Ward 11 candidate Derek Young has released his platform, noting that Sudbury has a lot of room to grow and prosper, while learning from cities that are much older than Sudbury.
Young's ward is the home of what is to be the Kingsway Entertainment District, one of this election's most talked about topics.
"At least two of my colleagues seeking the ward 11 seat are forecasting doom and gloom for our city and have a much different view on the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED), with one candidate suggesting supporters of the KED should check themselves into rehab," said Young.
"I would rather promote a positive campaign of honesty and optimism that encourages young, responsible, leadership while recognizing the next council will have to make some hard decisions and deal with significant challenges."
Young says that a balance needs to be struck, but not at the cost of halting investment in the community while forcing a wedge between the Kingsway and the downtown.
Full text of Derek Young's news release can be found below:
While at least two of my colleagues seeking the ward 11 seat are forecasting doom and gloom for our city and have a much different view on the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED), with one candidate suggesting supporters of the KED should check themselves into rehab, I would rather promote a positive campaign of honesty and optimism that encourages young, responsible, leadership while recognizing the next council will have to make some hard decisions and deal with significant challenges.
A balance will be needed, but it does not mean that we stop investing in our community and force a greater divide between KED and Downtown or sports and the arts.
Greater Sudbury is still a relatively young city at only 135 years old. We have so much potential in our city to grow and prosper and learn from other cities much older than our own. Over the last two years, I have had the opportunity to work in a number of cities across Canada and always have my eyes wide open exploring best practices and recognizing what is possible for our city. It's boots to the ground and I am inspired to bring some of these best practices back home.
Our city is much more than the Kingsway Entertainment District, although, this project has the potential to be a major economic driver and instil a greater sense of the community pride with the hometown Sudbury Wolves and the new Five basketball team.
My position in support of the KED has always been clear and consistent in promoting the vision of what is possible in other cities of similar size.
I am also in support of the proposed Junction Project, although I do have concerns with the business model focussing too much on the external convention market believed to have the "most immediate economic impact" while fledging arts organizations who promote economic development everyday are struggling.
When David Courtemanche was mayor, he invited Glenn Murray (former Mayor of Winnipeg and Ontario Cabinet Minister) to come to Sudbury and deliver a full day session on municipal cultural planning. The session focused on how you plan a city.
A few take-a-ways from that session for me were; often times politicians focus on the 3P strategy of Police, Pipes and Pavement, yet when asked why businesses located to Winnipeg, they said it was because there were things for our employees to do outside of work.
The 3P strategy is part of the job of a municipal councillor, however, I think it is something we dwell on way too much. We can pave of our streets with gold, but if we have no quality of life outside of work, then we have no tax base to pay for those roads to nowhere.
As elected officials we have much work to do to make Greater Sudbury an even better place to live, work and play.
We need to be focused on economic and residential development, community safety, the community's mental health and wellness while delivering the services and results that voters expect from council.
