About Larry

I grew up in Stratford, left to study Anthropology and came home in the late 1990s to open a business. Nearly three decades later, I’m still here, still downtown and still finding things to change.

Over that time, I’ve watched the city change and changed my own business along with it. I’ve seen employees build careers and families, and businesses work through good seasons and difficult ones. It’s given me a pretty clear sense of why downtown needs to work for both the people who visit and the people who live here.

Running Pazzo and Café Bouffon means making decisions every day about staff, costs and what customers want. There have been renovations, reinventions and difficult winters. You learn to plan, adapt and take responsibility when something doesn’t work.

That experience comes with me to City Hall. What will this really cost? What happens if things don’t go to plan? And once we’ve paid for it, what else can we still afford?

I was first elected to council in 2022 and re-elected in October 2026. During the 2022–2026 term, I served as vice-chair of the Finance and Labour Relations Sub-committee. Much of that work comes down to understanding how the City spends money, plans ahead and meets its responsibilities to residents and employees.

I listen, ask questions and make up my own mind. I’m comfortable disagreeing, and I’m equally comfortable changing my view when someone makes a good case. Either way, I should be able to explain my vote to you.

City of Stratford: Finance and Labour Relations Sub-committee →

There’s a lot more to life here than business and council. Over the years I’ve tried to support local sports, arts and social-housing organizations, and the people who put so much of themselves into keeping them going.

They’re a big part of what makes Stratford a good place to live. I want people of different ages and incomes to be able to build a life here and feel they belong.

Stratford is changing, and I want us to be thoughtful about where we go next. We need more homes, infrastructure that keeps up, and an economy that can adapt. We also need to look after the things that make people want to live here in the first place.

I was grateful to be re-elected in October 2026. I want to keep contributing to public life, in Stratford and in the wider conversations Ontario communities are having about growth, public investment and how we govern. The decisions we make now need to make sense to the people living with them years from now.