Election Literature

It’s about:

·         Embracing practices that ensure responsible change,

·         Embracing openness and transparency,

·         Enabling effective governance,

·         Ensuring fiscal prudence,

·         Working to grow the local economy,

·         Collaborating with partners to ‘get to yes,’

·         Advocating for strong local health care, and

·         Working for regional unity.

In a plan for action.

LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBLE CHANGE

What does a responsible leader look like?

Awareness: Knowing where we are compared to our destination;

Action: moving from here to there, facilitating growth;

Accountability: knowing how we are moving from here to there and measuring it.

What does responsible change look like?

·         understanding the current situation,

·         understanding the environment,

·         determine where we want to go,

·         understanding how we want to get to there,

·         understanding the barriers to our destination,

·         implement tactics to overcome the barriers,

·         implement action steps to get to our destination,

·         monitor our journey to assure ourselves we are going where we want to go,

·         implement adjustments

      ·         to ensure we are successful.

Openness and Transparency

How can Council and Administration be open and transparent? This is a meat and potatoes issue, so let’s not mince words: it’s a matter of trust. Trust is earned through open and transparent governance such as:

·         Standardize administrative procedures and processes for things like building permits and tenders,

·         ‘Blinded’ bids so they are judged on their merits,

·         Staff performance expectations that are predetermined and clearly communicated enabling fair reviews,

·         Transparent human resource recruitment and retention process,

·         A strategic plan for the life of the Council to be developed, shared, and implemented enabling the community to review the Council’s performance according to expected outcomes.

It is important that the Mayor and Council meet with all stakeholders to hear concerns and celebrate what is happening in Kindersley. Our next Mayor must be a facilitator. Bringing groups together promotes better understanding and results in a decision making process that is better informed and transparent. Complementing this event would be a monthly Mayor’s breakfast in which anyone can share what’s on their mind, including Council and Administration’s OFIs (Opportunities for Improvement). This is also an opportunity for me to share Council’s progress including the opportunities and challenges we are facing. Further, I see the need for more communication to explain why action steps were taken. To accomplish this I will continue using Facebook, a website, and newsletter emails to keep you up to date from the Mayor’s perspective.

Governance

It is important that the residents of Kindersley have confidence in Council to effectively and efficiently fulfill the Town’s aspirations and address concerns.

What is the Town responsible for? The delivery of services per the Municipality Act, plan for the future, and manage the Town’s risk. Council ensures that Town employees are able to competently fulfill these tasks as well as move the Town forward in a sustainable manner.

How can Council govern effectively?

·         Ensure a civil dialogue that is informed, robust, and vigorous to determine the best

·         Ensure all members feel safe and confident to express themselves,

·         Ensure that all decisions are based on ideas, understanding, and facts,

·         Represent the Town as needed and explain actions and decisions.

Tax Levels and Choices

Over the past three years taxes have risen more than 25%. Given this tax context we are facing some tough choices. Must we choose between our aspirations and our concerns? We, like many communities in Canada, have an infrastructure deficit with our sewer and water lines, roads, and other existing facilities. This has a price tag of ~$40 million. How about our aspiration to build new facilities such as an arts and culture centre, indoor aquatic centre, and field house at ~$30 million? It can’t be either/or. We must do both. We need prudent asset management and progressive capital planning to preserve what we have and build for the future. Moving forward means being deliberate to keep what we have and intentional to build for the future.

Business Recruitment and Retention

What is the best way to enhance our quality of life in Kindersley? Through a vibrant and dynamic local economy; an economy that is growing. The role of the Town regarding business recruitment and retention is to create an environment in which businesses want to locate and can succeed. There are a variety of tools available to the Town ranging from ‘hard’ tools such as tax incentives to ‘soft’ tools including the provision of services and amenities such as rinks and pools. Fundamentally, business recruitment and retention is the work of everyone in the community. Kindersley looks good because volunteers not only make social and sporting events possible, they oversee the Crisis Centre so residents can have treatment for mental illness. Kindersley looks good to new businesses because their employees’ kids can take music lessons and play sports. Kindersley looks good because there are activities for couple to attend on a date. Economic development is a community activity that doesn’t know social or political boundaries.

Having said that, it is important that the Town does its part. It can create a straightforward process with known timelines and costs to start up a new business within the Town. Finally, the Town can ensure that it has the right infrastructure in place so businesses can locate and expand.

Housing

Housing is an issue in Kindersley. We have too few and not enough of the right type:

·         our houses are attainable for some and not others,

·         too few rental units for those who want to rent or don’t expect to be here long term, and

·         not enough appropriate housing for Seniors.

Another aspect of the affordability issue is Kindersley’s median income being about $10,000 above the SK average. This affects families’ ability to qualify for some mortgage programs: they make too much to qualify but not enough to make a down payment – Catch 22. At the present time I don’t see us being able to act effectively on this particular aspect of the housing problem.

So, how do we resolve this issue for both the present and the future?

First we need to discuss a couple of related issues.

·         There are a lot of stories floating around about what is going on and I am not in a position to discern the veracity of the stories.

·         To manage this I will focus on principles to guide future decisions.

·         The Town needs to supply infrastructure such as water, sewer, sidewalks and roadway plus green space.

·         I am not intimate with Town finances but I am concerned the Town doesn’t have the appropriate funds at this time to take on infrastructure development for the lots available in Rosedale Phase 2; I hope I am wrong. As the saying goes: “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

·         A solution needs to be found that puts shovels in the ground for the summer, builds infrastructure, and meets a variety of housing needs as mentioned earlier.

·         The solution needs to add value to Kindersley in the short term and the long term.

So, how do we increase our housing inventory?

·         One potential solution is to gather all local developers together to determine their priorities and explore the possibility of forming a local developers ‘cooperative’. As a cooperative working together, could the local developers take advantage of the opportunities in Rosedale? The benefit of this is the money stays local and the housing crisis is addressed.

·         Do RTMs, without basements, provide the best value for Kindersley? Would it not be prudent to explore other housing styles that provide more value for the new owners, their neighbours, and the Town? How about something like a ‘townhouse’ style development with a variety of price points?

This is a complex issue and I have only touched the surface. But, we need to find a solution sooner than later. A solution that puts as much value into Kindersley as possible, a solution addressing affordable housing, rental units, and senior housing is urgently needed. We need to work together to find a solution.

Healthcare

I have heard a lot of people express their concern about health care in Kindersley. There is no doubt we have challenges: we don’t have enough physicians and there are budget issues affecting the level of care patients receive. The challenges we are facing are unfair to us and our physicians. Unfair to us because we are not always able to get the timely care we need and unfair to the physicians because they deserve to have a life that does not involve having to be working or on call most of the time. My heart goes out to the physicians for all of the sacrifices they make in caring for our community. Thank you Doctors!

Municipally elected officials, such as the Mayor and Council, have no formal jurisdiction over healthcare. However, the residents of Kindersley expect the Mayor to speak and advocate on their behalf; to be their champion in this important cause.

In recent years Kindersley and the surrounding RMs and communities achieved considerable success with the development and opening of the new Clinic and the provision of new equipment in the hospital. Based on this successful foundation, and continuing to work together, Kindersley and West Central Saskatchewan can improve the level of health care in our region.

It is clear that the status quo for healthcare can’t continue. Change has to be made. This is a wonderful opportunity for the next Mayor to champion change in healthcare; change that is more sensitive to rural Saskatchewan. I once had a Director tell me, over and over, that “out of chaos comes opportunity.” Here is our opportunity for change, let’s seize it.