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Rocca-Circelli: Greater Sudbury should be run as a business

There is no current distinction between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ for the city, says mayoral candidate
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Mayoral candidate Miranda Rocca-Circelli is seen outside of Tom Davies Square.

This has been an exciting few months as we make it through the last week of the campaign journey for the 2022 municipal elections in Greater Sudbury. 

My campaign has been driven by a “grassroots” approach, that for me speaks to the fundamental change we need in how our city operates. 

There is a desire for new, engaged and transparent leadership on the part of the mayor. Citizens no longer want the same status quo as we have seen in the past. 

What I have clearly gathered from citizens is that there needs to be a fundamental and profound change in the spending habits of the city, how we treat each other and how we recruit, retain and conduct business.

There is no current distinction between “needs” and “wants” for the city. The “wants” should not even be on the table until the “needs” and the realities of our infrastructure deficit are addressed.

I have run my campaign consistently with how I will seek to have the city’s operations run. This includes no unnecessary spending or spending simply because “that’s the way it has always been done.” 

I could have had a campaign office to create photo-ops, as some of my opponents have. However, after looking at the costs of setting up an office and what the potential utilization would be, the cost benefit analysis showed that it would be a poor decision from a return-on-investment perspective. 

Such financial resources would bring a better return in other areas of my campaign. I wanted to ensure that I could go to meet with citizens, instead of having them come to me.

In an attempt to work with local businesses who have struggled in the last few years, my team and I planned “Meet and Greets.” These events created opportunities to connect with citizens and encourage people to come out and support local businesses. 

Each “Meet and Greet” was a wonderful experience, getting to meet so many people and to hear their thoughts, whether they were positive or negative, about the City of Greater Sudbury. 

It is important to be visible and create opportunities to connect with people, while supporting our community, and that is what we were able to achieve with a “grassroots” approach with my campaign.

As mayor, I will bring this same practical approach to expenditures at the city, across all departments. I will also seek ways to create opportunities to engage with our citizens.

We need more than just a name change on the door of the mayor’s office, we need a new practical approach to spending tax dollars that assures maximum value is received.

Much has been said about needing political experience and what it brings to the table. In my opinion, the city should be run as a business. 

Business owners are always aware of their revenues and expenses, they make decisions based on the best for the future of their business and they foster relationships with the people they work with, whether with their staff and or clients.

When politicians assume political roles, and when they are in positions to be able to foster change, they tend to do what they think has worked best because it’s always been done that way and expect to get different results. 

We need to change that mindset, and we can do that by voting for change.

I ask all the citizens of the City of Greater Sudbury to inform themselves on each candidate and to get out and vote for the change you are looking for.

What I’ve heard on the campaign trail is that the voters are looking for a fundamental grassroots approach to change, and that is how I have chosen to run and this is how I will lead council and our city to a better future.

Miranda Rocca-Circelli is a candidate running for mayor of Greater Sudbury in the Oct. 24 election.


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