Councillor Jenny Gerbasi
March 14th, 2018

Dear Friends,

After much personal reflection and consultation with family & friends, I have made a decision not to seek re-election for City Council in October of 2018.
  
I want to thank the residents of Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry for electing me. It has been an honour and a privilege  to serve as a member of Winnipeg City Council for these last 20 years.
  
Being elected for 5 council terms, serving with 3 different Mayors has been an incredible journey that I am grateful to have experienced.
  
Since first elected in 1998, I have been passionate about many issues and I am proud of the progress that has been made on many fronts.
  
Some key areas I have championed with all my heart include heritage preservation, ethics & accountability measures, climate change, public transit, cycling infrastructure, preserving green space, neighbourhood planning,  downtown and neighbourhood main street revitalization, the arts, housing, crime prevention, accessibility for persons of all ages and abilities, supporting diversity & reconciliation efforts.
  
I have always tried to take a big picture view of our City, imaging how our decisions today will impact future generations.
  
At the same time I have been committed to being responsive to constituents, through problem solving and providing support to assist residents and community groups within the Fort Rouge- East Fort Garry ward.
  
Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry has 5 Business Improvement Zones and I have had the privilege to serve as a board member on all of them. It is gratifying to see the positive impact the BIZ's and other community volunteers have had on making our neighbourhoods more beautiful, safe and fun places to be.
  
On the National scene, I have had the honour to serve since 2007 on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), which is truly the voice of local government in Canada.
  
My current role as elected President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities will be completed in June of this year at which time I will become past-President.
  
I also learned a lot from representing Winnipeg Transit on the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) Board Members Committee for over 10 years where we advocated to the Federal Government for funding and policies to support Public Transit systems across the country  

It is gratifying to be part of national efforts and see groundbreaking results from successful advocacy to the Federal Government  for municipal priorities such as housing, infrastructure, transit funding and so much more.
 
I want to say a deep "thank you" to all my council colleagues over the years and our staff, to the dedicated members of the public service at the City of Winnipeg, the media who cover city hall and all those volunteers & friends who helped me through five election campaigns.  There are no words to express how much I thank you all as well as my family and friends who came along for this amazing ride.
  
I will continue to be dedicated to working hard for my constituents and for Winnipeg right up until election day this October.
  
The future looks to be very bright for our wonderful city and yet there is much work left to do. I look forward to embarking on my next adventure on life's path. 

Thank you for your interest in civic issues!

Sincerely,
Jenny 

Jenny Gerbasi
Deputy Mayor
Councillor Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry
President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) 
(204) 986 5878
 
Facebook: Councillor's Page 
Twitter:      @JennyGerbasi