1. Grow the City - The Council and the Community have to work together to Market and Grow the City. We can no longer be selective in the type of businesses we want in our City. The population in the GTHA is only growing because of immigration into Canada. Lets learn from the Nipissing and Canadore students from Southern Ontario, what they think about North Bay. Then have our Economic department use that information when attracting industry here.
2. Special Committees - This may sound a little radical, but I would like the next Council to do away with all the Special Committees we have created! Goodness, there are a lot of them now. Citizens elect a council, so these are the people who should do the work and set direction for the Staff to follow. To replace the Special Committees, I would recommend the Chairs of the three standing committees of Council hold Town Hall meetings on important issues, such as discussions about a new arena, or changes in city services.
3. Relationship building with the Province -The financial mess the new Provincial Government inherited is a concern for us all, given that a considerable amount of the funding the City receives comes from the Province. We need to get to know our partners in the new government as well as their staff to ensure the City, our Agencies, Boards and Commissions are not negatively impacted by changes or economies the Province has to make. My strong relationships
4. Capital Budget. We have done a good job addressing our infrastructure deficit. But with the new builds planned for Cassellholme, as well as talk of an arena and a police station on the horizon, the next Council will have to work together to find a balance between maintenance of existing infrastructure and services, and new projects.
