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Atkins: Does the mayor really need an adviser and does it have to be Rick Bartolucci?

Greater Sudbury is relatively small. An adviser seems unnecessary, says Michael Atkins, especially when that adviser is the former Sudbury MPP

Among other things announced last week by Mayor Brian Bigger was the news Rick Bartolucci, our former member of the provincial legislature, will be a key unpaid adviser to the mayor liaising with the business community. 

Some business people may jump for joy. Others less enthused. Either way, this has important implications.

All mayors have advisers paid and otherwise. They need to keep their finger on the pulse and the more people giving input the better. Mayor Bigger’s first adviser in his first election was former mayor Jim Gordon, although it was never an official position. A mentor advising a novice on the do's and don'ts of political life is quite different from an unpaid adviser with a specific mandate once the election is over and the governing begins.

You can see the difference in the mayor's language already. Bigger is more declarative and self-assured. Presumably, this is Bartolucci's impact, along with a contentious campaign that toughened him up. 

Rick Bartolucci is a bulldog who has served this community well over the years. That said and his abilities aside, there is plenty of risk in this appointment that must be acknowledged, and must be considered.

To begin with, this Tory provincial government is aggressive, unconventional and fearless. It despises the former Liberal government and never misses an opportunity to renew hostilities. The recent committee reviewing Liberal spending is a case in point. This kind of scorched earth investigation has not been done before and is a clear mood indicator. 

Doug Ford is a street fighter and so is Rick Bartolucci. Does it make sense to throw a seasoned hardcore Liberal after hardcore Tories?

More important than the temperament of the premier is the enmity between Bartolucci and Finance Minister Vic Fedeli, who is from North Bay. They had little use for one another over the years and fought bitterly over the cutbacks to the Ontario Northland in the Gateway City. 

Does this appointment really make sense in a city that requires tens of millions of dollars from the province to fund its downtown projects?

There is a reason political consulting firms employ members of all three political parties: They want to stay in business after the election season. Politics is a blood sport and to the victor go the spoils.

A second concern about an unpaid political adviser, whatever their political stripe, is that it usurps the role of the mayor. Any developer or business person with any savvy will chat with Bartolucci before he runs a new idea past Mayor Bigger. Why waste your time with the mayor if his adviser thinks it's a bad idea?

This creates unintended consequences, namely a gatekeeper for the mayor. It also gives substantial influence to an individual who is not confined by the normal conventions and obligations of office.

It is an odd decision. This is a small city and any normal mayor would have plenty of time to meet with any of its business people and respond to ideas and concerns.

If you want to get an early measure on how things are going to work out in our neighbourhood, count the number of bulldozers on the Highway 69 four-laning project. When current contracts are completed, there will be none. The highway expansion — one of Bartolucci's very positive achievements — will not be completed by 2020 or for that matter, 2030.

Sadly, that's politics. The city needs to be less tone deaf.

Michael Atkins is the president and owner of the Laurentian Media Group, a diversified media company, which includes Northern Life, Sudbury.com, Sudbury Living Magazine and Northern Ontario Business.


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