Carol Feeney – Candidate for Councillor of City of Belleville, ON

Carol Feeney is a councillor of the City of Belleville. As second runner-up in the 2018 election, she was added to city council to replace Ryan Williams, who ran for and won the federal Bay of Quinte riding.

She is running for re-election to council in the City of Belleville in the 2022 municipal election.

• Member Since: April 2021
• Salary (2019): $30,851

Early life

Feeney attended Harry J. Clarke Public School, spent 2 years at Belleville Collegiate Institute and graduated from Moira Secondary School.  Her experiences at school included soccer, track and field, relay races, hurdle jumping, cheer leading, writing for the Cynic newspaper, folk singing and theatre.

Her first part-time job was as one of Canada’s first female gas station attendants and worked at Western Tire at the Belleville Plaza. She had her first media interview at age 15 as a “Gulf We Hurry Girl” on CKWS television.

Feeney’s first professional arts experience was in musical dinner theatre at the Four Seasons Hotel (now the Travelodge). She had the lead female role in famous Canadian composer, pianist and producer, David Warrack’s musical, Flicks.

Feeney was chosen by the Army and Navy Duke of Edinburgh Unit on Front Street to be one of 26 youth from across Canada to go on an exchange program to Japan. Eligibility was based on scholastic achievement and community service.

She created and owned a dot.com Internet communications company in Toronto, Hip Hype, which won an Internet World Impact Award for Communication in 1997.

Feeney moved back to Belleville in 2003 to take on the role of executive director at the Quinte Arts Council.

Community involvement

• Rotary Club of Belleville member and Rotary Loves Kids Golf Tournament and Party in the Square Committee
• City of Belleville Zwick’s Pavilion Project
• Cultural Round Table Committee for development of the Regional Cultural Plan
• Belleville Community Arts and Culture Grant Review Team
• Public Relations Post Graduate Program Advisory Committee, Loyalist College
• Art and Design Foundation Advisory Board, Loyalist College
• Competitor in Dancing with the Stars for Volunteer and Information Quinte
• Team Captain of Dragon Boat Racing team for YMCA
• Book Launch Committee of the Power of Love for Quinte Grannies for Africa
• Performer at fundraising event for the Ambassadors of Belleville
• Big Bike Ride for Heart and Stroke
• Survivor’s Walk at Relay for Life Canadian Cancer Society

Career

• Administrative Assistant at Christ Church Belleville, Ontario (2022 to present)
• Executive Director of the Quinte Arts Council (2003 to 2018)
• General Manager, Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island, Vancouver
• Corporate Development Manager and Government Liaison Officer, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
• Vice President Edelman Worldwide Public Relations, Toronto and Montréal
• Owner and President of Hip Hype Internet Communications and CommuniCulture Inc.
• Participant in the first international trade delegation of women-led businesses organized by the Government of Canada to Washington, D.C.

10 years combined as General Manager of the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island in Vancouver and Corporate Development and Government Liaison Officer at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto

Awards and Recognition

• Golden Jubilee Medal from Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, for service to my community and Canada – 2003
• Internet World Impact Award for Communication – presented at the Internet World Conference in Toronto by Microsoft -1997
• Quinte Women of Distinction Award Nominee – 2015

Roles as member of council

• Planning Advisory Committee
• The Belleville Public Library and John M. Parrott Gallery Board
• The CNR Tribute Committee, Accessibility Committee
• Youth Advisory Committee
• Transportation Committee
• Grants Committee

Voting history

2018 election priorities

The most important issues she is focused on in this election are health care, the housing crisis and providing more job opportunities for youth to encourage them to stay in the city. She says she wants to help make health care more personal, tackle the shortage of affordable housing and rental units, and help the city continue to grow despite its aging population by bringing more employment options to young workers.

• Attract more doctors to serve our community
• Provide Employment Opportunities for our Youth
• Expand the City Transit System and include inter-city travel for workers and those needing health services
• Address Food Insecurity and increase Affordable Housing and Rental Units
• Develop our Waterfront
• Increase Support for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Sport
• Reduce the debt
• Continue to undertake Infrastructure Projects

Results

She was 100% behind the motion to purchase 8.4-acre portion of former Bakelite property for $3.15 million that, along with the donation of two adjacent parcels designated as provincially significant wetlands to the city by Osprey Shores developers Bernie Ouellette, Jerry DiRocco and Ian Brady, will serve 42.5 acres of waterfront and wetland for future trails and year-round recreational activities.

2022 election priorities

My goal, if re-elected, will be to serve the residents of the City of Belleville by continuing to focus on affordable housing development, increased and environmentally friendly public transit, and support to our vital not-for-profit community groups and organizations

On serving on council

From her Facebook:

I really don’t consider myself to be a politician. Serving on City Council is just that. Public service. I got on the bus today, that is my mode of transportation or walking as I have not owned a car in more than 20 years, and have used transit here since 2003 when I returned home The bus driver saw my button on my coat and commented that he was pleased to have Royalty on his bus. Then we both laughed. I teased him about the fact that he wears shorts year round even in the bitter cold of winter and thanked him for his service. He thanked me back for supporting public transit.

Rental and affordable housing development

Feeney has been a homeowner who currently rents an apartment.

Being on the Planning Advisory Committee provides an opportunity for me to push for reasonable rental housing development and affordable housing in general. Having owned my own home in Belleville, I understand the concern of residents regarding tax increases and proud to say that I was part of City Council when we passed a record-breaking $87 million capital budget for infrastructure, parks and recreation without any increase in taxes.

On where the greatest opportunity for the city to grow is

Issues & views

She appears on Beyond the Politics on YourTV Quinte in June 2022:

Personal life

Feeney is a folk singer, a chocolate maker and a sports and arts enthusiast.

She enjoys walking, physical fitness training, volunteering, gourmet cooking, bowling, writing the Arts Scene Column in the Intelligencer and is a hobby chocolatier.

Her mother, Anna, and brother, Stephen, also live in Belleville. She has another brother, David who lives with his family in Winnipeg and her sister, Lisa and her family live in Lower Sackville, NS.

2018 election results

Meetings

Contact

• Website
• Phone: 613-885-8314
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook
• Twitter – no
• Instagram – no
• Linkedin
• Reddit – no