Cambridge city councillor Jan Liggett announced her candidacy for mayor Tuesday.
After spending two terms on city council representing Ward 4, Liggett is looking to steer the ship in a direction she thinks is better for the city.
What prompted her to run for mayor is her dissatisfaction with the current leadership's way of running the city.
“I believe it's that time we took a new look at things and just a new approach totally as to how the city is being run. And I have the ability to do that,” Liggett said.
She sees problems with social issues in the city and believes it is on a downward trend.
“It's affected the economy, and I just want to be able to lead the city through that,” she said.
“I think we're at a point where our downtown core needs to be looked at in a way where we build on it as an economic hub instead of as an afterthought.”
She wants to see a diverse collection of industries in Cambridge and not a focus on any one sector; something she said previous councillors might not have the same perspective on.
Another issue with the current way of doing things is a failure to focus on the different areas of Cambridge. Liggett thinks it's important to meet their individual needs instead by listening to residents in Preston, Galt, Hespeler and Blair.
“I am looking forward to changing my role to one of being an ear and a voice for all residents, not just one ward,” Liggett said.
She would like to see every councillor play to their strengths and utilize whatever skills they can bring to the table.
“It’s no different than the way I run my company. I get out of the way and let my employees do their job, because they do it better than I can and that is what I aim to achieve as a leader of council,” she said.
Seeing a clean race and letting the people of Cambridge have their voices heard in a friendly way is what Liggett is hoping to achieve.
“I live in this city, I've raised my kids in this city and I have such a passion and love for it. When you start to get into other things, it becomes poisonous and that's not healthy.”
