jvierimaa

Retiree protesting new bus routes urges council candidates to ride Sault Transit

SooToday

The best decisions are made by listening to the people who rely on a service every day, not just by reading city reports. Council should review the new transit system and make improvements where needed. Hopefully, the next Council will take a fresh look at this issue, listen to transit users, and make the practical changes needed to ensure the system works better for everyone.

- jvierimaa

Does the Sault need a deputy mayor?

SooToday

The city does not need to create a permanent Deputy Mayor position. For years, the city has operated effectively using the current rotating acting Mayor system.Instead, Council should be asking why it has "experienced regular occasions where the mayor has been unable to participate in council proceedings due to declared conflicts of interest." If the mayor is so frequently unavailable because of outside professional commitments, conflicts of interest, or other obligations that Council now believes a permanent second-in-command is necessary, then perhaps the real discussion should be whether the role of mayor should be treated as a full-time position rather than a part-time one. Both Thunder Bay and Sarnia, communities with populations comparable to or larger than us, do not have permanent Deputy Mayor.

- jvierimaa

Retiree protesting new bus routes urges council candidates to ride Sault Transit

SooToday

!@# I'm not assuming anything. I'm saying that Council has a responsibility to evaluate whether the new system is actually meeting the needs of the people who use it.Yes, there was a consultation process, but consultation doesn't end once a decision is made. If a significant number of riders are experiencing problems, Council should be willing to review the results and make adjustments where necessary.I've knocked on a lot of doors this summer and spoken with seniors, students, and transit users. The consistent concern is that trips take longer, transfers are more complicated, and the system is harder to navigate than before. Those are the experiences residents are sharing with me. Go out to the doors and listen.

- jvierimaa

City council commits $15 million to Port of Algoma

SooToday

This is the long term thinking SSM needs if we want to build an economy that works not just for today, but for the next generation.Council did not just write a $15 million cheque. The city's contribution is entirely conditional on the feds and provincial governments stepping up with the overwhelming majority of the funding. If senior governments do not support the project, the city does not spend the money.It is also important to understand that the city's contribution does not have to be straight cash from taxpayers. The resolution specifically allows for a mix of options including land contributions or infrastructure improvements.For a project expected to create up to 1,800 construction jobs and more than 2,400 long-term industrial and logistics jobs, this is a reasonable investment to attract hundreds of millions in outside funding and private sector investment.SSM has depended heavily on a small number of major employers. Diversifying our economy is essential!

- jvierimaa

Does the Sault need a deputy mayor?

SooToday

@!@# No one is saying the mayor doesn't work hard. But the report doesn't cite vacations, family commitments, or illness as the reason for this proposal. It specifically states that the mayor has been unable to participate in council proceedings due to declared conflicts of interest. That's a very different issue.If conflicts of interest and outside professional obligations are occurring so frequently that Council believes a permanent Deputy Mayor is needed, then perhaps the real discussion should be whether the mayor's position should be treated and compensated as a part-time role rather than a full-time one. Taxpayers shouldn't be paying a full-time mayor's salary if the Mayor's legal career is regularly preventing him from carrying out the duties of the office. Maybe the answer isn't creating a permanent Deputy Mayor at all. Maybe it's recognizing that being Mayor should be your full-time job, not a side hustle.

- jvierimaa