Over the last year I have had numerous people contact me, urging me to run in this year’s municipal election. As much as I would have liked to, personal medical issues have precluded my entering the race.
More recently, many of those who have supported me have asked who they should vote for. I do not believe it is for me or anyone else to tell anyone who they should vote for. I will, however, tell you who I will be voting for and why.
I will be voting for the candidate that has a platform that not only identifies the issues but proposes actions that could have an impact on the issues.
For example, with respect to environmental issues and the road salt contamination of our drinking water due to run off. This is recognized by all candidates as a threat to our drinking water sources, but only one has proposed a potential course of action in their platform that may lead to a solution.
“Just as the old mining practices which caused devastation of the environment in Sudbury over the decades, the current practices of de-icing our roads with salt is over time destroying the health of our lakes.
“The research that led to the land reclamation project was a local initiative that solved the problem of growing vegetation on land that was highly contaminated. That local initiative was supported by all levels of government and industry, and today we see, and are benefitting from, that visionary research.
“As mayor I will propose and lobby for a local research program to investigate alternative methods of producing ice-free road surfaces. I will lobby to engage and garner the support and funding from all levels of government and industry stakeholders for this program. This research has the potential to have far reaching environmental benefits locally, and worldwide, and will reaffirm Sudbury’s reputation as a world leader in environmental action.”
Did you know that some of the line-item costs in the Sudbury budget are over double what other cities spend? We need to know why that is.
There is only one candidate who from the very start has called for a spending freeze until a third-party audit for value is carried out and has committed to implementing the recommendations that result from that audit.
That candidate is Miranda Rocca-Circelli and I`m voting for her because I believe she has the skills, experience and drive to bring decorum back to council meetings, along with a healthy dose of transparency. Rocca-Circelli will get the answers we as taxpayers need, such as why does the City of Greater Sudbury spend so much more to provide our services as other comparable cities.
She is an accomplished entrepreneur, who knows what it’s like to have to meet a payroll. She was named a Top 40 under 40 award winner in 2017, holds three degrees and is trilingual.
And she has managed to do all that and more while raising three children. She is results driven and a tireless worker and I believe she deserves your consideration when casting your vote for the next mayor.
Dan Melanson
Greater Sudbury