The New Millennium begins Nov. 10 (08/10/04)

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the coming municipal election in Sudbury. It is the best

of times and the worst of times. Financially, the cupboard is bare. Our population has been in serious decline for 10 years; our infrastructure is worn out; our municipal bureaucracy is problematic, irritable and waiting for direction; our property tax base is tapped out; the provincial government has had a heart transplant; and it looks like we are between strikes in the mining sector.

The good news is, the price of nickel is up, the medical school is building, the hospital has been promised more funding, our post-secondary schools are full, interest rates are low, and there will be new blood in the body politic. Hope springs eternal.

We have some thoughts on what we need to be thinking about as we turn our attention to the municipal scene.

Activist Government

For 30 years this newspaper has supported an activist, risk-taking municipal government.

Although there are many jurisdictions where paving the roads, collecting the garbage and causing the buses to arrive on time is a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay, in this town, and just about any Northern Ontario town, it is not enough. It is just the beginning.

In Sudbury the main job is to grow the economy so you can afford the roads, the playgrounds, and the snowplows most jurisdictions take for granted.

We need more taxpayers and more assessment, not less. It takes a different set of skills to run a city state. Most municipalities require good management. Rural communities require inspired leadership as well as management skills. It takes different thinking and different priorities. Here are some of things that are important to a city state:

Sudbury, like most rural areas, suffers a sovereignty deficiency. Important areas of community activity are defined by others.

Education funding formulas and priorities come from Toronto; major retailers report to Toronto or New York taskmasters; banking policies and priorities are made at head office; project funding is shared with provincial and federal agencies; and labour unions are headquartered elsewhere. The people who call their own tune, own their own businesses. The next mayor has to work with local owners, and inspire local managers to think like local owners when it comes to community.

If you are going to build an economy you have to be able to execute. You can’t execute without power. There is no power without sovereignty. Sovereignty is pulling likeminded people together to act in ways that are unexpected, given the current rules of the road.

There is nothing more important than trust. Without trust, people waste an inordinate amount of time fighting for turf, recognition, power and advantage. The new mayor must shoot straight with his council; shoot straight with his or her electors; shoot straight with his or her employees; shoot straight with the volunteers who are required to pick this community up by its ears and make it a better place to live.

The mayor, at his best, is someone you want to volunteer to work for.

There is much talk about poor roads. Of course, they should be better. What matters more, however, is poor thinking.

The next mayor needs to value knowledge assets as much as infrastructure. Ten per cent of the capital budget should be set aside to fund good thinkers. People create wealth. Roads don’t create wealth. More wealth brings more roads. If you think your job is to deliver better roads you are right. If you think your job is to deliver “better thinking” you are on the money.

Check out the city of Winnipeg (www.winnipeg.ca) and its fresh thoughts on taxation policy to see what we mean. Part of gaining sovereignty is having the intellectual capacity to compete in the world and making sure the municipality realizes that is part of its job.

The simple truth is that if a rural community is going to battle the trend of population migration to major centres, it will be done with better ideas, unsurpassed teamwork and sheer tenacity.

To lead, we need a bias for good information and be prepared to pay for it. Do we understand why young people leave? Do we understand economic trends of business consolidation that sap our economic strength? For instance do we understand a powerful sector of our economy is represented by the mining services and products cluster that supplies Inco and Falconbridge, and increasingly the world. Many of the owners of those companies are in their 50s and 60s. Who are they going to sell their companies to and what does that mean to the city.

If someone from away buys a local company and moves the thinking and creativity and surplus cash to their new head office in Sweden or Denver, it is inevitable there will be less work and less sovereignty in the community. Succession planning for local ownership in the only sector where we have a lot of it is more important than a new road. Can we learn to think that way? It will help if the mayor thinks that way.

The mayor and council are public manifestations of our civic culture. Is it entrepreneurial or defensive? Is it careless or meticulous? Is it civilized or confrontational? Is it inclusive or divisive? What does it stand for? The mayor will lead the way. His behaviour will set the tone. It is an awesome responsibility.

We are going to go broke without help from the senior levels of government. Our mayor must play his or her role in representing the city, and working with other mayors across the country to negotiate a new set of relationships with the federal and provincial government. There is no alternative. Our new mayor needs to be able to be comfortable and effective in these venues and be smart enough to know what he/she wants and have it backed up with research and data.

A fairly tired proclamation to be sure. We are, however, world traders in this town. We need to think that way or we will lose our way. The new mayor needs to be comfortable on the world stage.

Yes, this is what builds our quality of life. This is what makes it better than living in Toronto or some other urban dungeon.

There will be skirmishes about how much is enough, and what is fair or not fair. We agree more is good, but it is irrelevant if you are headed for bankruptcy. It’s comparable to re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic if you can’t afford your services.

The municipality has gone through a gut wrenching change in the last three years. We have amalgamated various jurisdictions and suffered a sloppy, irrational and under funded downloading of responsibilities from the province. It is not a fair period of time with which to measure their competence. That said, it isn’t nearly good enough. Our civil servants need to be a whole lot better, and fast, if they are going to rise to the level of excellence required to help this city meet the challenges of growth and stability. We are undecided about who should be the next mayor of our city. It is a tough and often thankless job. We look forward to hearing and seeing what our Sudbury candidates have to say.

It is an exciting time for all of us.