Mayoral candidate Gary Gardiner took aim at Al McDonald today questioning his transparency especially when it comes to the cost overrun at Memorial Gardens.
McDonald, who reacted to the news of the overrun in December of 2013, by stating he was unaware that the project was nearly $4 million over budget.
Gardiner says that should never happen.
“I think you have to be involved right from the beginning, you have to follow the project more closely,” said Gardiner who held a press conference in front of North Bay’s Memorial Gardens this morning.
“In the city, all financial budgets are followed closely, there’s monthly reporting. In this case, I’m sure they would have weekly reporting where budgets are going and what the costs are. I just find it surprising that the mayor was not involved in that kind of detail looking at budgets and following the project.”
Gardiner says the problem with the Gardens project was that it was under a timeline the city was unable to meet.
“In my case, I just would not get into that kind of situation because you have to analyze what needs to be done in the time frame that is required before you can commit to anything like that,” he stated.
Gardiner says he is a believer in sports tourism, and he sees the benefit of an OHL hockey team to the city. However, he feels that Memorial Gardens needs to be properly utilized.
“I think it is great to have an OHL team if you can afford it and you have the community base that is going to rally behind it,” said Gardiner.
“Sure there are some economic spin-offs to that but the biggest problem in the gardens is not the OHL team, it is the lack of use in between hockey seasons where nothing goes on here so it is kind of a missed opportunity and I am not sure why but it is concerning to me that we have this great facility and virtually nothing else goes on here.”
Gardiner also noted that a mayor needs to be more honest and transparent.
“Political trust is something you have to gain and you have to earn so when you have statements that always paint a rosy picture,” said Gardiner.
“Sometimes you have to face realities and look at problems before you can solve them so when we say yes, North Bay is a great city, it is a great place to live here, that’s true but we also have problems so we have to deal with the problems we have to recognize them, we have to face them and we have to find solutions. Sometimes you just have to tell people the way it is.”
BayToday.ca reached out to Al McDonald to get his reaction but he did not reply by our publication deadline.
Gardiner along with McDonald, Will Boissoin, and Sheldon Forgette are running for the Mayor's seat in North Bay. The municipal election will take place on October 22nd.
