10/10/2026
The Quintiest
Five questions with Barbara Enright-Miller, Ward 1 candidate for Belleville council in the 2026 municipal election
29 September 2026
Hollie Pratt-Campbell
Barbara Enright-Miller is running for Belleville council – Ward 1 in the upcoming municipal election. – Submitted photo
Editor’s note: To help voters to be better informed, Quinteist will be asking the same five questions of all council candidates in Belleville, Quinte West and Prince Edward County in advance of the municipal election, which will be held on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. Questions were sent to all candidates on Sept. 10, 2026. We will publish their responses as we receive them. Below are the responses from Belleville Ward 1 candidate Barbara Enright-Miller. You can view a roundup of all our Belleville municipal coverage and links to all completed profiles here.
1. Tell us a little bit about your professional background, including any prior municipal or other political participation, as well as about you, personally. What made you want to run for council?
Professionally, owning and operating my business here in Belleville, I have spent more than 30 years in property and condominium management. That work has given me hands-on experience with budgets, reserve funds, infrastructure, contracts, long-term capital planning and, perhaps most importantly, listening to people and finding practical solutions when there are competing needs and limited dollars.
I was first elected to Belleville City Council in 2022 to represent Ward 1. Over this term, I have served on a broad range of committees and boards. I chair the City’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and Green Task Force; I am also chair of the Finance Committee, vice-chair of the Belleville Police Service Board, and sit on the Planning Advisory Committee. Those roles have given me a much deeper understanding of how municipal decisions are made, what council can control, what is mandated by other levels of government and how decisions made today affect budgets and infrastructure years into the future.
Personally, I am a very practical person. I care deeply about Belleville and about the people who live here. I originally ran because I believed my business experience, financial background and problem-solving approach could contribute at the council table. Four years later, I understand the job at a completely different level. I have learned that municipal government rarely offers simple answers, but thoughtful questions, persistence, collaboration and a willingness to do the work can move issues forward.
I am seeking a second term because there is still work I want to help finish. I want to bring the experience of this first term into the next one, not to make promises that sound good, but to continue working on realistic solutions that Belleville can actually deliver and afford.
2. How would you describe your personal political ideology and/or affiliation?
Municipal government in Ontario is not organized around political parties, and I do not approach council decisions through a party label. My approach is issue by issue: What are the facts? What does it cost? Is it sustainable? Is it fair to taxpayers? Does it protect the services residents depend on? And will the decision make Belleville stronger over the long term?
If I had to describe my municipal philosophy, I would call it fiscally responsible, socially compassionate and practical. I believe we have a responsibility to scrutinize spending and respect taxpayers, while also recognizing that a city must provide safe roads, water and wastewater systems, emergency services, policing, transit, parks and recreation, accessibility and other essential services. I am willing to challenge how we have always done things, cut red tape where we can and look for better ways of delivering results, but I will not promise a number or an outcome when the facts do not support it. The plain truth is that running a city the size and scope of Belleville is expensive. My goal is and always be to rationalize the expense with measurable results, so I can feel confident to tell the tax payer we get value for money.
3. What are the three most common issues voters bring up to you as you campaign?
The first is affordability and property taxes. People are feeling pressure in their household budgets and they want to know that every municipal dollar is being examined carefully. I hear that concern clearly. I have the same concern with my own personal financial picture and that of my children and family. My response is that council must continue line-by-line scrutiny of spending while being transparent about what services cost, what is provincially mandated and which costs are outside the City’s direct control.
The second is public safety, policing, homelessness, mental health and addictions. Residents want to feel safe in their neighbourhoods and downtown, but they also want lasting solutions for people who are struggling. These issues overlap, yet responsibility and funding are divided among the City, police, Hastings County, health and social service organizations and the provincial and federal governments. My work on the Police Service Board and Community Safety and Well-Being discussions has reinforced for me that we need both enforcement and prevention, with every level of government carrying its share.
The third is growth and infrastructure. Residents see new development and understandably ask whether roads, water, wastewater, parks, transit and other services are keeping pace. Growth can strengthen our tax base, but it also creates infrastructure and service demands. We need to plan growth carefully, make better use of existing infrastructure where possible, protect important green spaces and ensure development contributes appropriately to the costs it creates.
4. What three issues are most pressing/important to address locally in your opinion?
First, financial sustainability and infrastructure. Belleville has aging assets and significant future capital needs. We have to balance affordability today with the responsibility not to leave future Councils and taxpayers with infrastructure that we failed to maintain. That means disciplined budgeting, appropriate reserves, asset management and aggressively pursuing provincial and federal funding wherever possible.
Second, community safety and the interconnected challenges of homelessness, mental health and addictions. Policing is part of public safety, but police cannot solve homelessness, mental illness or addiction by themselves. We need coordinated local services and stronger participation and funding from the governments responsible for health care, housing and social services. We need to figure out a way to supply housing and shelter for the unhoused. Currently, we have 21 transitional housing beds for a list of over 250 people, and the list continues to grow. This is a runaway train that we need to put the brakes on. The provincial government needs to help. Although this issue should not rest on the shoulders of the taxpayers, sadly in part it does. Our moral compass says we need to help, but financially we are at the limit.
Third, managing growth well. Belleville is changing. We need housing of different types, but growth must be supported by infrastructure and good planning. I believe we should make thoughtful use of existing serviced areas, consider appropriate density, protect environmental assets and green space and ensure that decisions are based on the long-term cost to the whole community – not simply the immediate cost of getting a project built.
5. What do you feel sets you apart from other candidates?
I can speak most fairly about what I bring rather than judge the other candidates. I bring a combination of more than 30 years of private-sector property management experience and four years of direct municipal experience on Belleville City Council. That four years of learning this job, and it is a job, (one I love) has so many aspects and layers to it and it’s always evolving. It really takes time to learn and we keep learning. Like any position, you get better at navigating over time as things become more familiar.
During this term I have worked across finance, planning, accessibility, environmental stewardship and police governance. I have chaired committees, served as vice-chair of the Police Service Board, worked through municipal budgets and planning decisions, and dealt directly with residents on issues ranging from neighbourhood concerns to taxes, development, accessibility and public safety.
I also know much more clearly now where a municipality has authority and where it does not. Experience has taught me to ask not only, ‘Is this a good idea?’ but also, ‘Who has the authority to do it? Who pays for it? What are the long-term consequences? And can we actually deliver it?’
What I offer voters is a record they can examine and an experienced approach they can assess for themselves. I will continue to show up, ask questions, listen, explain the difficult decisions as clearly as I can, and tell residents what I believe the facts support, even when the answer is not the easiest or most popular one. My guiding principle remains the words we hear at the council table: may we bring to our work minds that think and hearts that feel.
