A Reason to Vote
A Reason to Vote
A Reason to Vote
A Reason to Vote
A Reason to Vote
A Reason to Vote
A Reason to Vote
Vesna Higham is writing a series of three commentaries for the Red Deer Advocate. Two of these opinion pieces have been published at the time of this submission deadline. Attached here are her questions to every candidate and my responses. These questions and answers will also be published on the library’s election forum.
In as much or little detail as you see fit, please describe your position or thoughts on the following local issues:
There is currently a study being done that looks at this topic. In times of fiscal concern we have to look at all of the community’s priorities. Establishing a municipal police force may be very expensive, not just in terms of hiring but equipment, and connection to the provincial and national policing systems.
Communication is so important that whatever decision is made there will need to be excellent communication across and between police forces. Crime does not know boundaries; we must not set up an “us vs them” dynamic if we are to provide the level of service that this community deserves.
There are times when we may not have the skills or expertise within the City itself; it’s important, then, to seek outside support. Not every project that we undertake in our planning requires outside consultants. We must respect the high level of expertise we have within the City organization and be sure that we rely on our good staff.
Very recently, I believe the City could have handled the Kin Canyon Plan and Gaetz Avenue Redevelopment Plan, and done better than contracted consultants. We have very talented engineers and planners on staff; we need to help them attend to the community’s wishes and let them wrestle with options. I think we can develop even more expertise if we rely more seriously on the good staff we have. I would much rather pay for training than hire outside consultants for projects that are within our grasp. Corporate knowledge important for every project simply cannot be passed on easily to consultants, and it often gets left out.
I support the design and implementation of bike lanes for commuting. There are best practices around the world and great knowledge within the biking community here that we must consult.
Although there are times that public-private partnerships (P3) are appropriate there are also times when they are not. I would strongly oppose losing control of our water utilities, for example. Yet the aquatic centre that is being proposed may come forward as a P3 proposal. We’ll need to carefully consider the risk and liability to the City, and the long term maintenance and replacement costs. The devil can be in the details with these types of arrangements. It’s not always as rosy as it looks.
I will find a way to help us plan for, fund, and build a cultural, arts, and heritage centre in a location that is easily accessible to the whole community and well-connected to other amenities in the city. Such a facility is long overdue in Red Deer. The last two culture plans that the community has undertaken have spoken very clearly on the need for such a facility.
The economic and social benefits of a well-connected facility will help us improve tourism, diversify the economy, provide jobs, promote cultural awareness, and improve quality of life for everyone who lives, works or plays in Red Deer.
I will help us find a way to support the development of an aquatic centre that will meet the needs of the whole community. We are ideally situated in Alberta for large swim meets and competitions. The parents of young swimmers say that each weekend they travel to other cities for swim meets; it costs them, on average, $600-$800 per child for each competition. These competitions attract 700 participants. Tourism revenue from swim meets is only one potential revenue source for such a facility; we should not underestimate the broader impact such events will have on the tourism, retail, and service sectors. A well-placed and well-designed facility would benefit all of us. Like everything we consider, we need to be clear about the community’s priorities. Some initiatives will have to come first and others will follow. Until we ask the community clearly, we don’t know the priorities for our hard-earned tax dollars. We must find ways to consult properly so that we build the most important things first.
This is likely the same facility as the concert hall and arts facility you’ve asked about above. The key to the success of these facilities is to build them connected to the community, to the gathering spaces nearby, and to the parks systems. Cultural and other facilities that the community gathers should not be built in isolation. We know that when we carefully connect arts and recreation facilities to gathering spaces and to the park system and trails, we create opportunities to form new connections with one another and create economic prosperity. We must build Red Deer in ways that have the greatest power to improve quality of life for all people.
I don’t support building a new City Hall at this time. If we need to rent a space for a while, that is acceptable to me. I don’t believe that the City capital budget has the capacity for this project on the heels of the City Yards expansion. As always, I would wish to do some priority setting work with the community. What I’m hearing now leads me to believe that this project would not come out on top. If we need to expand immediately, there are empty buildings in the downtown in which the City could easily lease space.
Snow removal is a much more complex issue than has been discussed this election campaign. It’s not just a matter of having a reserve set aside for heavy snow fall periods. We could do that easily. But, where do we get the personnel to respond quickly to community need? Do we hire them full time? Do we have other work for them to do in parks during other times of the year? Can we contract snow removal out? Is there a company that has the capacity to respond as quickly as we need? Where do we put the snow that we remove? Then there is the question about the amount of equipment we will need, including storage and maintenance. Each question and decision will impact the budget. What level of service does the community want? What do we sacrifice to improve this service, or is it acceptable to raise taxes for this? Do we all want the same thing? Is there some way that citizens can help during extreme circumstances?
Citizens should know that if someone in their household has mobility or health issues, they may call the City and their street will be given priority.
During the public open house for the budget 2010 many people looked at the budget numbers for items related to infrastructure. Many commented that there were few people-centred projects but a lot of road and infrastructure projects. I would like to wait on this ring road project until we have completed the transportation study currently underway and more clearly understand the community’s wishes. This is a 91 million dollar project. I’ve heard many community needs for roads and otherwise, and this has not once come up as an immediate priority.
I believe we need the “Advanced Life Support” ambulance service. I’ve had conversations with the firefighters about this issue and believe that their wisdom prevails over that of the province. We know best what to do in our own community. I believe that we should resist, whenever possible, thinking that is imposed from afar. This community believes that the wisdom of the community exists within us as we work together.
We have very highly skilled people that can respond to emergencies. I think it would be a mistake to split the service into two parts. I’m very proud of the work that our firefighters and paramedics do.
City Council has a right and obligation to review the entire budget and process. However, it’s best if they don’t get bogged down in the details. City Council needs to set the direction and the priorities based on public input, it’s up to the City Manager and staff to figure out how to make it work. If we choose a budget with no increases, or smaller increases than are being proposed then it’s up to the staff to make that a reality. We should not be confusing the roles of Council with that of management.
I attended the public open house where the 2010 budget was presented and feedback sought. I provided my feedback as part of that process. I look forward to working within the budgeting process if elected, both now and in the future my focus will be to listen to the community and to understand the community’s priorities and to make sure that the budget reflects those priorities.
Many times I’ve spoken at length with the Mayor, City Manager, City Councillors, and staff about issues and concerns in our community. I’ve attended a number of City Council meetings throughout this year and other public committee meetings. I’ve also participated in a number of public input sessions on a variety of topics, ranging from the budget priorities, to the environment, to various infrastructure and renewal projects.
As a experienced business owner I know that debt is an important tool for a successful business. When one takes on debt, the decision must be made based on payback through equity and/or revenues. If the equation makes good business and community sense then debt is appropriate. Not all debt is bad and it’s unhelpful to frame debt as bad. Debt helped us build the Centrium, and many other cherished community spaces, for example. No one would say that the economic benefits of the Centrium were outweighed by the debt load.
Planned reserves are another important tool.
A opportunity was lost several years ago when the Council of the day had the opportunity to begin saving for important projects like those that we are facing now. Debentures came due, mortgages were paid out, instead of saving at least some of the surplus money in the budgets those years the council choose to reduce taxes. Although I appreciate the intent was good, there must have been a way to reduce taxes slightly or have a zero increase, and begin to build reserves for future times.
In recent years the City has been faced with a number of major infrastructure upgrades that needed to be funded. No reserves were available, grants and debt were the only options. We must always consider ways to build reserve funds for future projects so that we can meet the needs of the community without taking on excess debt. At the same time we mustn’t build reserve funds which are too large; that would also be fiscally irresponsible. There should always be a balance between healthy reserves, healthy debt, and appropriate taxation, while we handle community need.
Currently our debt load is within provincial guidelines. We are borrowing at very low interest rates which makes it a good time to borrow. Building costs are returning to normal, which makes it a good time to build. In the past we’ve needed to borrow when rates were much higher.
There are two ways to balance a budget. Either reduce expenses or increase revenue. While we hold expenses steady, we need to find ways to increase the revenue, not through increasing taxes.
By increasing the density of the community we can achieve growth in our tax base without increasing expenses or debt unnecessarily. It’s about doing better with the resources we have. We must also look for new grant funding to build some of the amenities we desire. Private and public money may be available for the right projects, particularly as we think about promoting tourism and building with low environmental impact. We must encourage, through a well thought out incentive program, the development of new business and higher density housing on our vacant land. We must find ways for the abandoned buildings and environmental sites (brownfields, ie: old gas stations) to contribute to the tax base.
Debt is not the only solution but it’s one that could help us, when employed with other tools, to invest in this community to provide better opportunities for healthy growth and quality of life.
I’ve been asked many times by members of this community to run for City Council. The timing hasn’t been right until this year. I feel that now the time is right for me to continue my work for the City of Red Deer as an elected representative of this great community. I’ve served this community for 20 years in various capacities in both business and in the not-for-profit. I believe that I can be much more effective for our community from within local government. I’ve been pushing from the outside, now it’s time to pull from the inside.
Immediate work:
•Protect green and natural spaces, including establishing excellence in water stewardship.
What would you have done, if anything, to protect the 3-Mile Bend park/green space and prevent the Civic Yards from ripping out our trees and trails in that area?
Tristina, it’s a great question. I’m not sure how I would have protected that space if I had been part of the discussion. What I do know is that the land that the City built on wasn’t actually part of the Three Mile Bend, but was owned privately. They had to buy that land for the yards. There is an environmental open house this Tuesday evening at the Yards. I hope that you’ll go to it and share your thinking for future developments and what can be done for environmental protection. Paul.