Newsmaker of the Year: Bus driver fuels controversy

BY TRACEY DUGUAY

Greater Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez doesn’t consider Ottawa or Queen’s Park as “senior” levels of government.

“Everyone always refer to the federal government as the senior level of government. Somehow or another, the cities, the municipalities, are sort of the poor children.”

The core of politics, he said, started at the community (ie. municipal) level. It only stands to reason the balance of power should remain there too.

“The senior levels of government are the cities because when the first settlers came, they didn’t come to provinces and they certainly didn’t come to the country of Canada. They came to a community, a settlement.

“Don’t call us the children of the province. We’re the legitimate senior level of government.”

That’s the main reason he gets so fired up when talking about the lack of infrastructure money floating down from these “senior” governments.

“We don’t get any share of the sales tax, we don’t get a share of the income tax and we certainly don’t get any share of the corporate tax.”

Get him started on these topics and fiery rhetoric ensues. It was Rodriguez’s gift for gab, along with his “mayor of the people” persona, that helped get him elected a year ago.

The backing of labour and union organizations, and the campaign “dream team” of former mayor Jim Gordon and former mayoral candidate Paul Marleau didn’t hurt either.

The former Nickel Belt MP and teacher entered the mayoral race in July 2006. His campaign was marked with promises of lifting plow shovels at every driveway, ending homelessness and taking back the leadership at town hall.

“I’m the one now driving this bus...I’m the leader” said Rodriguez during his victory speech on election night.

“I’m more than willing to work with the councillors...but the leadership that’s been missing will come from the mayor.”

His moniker of “J-Rod,” adopted by Sudbury residents during the election, changed to “Bus Driver,” following this speech. But, as with the road he drives to get to work, his journey has been marked with a few potholes.

Rodriguez created a minor furor not long after the election when he unilaterally decided to hoist the Franco Ontarian flag in the courtyard of Tom Davies Square.

It wasn’t the first time someone suggested flying the flag there.

Rodriguez’s mayoral predecessor David Courtemanche raised a motion to this effect when he was a city councillor in 2003. Gordon, who was mayor at the time, quashed Courtemanche’s motion worried it would send the wrong message to people from other nationalities that called Sudbury home.

Snowplowing is another issue Rodriguez is taking a bit of heat on, especially with the “lift at every driveway” legacy that dogs him to this day.

He, along with the majority of council, voted in favour of a less expensive winter operations budget for the 2007/2008 season. However, gambling on another mild winter, less money equals less service, and the success of the plan depends on the weather.

If the two major snowfalls to date are any indication, council could end up tag-teamed by Mother Nature and Jack Frost in the form of a cold and snowy winter.

When it comes to the bus driver delivering his agenda, he’s making pretty good time so far. As promised in his inaugural speech, within his first 100 days in office, he appointed expert panels to look at the multi-use recreational complex, performing arts centre, health care cluster, and municipal mining revenues.

“I ran on these projects,” he said, “they were part of my platform.”

All the panels have made presentations to council to show their work to date, with the exception of the mining revenue committee, which is scheduled for early in the new year.

Rodriguez also takes pride in his first-year record when it comes to improving staff relations at civic square, most notably with the Year of the Employee initiative.

His major goals for 2008 include going after the mining revenues generated in Sudbury that he argues shouldn’t be going to the province.

The major is also joining forces with other Northern Ontario leaders to take on the federal government and its sizeable surplus. He wants a piece of this pie in order to put a dent in the city’s $480 million infrastructure deficit.

During 2008, the mayor can be expected to be front and centre at celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the city’s birth.