# Soham Patel, Ward 9

An episode of [Rose City Politics](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1247337855), 30 Sep 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75467865/3_soham_2pm_wed.mp3

Doug interviews Ward 9 candidate Soham Patel.

## Transcript

[0:22] Speaker 1: Welcome to a bonus episode of Rose City Politics. Thank
[0:26] Speaker 1: you for joining us for this special series on RCP
[0:30] Speaker 1: where we're talking with some of the candidates running in
[0:33] Speaker 1: the upcoming Windsor Municipal Election. I'm Doug Sartori and joining
[0:38] Speaker 1: me today is Soham Patel, candidate for Ward 9.
[0:42] Speaker 2: Mr.
[0:42] Speaker 1: Patel is a Windsor-Essex real estate agent and intelligence officer
[0:47] Speaker 1: with the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve. Trained in mechanical engineering,
[0:51] Speaker 1: he's running for the first time in Ward 9 challenging
[0:54] Speaker 1: incumbent Kieran McKenzie. Soam, thanks for joining us.
[0:59] Speaker 2: No, thank you very much, Douglas, for having me.
[1:02] Speaker 1: Okay, we're going to work through some questions together. My
[1:07] Speaker 1: first question is, why are you running?
[1:12] Speaker 2: Absolutely. That's a question I hear a lot.
[1:15] Speaker 3: Over the last few years, I've noticed in conversation that
[1:20] Speaker 3: a lot of the residents in the Ward 9 area,
[1:23] Speaker 3: Walker Gates, Devonshire Heights, and throughout the ward have mentioned
[1:29] Speaker 3: some issues that kind of hit home with me as well,
[1:32] Speaker 3: because I live in the South Windsor area and seeing
[1:35] Speaker 3: those issues, I kind of relate to them. And over time,
[1:38] Speaker 3: I tried seeing what we can do as, you know,
[1:41] Speaker 3: residents to, you know, work with the city council to
[1:45] Speaker 3: address these issues. Over time, I realized that the best
[1:49] Speaker 3: way to do so is to be involved with city council,
[1:52] Speaker 3: be at the table and, you know, voice the residents'
[1:55] Speaker 3: concerns there so we can address them at the city level. And,
[2:00] Speaker 3: you know, overall, it's concerns that are on my platform
[2:04] Speaker 3: that we'll discuss, right?
[2:07] Speaker 1: Okay. And if you're elected, what are the three things
[2:14] Speaker 1: that you most want to accomplish during your first term?
[2:19] Speaker 2: Being completely transparent.
[2:21] Speaker 3: I've never worked at City Hall, especially in the council capacity.
[2:25] Speaker 2: So there will be learning curves on my.
[2:27] Speaker 3: End, working with city administration, working with the different colleagues
[2:31] Speaker 3: at the table. But the biggest things I want to
[2:34] Speaker 3: work on are being there for the residents, having a
[2:38] Speaker 3: listening ear, giving them the information about what's discussed, what's
[2:44] Speaker 3: happening at the council table and reporting back to them
[2:48] Speaker 3: and working on the infrastructural issues. And by infrastructure, I
[2:52] Speaker 3: don't just mean the roads. I also mean the community centres,
[2:55] Speaker 3: the libraries, the things the residents feel that are lacking
[3:00] Speaker 3: in our neighbourhoods.
[3:06] Speaker 1: Okay. Everybody running for office has things that they want
[3:12] Speaker 1: to spend money on. It sounds to me like you've
[3:15] Speaker 1: got some priorities in terms of infrastructure in Ward 9.
[3:20] Speaker 1: So what would you be willing to trade off? What
[3:24] Speaker 1: do you think that in the city budget can be
[3:26] Speaker 1: traded off to increase investment in infrastructure in your ward?
[3:32] Speaker 3: So In terms of trade-off, that would be a hard
[3:35] Speaker 3: decision to make, just not having the full picture of
[3:39] Speaker 3: day-to-day being at the table. However, I would say the
[3:43] Speaker 3: places where I put more importance is the community centers,
[3:47] Speaker 3: the libraries, places where we can raise our families and
[3:51] Speaker 3: have a place that families, children, seniors can go to.
[3:56] Speaker 2: And rely on, right?
[3:59] Speaker 3: Another thing that I would put more emphasis on is
[4:02] Speaker 3: upgrading and renovating some of our parks. Because growing up
[4:06] Speaker 3: in South Windsor, that was one of the biggest things
[4:08] Speaker 3: for me where that was something we looked forward to,
[4:13] Speaker 3: like family time, getting to meet friends, getting to socialize
[4:15] Speaker 3: with new people. And that is a very important thing.
[4:19] Speaker 3: And that's what I've heard from the residents as well.
[4:23] Speaker 3: And another emphasis, the last point I would kind of
[4:27] Speaker 3: you know, put my focus to is infrastructure on streets
[4:32] Speaker 3: like Sixth Concession, Howard, Seventh Concession, and not just in
[4:37] Speaker 3: the road capacity, the sidewalks, the bike lanes, the stormwater
[4:42] Speaker 3: management there. A lot of the neighbors are also complaining
[4:45] Speaker 3: about the vehicle safety because Ducharme Street had a few
[4:50] Speaker 3: accidents over the last few years where cars did go
[4:53] Speaker 3: into the homes. There was a child that was also
[4:56] Speaker 3: hit by a vehicle. So the traffic calming in certain neighborhoods,
[5:01] Speaker 3: along with infrastructural growth, is another aspect that I would
[5:05] Speaker 3: look into there.
[5:07] Speaker 1: Okay. I want to pick up on something you mentioned
[5:09] Speaker 1: there and also that is prominent in your platform, and
[5:13] Speaker 1: that's community safety. And you've identified it as one of
[5:18] Speaker 1: your priorities there. And I want to hear a little
[5:20] Speaker 1: bit more about what you think in terms of your
[5:24] Speaker 1: own ward and also more broadly across the whole community.
[5:28] Speaker 1: What are your priorities in terms of improving safety for residents?
[5:33] Speaker 2: Absolutely.
[5:34] Speaker 3: By community safety, I don't just mean the police presence.
[5:39] Speaker 3: There are other ways that we can establish the traffic
[5:41] Speaker 3: calming in neighborhoods that alleviate the vehicle accidents that we
[5:47] Speaker 3: have proper crossings, the light of crossings. We have proper sidewalks.
[5:52] Speaker 3: We have proper curbs, things like that, along with a
[5:56] Speaker 3: little more police presence. So in the past, there have been,
[5:59] Speaker 3: you know, cruisers and police staff that have been assigned
[6:04] Speaker 3: to roads like Dougal or going down Howard at random
[6:09] Speaker 3: times where they were ticketing, you know, folks. And during
[6:12] Speaker 3: that time period, I personally observed that people did drive
[6:16] Speaker 3: more carefully or with a sense of safety in mind.
[6:20] Speaker 2: We understand that, you.
[6:21] Speaker 3: Know, everything comes with an expenditure and we don't have
[6:24] Speaker 3: an unlimited budget to spend on police policing in one region.
[6:29] Speaker 3: But I think it's key things that we can spread
[6:31] Speaker 3: the budget and take care of them through other means, right?
[6:36] Speaker 2: Not just through policing. Okay.
[6:42] Speaker 1: In your assessment of how council has governed, what's one
[6:46] Speaker 1: thing in your opinion that city council should stop doing
[6:49] Speaker 1: or that it should do differently?
[6:54] Speaker 3: I want to say that city council overall, right, we're
[6:57] Speaker 3: a very much growing city and that's a very good thing, right?
[7:00] Speaker 3: Windsor has been growing for the last, you know, very
[7:02] Speaker 3: long time and we're going to continue growing. One aspect
[7:06] Speaker 3: that I would like, even as a resident, I would
[7:08] Speaker 3: have appreciated was the councillors coming and having more town
[7:13] Speaker 3: halls or more spaces where residents could come and talk
[7:17] Speaker 3: to them, come, you know, listen to their leaders, hear
[7:21] Speaker 3: what they're going to, you know, vote for, what they
[7:23] Speaker 3: feel is important, and then also have a chance or
[7:27] Speaker 3: a position where they can voice their concerns. So the
[7:30] Speaker 3: councillors get the on-ground, real understanding of what the problems are.
[7:35] Speaker 3: Overall at City Hall, at Council, everything is going well, right?
[7:40] Speaker 3: I don't see any major red flags there. The issue
[7:44] Speaker 3: is the communication gap between the residents and the table.
[7:48] Speaker 3: We need to close that gap, bring it to the
[7:50] Speaker 3: same level where residents aren't afraid of or they don't
[7:54] Speaker 3: have the accessibility to their councillors or to the whole table.
[7:59] Speaker 3: It should be a more easy flowing and easy and
[8:01] Speaker 3: more accessible option for them.
[8:06] Speaker 1: Okay. Do you have any specifics on what you would
[8:09] Speaker 1: do as a councillor to be more accessible to residents?
[8:14] Speaker 3: One thing that I'm still trying to consider how this
[8:17] Speaker 3: would work in and how it worked into the schedule
[8:19] Speaker 3: of City Hall and all that, and specifically Ward 9,
[8:22] Speaker 3: but holding some kind of regular basis town halls, if
[8:27] Speaker 3: that's once a month for a couple hours at City
[8:30] Speaker 3: Hall or more locally in Ward 9, it's simply an
[8:34] Speaker 3: open space where we invite a few other residents and
[8:38] Speaker 3: we say, listen, this is the date, location. I would
[8:41] Speaker 3: love to hear what you have to say and what
[8:43] Speaker 3: we can help with.
[8:44] Speaker 2: There's always the open.
[8:45] Speaker 3: Channels where emails, phone calls are always there. But I
[8:50] Speaker 3: think having a platform where people can approach you easily
[8:54] Speaker 3: is going to make a big difference.
[8:58] Speaker 1: Okay. And just shifting gears a little bit, let's talk
[9:02] Speaker 1: about issues. What is the biggest issue in this election
[9:06] Speaker 1: that you don't think is getting the attention it deserves?
[9:11] Speaker 3: I would say there's a few things. Putting aside the
[9:16] Speaker 3: election time frame, I think the infrastructure part, right? Growth
[9:21] Speaker 3: is very important. Like I said earlier, Windsor is growing
[9:24] Speaker 3: and we need more homes, right? Like the federal government
[9:27] Speaker 3: is pushing for more homes to be built. But I
[9:30] Speaker 3: think responsible growth is very key. Now, along with responsible growth,
[9:33] Speaker 3: like what I mean is the infrastructure.
[9:35] Speaker 2: That goes along with it, the resources the.
[9:37] Speaker 3: Community requires, they need to be planned ahead of the
[9:42] Speaker 3: major development coming up, right? The city already knows and
[9:45] Speaker 3: acknowledges that permits are being.
[9:47] Speaker 2: Pulled and being accepted and approved.
[9:50] Speaker 3: But we're working, you know, after the fact, after these
[9:53] Speaker 3: big buildings or after these, you know, for example, the
[9:57] Speaker 3: 27 townhomes coming in in Walker Gates.
[10:00] Speaker 2: Very wonderful.
[10:02] Speaker 3: But we need to address the other issues that will
[10:04] Speaker 3: come along with the new homes coming there. The traffic delays,
[10:08] Speaker 3: the construction while that time frame is going on. And
[10:12] Speaker 3: when the residents move in, roads like Sixth Concession will
[10:15] Speaker 3: have a very hard time accommodating so many people. And
[10:19] Speaker 3: we just need to plan ahead of those growth periods.
[10:24] Speaker 3: And I think it's a very important part during this
[10:26] Speaker 3: election because it really matters to the residents.
[10:29] Speaker 2: Speaking to them on the streets, door knocking.
[10:32] Speaker 3: That's one of the biggest concerns they've had, where they
[10:35] Speaker 3: live in very beautiful neighborhoods and they love it and
[10:37] Speaker 3: they would love more homes, but they're afraid that their
[10:40] Speaker 3: community resources are already stretched thin and they're going to
[10:43] Speaker 3: continue getting worse if more houses, more units are added
[10:47] Speaker 3: without infrastructure being increased in a timely manner, right? I
[10:51] Speaker 3: understand there's plans in place, but I don't think those
[10:55] Speaker 3: plans are keeping in mind the timeframe of these new
[10:59] Speaker 3: developments coming in.
[11:03] Speaker 1: Okay, that's really interesting. I want to just dig in
[11:05] Speaker 1: on that, if you don't mind, because it seems to me,
[11:09] Speaker 1: and I don't want to put words in your mouth,
[11:10] Speaker 1: so tell me if I'm misconstruing what you're saying, but
[11:13] Speaker 1: it seems to me that, you know, when we talk
[11:18] Speaker 1: about not in my backyard, you know, the sort of,
[11:23] Speaker 1: you know, residents opposition to new development, it seems to
[11:26] Speaker 1: me that you're kind of saying that we might see
[11:30] Speaker 1: less of that kind of opposition if people felt that
[11:35] Speaker 1: there was more social license for a new development and
[11:40] Speaker 1: people had a strong feeling that they're, that their needs
[11:44] Speaker 1: would be continued to be met in terms of municipal services.
[11:49] Speaker 2: Absolutely.
[11:51] Speaker 3: Let's say you live in a neighborhood that has a
[11:53] Speaker 3: beautiful park and a beautiful walking trail and decent road
[11:59] Speaker 3: infrastructure to get into the neighborhood, out neighborhood, and you're
[12:02] Speaker 3: able to go to work, come back to work without
[12:04] Speaker 3: waiting half an hour at.
[12:06] Speaker 2: The stop sign.
[12:07] Speaker 3: It wouldn't matter.
[12:08] Speaker 2: It wouldn't matter if we add more homes.
[12:10] Speaker 3: If anything, we're adding revenue to the city's budget, which
[12:13] Speaker 3: can be spent back at the residents on that neighborhood.
[12:16] Speaker 3: So most of the neighbors and the residents we've spoken to,
[12:21] Speaker 3: they don't have an issue with growth. They have an
[12:24] Speaker 3: issue with growth without the community resources that are not
[12:29] Speaker 3: coming with it, right? They're coming many years after the
[12:32] Speaker 3: development is there. And for that timeframe, they're experiencing a
[12:36] Speaker 3: lot of the traffic. A lot of people are also
[12:40] Speaker 3: worried about their basements flooding and they're having some complaints
[12:44] Speaker 3: about it as well.
[12:47] Speaker 1: Okay. All right. Let's talk about the race that you're
[12:51] Speaker 1: in specifically. You're a new face in Windsor politics. You're
[12:56] Speaker 1: challenging an incumbent. What do you think the decision for
[13:00] Speaker 1: voters in Ward 9 comes down to? What are they
[13:02] Speaker 1: deciding between in this election?
[13:07] Speaker 3: It's really the person in the background, to be very honest, right?
[13:12] Speaker 3: I've spent, like I said, right, over the last seven
[13:15] Speaker 3: and a half years, I've been in a leadership role
[13:18] Speaker 3: with the Navy and throughout other careers as well.
[13:22] Speaker 2: When I was at the University of Windsor, I was.
[13:26] Speaker 3: In a very big advocacy role for both the students
[13:29] Speaker 3: and also the faculty. And I stepped into that role
[13:32] Speaker 3: as a leader trying to better what we already had
[13:36] Speaker 3: And also in real estate, what we do is we
[13:38] Speaker 3: take the demands and what the clients are looking for
[13:41] Speaker 3: and get them what they're, you know, what, what fits
[13:43] Speaker 3: in that same thing with city hall.
[13:46] Speaker 2: It's the same.
[13:48] Speaker 3: The residents are looking for a set of things. Well,
[13:50] Speaker 3: that's infrastructure resources, XYZ advocacy, more information. And it just
[13:55] Speaker 3: matters on which candidate they feel will provide that. Um,
[14:02] Speaker 3: like you said, um, it comes down to exactly what
[14:06] Speaker 3: that person is about, what their experiences in the past
[14:09] Speaker 3: have been, what they've spoken out about or what they've
[14:13] Speaker 3: done in terms of leadership.
[14:14] Speaker 2: And I feel that's where my strong suit is.
[14:16] Speaker 3: And being a new candidate, that is a hard part,
[14:19] Speaker 3: getting that establishment or getting that out there to people.
[14:23] Speaker 3: But if they really look into it, if they really
[14:25] Speaker 3: look into my background, look into my platform, they'll understand
[14:28] Speaker 3: that this is my first time at City Hall. However,
[14:31] Speaker 3: I've been in the advocacy role before and I continue
[14:33] Speaker 3: to do so. being at City Hall or not.
[14:37] Speaker 2: Okay.
[14:38] Speaker 3: All right.
[14:39] Speaker 2: Last question.
[14:40] Speaker 1: You've got one minute. What do you have to say
[14:43] Speaker 1: to Ward 9 voters on why they should vote for you?
[14:49] Speaker 3: Ward 9 should really consider what's happened in the last,
[14:54] Speaker 3: you know, so many years. And is that what they
[14:57] Speaker 3: continue to want for their ward? Or do they want
[15:00] Speaker 3: some sort of change? Do they want more people to
[15:04] Speaker 3: feel heard? Do they want people to have their voice
[15:07] Speaker 3: brought to City Hall? Do they want change? And I
[15:11] Speaker 3: don't want to promise anything because I understand city administration
[15:14] Speaker 3: is not easy to work with because of many, many
[15:17] Speaker 3: constraints they're working with as well, right? And it's the
[15:22] Speaker 3: aspect of being there to listen and being there to
[15:26] Speaker 3: tell them what happened at City Hall. And that's why
[15:29] Speaker 3: I feel like I'll be a strong suit. I have
[15:32] Speaker 3: no special skill set to say, I will do these things.
[15:35] Speaker 3: I will get this much funding or this, that, the other.
[15:38] Speaker 3: But I can say that I care about the neighborhood.
[15:40] Speaker 3: I care about Ward 9. And I just want better. Okay.
[15:46] Speaker 1: Thank you very much. That's Sohan Patel, candidate for Ward
[15:49] Speaker 1: 9 in the October 26th municipal election. This has been
[15:53] Speaker 1: a Rose City Politics bonus episode. We're talking to candidates
[15:57] Speaker 1: throughout the campaign and giving them a chance to speak
[16:00] Speaker 1: directly to voters. Thanks again for joining us, Soham. I'm
[16:05] Speaker 1: Doug Sartori, and you have been listening to Rose City Politics.
[16:09] Speaker 1: We will see you next time.
[16:24] Speaker 3: Thank you.

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