Gary Kaschak was born and raised in the City of Windsor. As a lifetime resident of the city’s east end, Gary has come to know Ward 8 and the City of Windsor very well. He began his schooling at Coronation Grade School before graduating from W F Herman Secondary School. He continued on to post-secondary education at St. Clair College and the University of Windsor.
In 1981, Gary accepted full time employment with the Canadian Federal Government working for what was known back then as Revenue Canada. Gary performed many civil service functions but prides himself on helping people and answering questions regarding income tax matters. Gary later became an administrator and transferred to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). His prime role was border security and securing other CBSA facilities. Gary had extensive involvement in public safety, dealing with cameras; radios; access control; threat and risk assessments; and government security clearances.
Once elected City Councillor, Gary kept his promise to retire from the CBSA, and after a 37-year career has now become a full time Windsor City Councillor as of December 2018. Gary has been heavily involved in many local sports organizations. Coaching children in hockey and baseball and giving back to the community was always very satisfying, which added to his desire to serve the residents of Ward 8 and the rest of the city as well.
Gary and his wife Mary are the proud parents of two sons, Ryan and Adam Kaschak who both have full time careers and are productive citizens in their community.
Facebook – Gary Kaschak Ward 8 Councillor
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Deadly Roulette by Kevin MacLeod
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The episode in in two parts: first we introduce you as the guest.
- Who are you? What is your day job (if not a full time politician)? Why did you run for council? What drives you? How do you engage the community?
- Who are your people? If you represent a ward/whole community what does it look like (urban, suburban, rural)? Who are your constituents – what do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out.
- Describe your municipality as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards?
- What is your region, how would you describe the region as a whole and the City’s relationship with the region? What is in common/different between them?
- Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole? Why should someone in Kitchener or London (as examples) care about your community? What should a Torontonian know about your community and why it is important?
The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.
- COVID Impacts on Windsor?
- Budget Impacts? Community Impacts?
- What would we be talking about if COVID didn’t happen?
- You retired when you were elected. Given the work that you are doing, do you think you could you have kept your job and be an effective councillor as well?
- An open mind around the Council Table? It has come up at Council meetings that you have taken the time to do walks with Housing support staff downtown before votes on those issues, Alley walks with fellow councillors, go to Peche Island and see the impacts of erosion.
- Housing Prices – They are spiking across Ontario.
- Economic Development has been a hot topic in Windsor Essex for a long time. What do you see as the priorities?
- Thoughts on the Provincial Budget?
- Where do you want Windsor to be in 10 years? Challenges/Opportunities to get there
- Magic policy wand – change one thing, what do you change and why?
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