ABOUT JOHN RICHARDSON
Building relationships and community that foster growth.
Twenty years of building things. Three years of listening. One city worth fighting for.
WHO IS RUNNING
Sarnia raised. Community driven. Here to serve.
I grew up here in a hard working middle class family. I have fond memories of taking the bus to Northgate or Downtown to shop with my mom, throwing pennies in the fountain at the Eaton Centre. I did most of the things people of my generation did for fun, jumping in the river on a hot summer day or biking the ungroomed trails of Canatara’s hills. I left in my early thirties the way a lot of people do, chasing opportunities that were not available in Sarnia yet. Over twenty years I built a career that took me through hotel management, brewery operations management, retail leadership, consulting, marketing and outreach in the pharmacy and community health space, with entrepreneurial ventures woven in throughout. Along the way I developed a deep interest in how organizations actually work: people, technology integration, work design, and analytics, all grounded in a clear vision and values. That passion led me to formalize it with a post-graduate certificate in HR Management at Conestoga College in 2023 to complement my Hospitality and Tourism Management Diploma from Humber College in 2004, refocusing on the organizational development side of everything I had been doing in practice for years.
Three years ago this week I came home. Not because I ran out of road, but because the people I love are here. My mom, my sister and brother-in-law, my niece and nephew, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a community of friends who never really left. Sarnia pulled me back the way it pulls a lot of people back, quietly and all at once.
I brought Milo with me. He is a twenty-five pound mutt among mutts, probably some Cairn Terrier, probably some Schnauzer, definitely his own thing. We rescued him from the Humane Society here in Sarnia while we were living in Ottawa, so the move was a homecoming for both of us. He is most at home in his Buddy Rider on the front of my bike, where he collects more waves and comments from strangers than I ever will.I live downtown.
When I am not working on the campaign or the new venture I have been quietly building on the side, you will likely find me on the water trail with Milo, at the beach, or in the stands at a ball game. I get around by whatever makes the most sense in the moment: bike in the morning, on foot for a coffee, in the car when the weather or the destination calls for it.
Being of service matters to me. Whether that has been community outreach, volunteering with the Sarnia Minor Athletic Association, or just showing up when people need a hand. That is ultimately why public service appeals to me.
WHAT DRIVES EVERY DECISION
One north star. Five principles.
Equitable Growth
This is the north star. Growth that only works for some of us is not growth. Sarnia needs more people, more housing, more business, and more opportunity at every income level.
Opportunity Driven
When I came back to Sarnia, the thing I kept hearing was that opportunity had not kept pace with the cost of living here. I am running to change that direction.
Direct Honesty
Plain language, real numbers, no theater. I will tell you what I actually think and report publicly on what is and is not working.
People First
I make decisions by understanding how they land in people's actual lives, not just on a spreadsheet. The test of a good policy is whether it makes someone's life genuinely better.
Principled Math
I understand the cost of inaction and stagnation as much as how much things cost up front. The infrastructure deficit, the housing shortage, the foregone federal grants are not free. We are all paying for them.
WHY AM I RUNNING
A genuine desire to listen before I lead.
When I came back I found the same population sign I left behind. The same conversations, the same unfulfilled potential, and a tax bill that keeps climbing while the roads quietly fall apart. I can see something most people are not saying out loud: these problems are connected. We do not seem to take actions that are in line with the growth and outcomes we aspire to. The window to actually change the trajectory is right now.
For three years I have talked to as many Sarnians as I can find across every neighbourhood, every background, and every walk of life. Not to confirm what I already think, but because serving people well means understanding how these issues actually land in their daily lives, not just on a spreadsheet. That led me deep into the files: municipal finance, asset management, housing economics, public health, industrial transition, governance structures. The more I learned, the clearer the pattern became.
What I bring to this role starts with relationships. I know how to build trust across differences and work toward consensus without losing the thread of what actually matters. I have the emotional stability to stay in difficult conversations long enough to find the way through, which is what municipal governance actually requires most of the time. I know how to read financials and understand what operational decisions produce on the ground, so the conversations are grounded in something real.
I am not running on a party line. I am not interested in importing federal or provincial culture wars into a council chamber that has roads to fix, houses to build, and people to serve. The work this city needs done is too important for that, and the people of Sarnia deserve better than that from the people they elect.
The survey on this site is part of how I build the clearest possible picture of where Sarnia stands, across every age, every income level, and every part of this city. I have been having these conversations in person for three years and I will keep having them on doorsteps all the way to election day. The survey just means the picture does not stop at who I happen to run into.
If you see me around town, please say hello. That is not a campaign line. It is genuinely how this works