Ah, the promises we will hear! As the final day of nominations approaches, the remaining incumbents and a few new faces will be launching their election hopes based on promises or planks in their quest to climb the stairs to the hallowed chamber at City Hall. We might be a little leery of stepping on some of those planks, for we do not want to crash through and end up back where we were.
Assuming that is, that you are not happy with the way City Hall has performed in the past term or two. Maybe you are satisfied to have some of the highest property taxes (based on income levels) in the north. Perhaps you were not dismayed at the Gardens renovations fiasco, the condition of our infrastructure, the budget overruns or the development fees, or tens of other little things that seem to be annoying the armchair politicians in the City.
Or perhaps you are satisfied with the few advances the City has made, the things that incumbents are positioning as solid planks in their platforms. The examples are numerous and they will be noted elsewhere by our champions from the Council Chamber.
The first plank we ought to ignore is that promise not to raise taxes. Inflation alone demands more money. Albeit there might be ways to counteract that increase. Labour is a huge part of the City budget and the past council has already set the mark for that increase. The only way to contain that increase would be to reduce the number of people and that is tough to accomplish. Unless we are willing to reduce the ‘level of service’, say the mandarins.
The Level of Service is the old dog and pony show the administration trots out every year at budget time and it seems the mayor and council have bought it every time. It is a very effective threat but perhaps we don’t need the same number of resources to keep that ‘level of service’. The Budget Chief says council may need to look at the budget more closely. Well, hello? What have the past councils done if not look carefully at the budget?
I recall the years when council set a zero budget increase and I am not saying that was the right thing to do. A zero budget for operating might have worked but the Capital budget ought to have been increased. Anyway, the mandarins really did not have that much trouble finding ways to meet the zero operating budget. Since those years, the things have returned to the ‘status quo’ budgeting. A plank to set the operating budget at zero might be interesting.
A plank several incumbents have run out is the need to have a mix of ‘experienced’ councillors with the newcomers on council. It seems as long as that incumbent gets back aboard the good ship lollipop, the heck with their former seat mates. As if they all did a fine job and should be returned to office. As if they could mentor the new people. Teach them how to run a city council as they did in the past session(s)? Don’t walk on that plank. There is a learning curve but the Clerk and CAO are there to help the new people.
Then there is that old pine plank about working well with others – meaning the Province and the Feds. Sorry, we are a small city in a small riding in the forgotten north of Ontario and no matter how hard you try, you have limited chances of changing much. You may sit on committees and vote on boards but with the Province in debt up to its ears, there’s little you can do to get a bigger piece of that shrinking pie from Queens Park. It is a fine plank but we are going to have to solve our own problems.
That plank about creating jobs to keep our youth here is another shaky one. Council has been trying for years to bring new jobs to the city with only very modest success. We are a small city, far from the centre of the universe. For every new job created we seem to lose one or more. New, realistic ideas are needed – perhaps some new thoughts on council will help.
The one plank that all candidates need is more openness and transparency with the public. We need to be listened to with sincerity, politeness, and perhaps a little patience. Not everyone is comfortable making a public presentation but everyone deserves a little respect for trying to make their point known. And when the wheels fall off as in the Gardens adventure, staff need to tell council and council needs to tell us. Promptly. For instance did council not know that the snow budget had floundered by the end of April? Did they and staff do anything to adjust spending for the rest of the year, not only in the roads department but city-wide? Or did they wait until August to think about remedies?
Yes, we need some new planks or promises, realistic ones, which can and will be kept for the next four years. Are the candidates up to it?
