within a week goes up September 10.
Ran for Ward 14 council in 2022: 1,538 votes (40.05%), per the City's certified results.
Sent out September 3, 2026. Answers are posted here word for word when they arrive. Anything back within a week goes up September 10.
Received September 20, 2026
What is the one thing you most want to have changed in London by the end of this term? Tell us what a resident would be able to see in 2030 that shows you did it, and what you would be willing to give up to get it.
“By 2030, I want residents to see a Ward 14 that has grown without losing affordability, safety, or quality of life. Growth must come with the infrastructure to support it: better roads and transit, safer neighbourhoods, accessible recreation, responsible development, and stronger local services. Success should be visible in people's everyday lives—not simply in City reports. I am prepared to give up projects that are politically attractive but do not provide measurable value to residents. Every tax dollar involves a choice. My priority will be core services, infrastructure and responsible growth, while demanding greater accountability for spending. London can grow, but growth must improve the lives of the people who already call our city home.”
A councillor is one vote of fifteen, and staff write the reports council votes on. Tell us about a time, in any part of your life, when you needed a decision from people who mostly disagreed with you and got it. Who did you have to bring around, what did you change in your ask, and what did you give up?
“I have learned through community involvement that leadership is rarely about getting everything you originally ask for. It is about listening, understanding why people disagree, and finding enough common ground to move forward. In one community matter, I worked with people who had different priorities and initially disagreed with the approach being proposed. Rather than trying to win the argument, I listened to their concerns, changed parts of the proposal and focused the discussion on the outcome we shared. I gave up elements that were important to me but were not essential to achieving the objective. That experience reinforced how I would approach Council: come prepared, respect different perspectives, build relationships and be willing to compromise on the method without compromising the public interest.”
Name one thing the people you'd represent will ask you for that city council cannot actually decide. Say plainly what you would tell them, who does hold that decision, and what you would do to move it anyway.
“Healthcare is a good example. Residents may ask a councillor to provide more doctors, reduce hospital wait times or expand hospital capacity. I would tell them plainly that London City Council does not control Ontario's healthcare system; those decisions primarily rest with the provincial government and healthcare institutions. But saying, "That isn't municipal jurisdiction," should not end the conversation. A councillor can document local needs, bring stakeholders together, advocate directly with MPPs and provincial ministries, support appropriate municipal partnerships, and use Council's collective voice to push for action. Good representation means understanding the limits of municipal authority while still helping residents navigate government. I will not promise powers Council does not have, but I will use the influence and relationships of the office to advocate for London.”
Pick the issue you most want to be known for. Where do you feel torn on it, and what is the strongest argument against your own position?
“I want to be known for responsible growth and affordability. London needs housing, employment, infrastructure and investment, and I do not believe stopping growth is the answer. The tension is that growth has real costs. New development can put pressure on roads, transit, emergency services, neighbourhoods and municipal finances. The strongest argument against moving too quickly on growth is that existing taxpayers can end up paying for infrastructure needed to accommodate it. I take that concern seriously. My position is therefore not growth at any cost; it is growth that pays appropriate attention to infrastructure, complete communities and long-term financial sustainability. Council must also be willing to say no when a proposal does not serve the broader public interest. Good planning means balancing today's neighbourhoods with the needs of London's future residents.”
Point us to one thing you have already done for people in London, before this campaign, that a reader could check and that shows how you would do this job. A web address is welcome.
“Before deciding to run for Council, I believed community service had to mean more than appearing during an election. Through my involvement in London, I have worked directly with residents and community members, listened to their concerns, helped connect people with resources and supported community initiatives where I could contribute. That experience taught me that effective representation begins with accessibility: returning calls, listening carefully and following through.”
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Honestly told: the situation, the numbers, and what to ask the people who want your vote.
Both candidates now name southeast transit gaps. Sarah Lehman's campaign, per CBC coverage, centres on better transit and other services for the southeast ward, including how the area's businesses are served by transit. Jason King's platform says only one bus route serves Summerside, and proposes a new express route to the Veterans Memorial industrial park, which he says the Mobility Master Plan leaves without transit service.
What bus service south of the 401 would you push for in the next LTC budget?
Jason King's campaign centres on opposing "blanket property tax increases," framing them as inflationary and a burden on both renters and owners, and on reducing city spending growth; his site characterizes the current multi-year budget as a 24.3% cumulative increase. That is the campaign's own multi-year characterization and remains independently unverified. The city's approved single-year number for 2026 is below, as sourced context: it is a different measure, so it neither confirms nor refutes the 24.3% figure.
Council adopted the 2026 budget on November 26, 2025 with a 3.4% property tax increase. On the average home (assessed at $252,000) that is about $130 more in property tax, plus about $12 for water and about $18 for wastewater, roughly $160 in total. The 2027 figure of 4.7% is a forecast, not adopted. Reporting cites both 3.6% and 3.4% because they are different stages of the same budget: the Mayor's October 27, 2025 update was 3.6%, Budget Committee trimmed it to 3.4% on November 20, and council adopted that on November 26. 3.4% is the approved number. All of this is a single-year rate; the campaign's 24.3% is a cumulative multi-year characterization, so the two are not comparable and neither settles the other. CTV News London (Nov. 26, 2025) ↗
What tax increase, if any, is acceptable to you over the next term, and what would you cut or defer to hit it?
The boundary review, driven by London's growth, pulled rural areas once split across three wards into one to rebalance populations while keeping rural communities together, so managing growth in the rural south is likely to be a live issue for the new Ward 14. King's platform touches it from two angles: rezoning industrial land near Bradley/Highbury for retail, and protecting the ward's Environmentally Significant Areas. Lehman points to "so many new communities being built in Ward 14" (per CBC).
Where exactly should development stop south of the 401?
Until now this file had no ward-specific safety finding at all, only citywide backdrop. There is now one: in July 2026 London police confirmed a targeted shooting at a home in the ward's Pond Mills area. It is a single incident. It is listed here because it is dated, police-confirmed and inside this ward's geography, not because it shows anything about whether the ward is safe or getting less safe. Nothing below supports the claim that crime in Ward 14 is rising.
Just before 4 a.m. on July 14, 2026, a shot was fired at a home on Julie Crescent, near Deveron Crescent and Pond Mills Road. A bullet hole was found in the garage door. No injuries were reported. Police described the shooting as targeted, said several people were inside and outside the home at the time, and said the suspect was still at large as of the July 16, 2026 report. On context: London police publish no ward-level crime trend data, so there is no honest way to say from this incident whether crime in Ward 14 is up, down or flat. The nearest measured figures are citywide, not ward-level: Statistics Canada puts the London CMA Crime Severity Index at 66.0 in 2025, up 8% from 2024 in its first rise since 2021, but still 12% below 2019, with violent crime severity at 79.6, about 24% above 2019. CBC News (July 16, 2026) ↗
What would you actually do on community safety in this ward, and how would you tell whether it worked?
A CBC-reported survey found London voters citywide rank homelessness, drugs and roads as top election issues heading into 2026. This is citywide backdrop, not a measured Ward 14 finding.
Which citywide issue matters most south of the 401, and what would you actually vote for on it?
The ballot is one tool, not the only one. Between elections, the people who show up are the ones who get heard, and you can start today, not next fall.
None of it waits four years. The people already in the room are the ones who asked to be.
Only one is on your ballot; which depends on your school-support designation. The guide above explains.
You’ve read the ward. Ward races here can come down to a few hundred ballots, sometimes fewer. In a race that close, your vote is one of the ones that decides it. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to show up, informed.
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