Ward 5 - Councillor Paul Sharman

Hours of operation: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Councillor Paul Sharman
Tel: 905-335-7777, ext. 7591
paul.sharman@burlington.ca

Councillor's Assistant
Tel: 905-335-7777, ext. 7454
ward5@burlington.ca

This assignment builds on Councillor Sharman’s extensive experience as a professional accountant and internationally known instructor for strategy and business process improvements.

The portfolio will include:

• Oversight of implementation of our Vision to Focus strategic plan
• Development of Key Performance Indicators and progress reports so we know how we’re doing
• Guidance on process improvements and culture change across departments
• Expert advice and assistance with multi-year budget preparation

Paul Sharman was first elected to serve on Burlington City Council as the Ward 5 representative in October 2010. Paul was re-elected in 2014 and again on October 22, 2018 and is now serving his third term in office. He is thankful and honoured to have been given the opportunity to represent citizens' interests and serve members of his community.

In his first two terms on Council, Paul was able to engage his colleagues to improve the long-range planning and reporting of city activities, including persuading his colleagues to include making Burlington, City operations and the community in general, net carbon by 2041. He also worked extensively with community members, city and regional staff to make improvements to sewage systems and to raise funds to help victims following the Aug. 4, 2014 flooding of 3,500 homes in South East Burlington.

In Ward 5, Paul is pleased to have been a significant supporter in the organization of the annual Appleby Street Festival, a Sunday event which has occurred successfully every year from 2012 to 2018.  He is also very pleased to have been able to help the Orchard community obtain a new parkette on surplus John William Boich school lands and to have helped Halton Region organize a $4.2m upgrade of Burloak Park on Lakeshore Road.

Paul is committed to several objectives this term as confirmed by Ward 5 residents.

These are:

• Build seniors not-for-profit housing
• Create senior’s wellness centres
• Eliminate highway cut-off congestion
• Buy Robert Bateman High School for use as seniors/community centre if no longer a school
• Maintain quality of life
• Protect green space
• Increase jobs and the number of employers
• Control taxes, build city infrastructure reserves
• Manage development to maintain community feel
• Implement Economic Vision, 25-year Strategic Plan & New Official Plan

Prior to being elected Ward 5 Councillor, Paul had a successful career in accountancy. He is a Fellow of the British Institute of Chartered Management Accountants. He held a number of management accounting roles at Levi Strauss and Northern Telecom, including controllership positions. He set up a consulting business in 1988 and continued serving clients throughout North America and around the world until 2004, when he assumed the role of President and CEO of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), one the world's largest accounting associations, based in New Jersey. He was named as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People" in the US accounting world in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by "Accounting Today".

Paul's family is growing up. He has three children. Jennifer has a PhD in Anthropology. Jennifer and her husband Matt live in Stoney Creek with their daughter Zara. Geoffrey works as a Canadian marketing product manager for a significant Japanese company. He and his wife Carmen have two lovely children, Isabell and Evan and they live in Port Union, ON. Paul is enjoying his role as grandfather! Ashley, Paul's youngest daughter, married Paul (also) in August 2018 and lives in Stoney Creek and works in Burlington as a marketing specialist.

Paul's wish for everyone in Burlington is "if you see me, please say hi!".