Municipal elections are a great time for establishing local priorities. The problem is that you could talk to 10 different constituents and each of them might give you a different priority list ranking depending on their own particular situation.
The other problem is candidates for mayor and/or councillor positions will often say whatever they can if they think it will help them get elected, even if it means making promises that establish unrealistic expectations. As councillor of Ward 5 for the past eight years, I must say that many of the promises that are being bandied about by candidates who are trying to convince voters to replace incumbents have never been so outrageous, nor have they been so insulting to the current council and municipal staff.
Many of the candidates are promising to correct all of the problems facing our municipality if they are elected to replace the incumbent councillor. When I see some of what they are saying, I want to shout out: “Do you think we don’t know that?” “Do you think we are not trying our best to overcome those challenges?” “Do you not think if it was as easy as you say it is we would have done that already?”
- We know we have challenges dealing with homelessness, mental health and drug addiction.
- We know we have challenges maintaining and replacing our infrastructure such as roads, water/wastewater, and municipal facilities.
- We know we have challenges providing services that our older adults need in order to be able to age in place in their homes.
- We know we have challenges attracting new business development and workers to meet our labour shortages.
- We know we have challenges with the availability of affordable housing as well as affordable rental housing.
- We know we have challenges providing a level of safety on our roads and in our neighbourhoods, with demands from some for more police services, while others demand that we defund the police and put more money into social services.
And, we certainly hear from our residents who object to tax increases every year as we try to deal with all of the challenges of maintaining an acceptable level of service in each of our 58 different service areas. Taxes are driven by services, but the conundrum we face as city councillors every year is that while residents do not want to see tax increases, they also do not want to see a reduction in service levels.
Another problem that we are facing is that in order to deal with some of the major social issues, including homelessness, mental health, drug addictions and opioid deaths, we have been forced to provide services that should be falling under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. This is causing more upward pressure on our tax levy.
As councillor of Ward 5 for the past eight years, I can assure all residents that we, as a council, are aware of the challenges facing our municipality. We are working within a corporate strategic plan that is being impacted by many outside influences, such as the pandemic, provincial downloading and other emerging societal issues. In fact, early in the new year, city council will once again review our corporate strategic plan as we attempt to design a way forward in order to deal with all of the issues facing our municipality while remaining cognizant of the limited resources that we have available.
All I ask is that when you are considering casting a vote for your ward councillor, don't be fooled by some of the promises that are being made by inexperienced candidates who do not understand the system. Most of the promises are unrealistic and will be impossible to fulfil while balancing all of the "priorities" that residents identify.
And don’t let them give you the idea that your current councillor is not “listening” to you. As councillor of Ward 5, I guarantee that I have been listening to all of my constituents, including the silent majority, for the entire eight years I have been your representative. I will continue to listen intently for the next four years if you put me back in office on Oct. 24. But there is only so much we can do as a municipality. I will not attempt to win your vote by making promises that I know are impossible to achieve.
Furthermore, on top of the fact that many candidates challenging incumbents will not be able to deliver on their unrealistic promises their lack of experience will be a serious barrier on their ability to deal with the ward-based and individual constituent issues that hundreds of people need their ward councillor to help with each year.
Most candidates I have heard from are making promises about their city-level responsibilities which include participation at meetings of city council and committee meetings. They seldom mention anything about their war-level responsibilities that include working with neighbourhood associations, community groups and organizations, as well as community action networks, to assist in advancing their goals and objectives with respect to enhancing the general quality of life for residents living in the specific ward.
But where all of the candidates are falling short is with respect to how they intend to meet their constituent-level responsibilities, which should be the highest priority for a ward councillor. In my own role as councillor of Ward 5 for the past eight years, I am contacted by literally hundreds of individual constituents each year with specific residential and/or commercial concerns that need to be addressed.
As their ward councillor, it is my responsibility and, I must say, my privilege, to work with each of these constituents to better understand the nature of their concern, and then be able to provide some guidance, direction and at times strategic advocacy in order to ensure that the most satisfactory resolution is found to alleviate their particular concern. Few of the candidates seem to have any idea about the time commitment they will need to make to deal with constituent-level responsibilities.
This is why you need a full-time councillor representing your ward. Anyone can attend city council and committee meetings, but you need to be available for your ward- and constituent-level responsibilities. No one addresses how they will find the time for these levels of responsibility.
I can only speak on behalf of myself as councillor for Ward 5, but I can tell you that as a city council, we are absolutely working on your issues. We have passionate and at times heated debates before we arrive at majority decisions.
But that is what we were elected to do and we are doing the best we can. I am prepared to provide residents of Ward 5 with four more years of dependable, full-time commitment to represent and advocate for their best interests at the individual level, the ward level, and the city-wide level. Now is not the time for change in Ward 5.
Robert Kirwan is running for re-election to the Greater Sudbury city council seat for Ward 5.
