My ‘At-Large’ debate notes

Last night, I attended the ‘At-Large’ debate. I also took some notes on each candidate as the spoke. Here are my observations:

Albert Vincent

While I didn’t know him before, I know him now. He seems to enjoy mocking our of our democratic system. He was frequently confused, not interested in answering questions, completely incompetent, and he only seems to be running for something to do. This man really does make our entire system look like one big joke.There were too many strange comments to list, but one really weird one was when he started yelling about a liquor tax. Enough said.

Rick Mantle

This slick former radio show host offered little in the way of new ideas or approaches. He seemed to enjoy slamming the current council. He would also randomly insert the words “LNG” into his sentences. CUPE corner seemed to enjoy it; however, most people were looking for more information on what he would to do if elected.

• On assessments, he wants to reduce taxes.
• On water, he is NOT open to looking at all options.
• On consultation, he says it’s important that the public be informed.
• On priorities, he says it’s up to the citizens.
• On yearly performance reviews, he said that he is against an Auditor General.
• On department audits, he says reviews and audits go hand-in-hand.
• On affordable housing, he says it’s not an easy task. He wants to work with other levels of government.
• On big projects, he asked what can we afford to do. He read a statement saying if we do everything, we will have to pay $221 million dollars and the tax rate will go up 14 cents.
• On recreation, he mentioned a previous report. He stressed the need to maintain what we have.
• On city boards, he says that he likes the new committee system.
• On population, he says there isn’t anything uptown. Says there are too many parking lots.
• On the zoo, he made a strange statement about moving the zoo into Rockwood Park.
• On city services, he wants to restore cuts to the fire and police departments.

Anne Marie Mullin

The newspaper made a reference to her making French statements; however, she really only said a few words in French in the beginning and at the end. Her closing remarks were completely read off a sheet of paper, and she never looked up at the crowd while reading it.

• On assessments, she says we need to work hard and was not in favor of cutting services.
• On water, she played to CUPE corner, and yelled out “not for sale”. She is NOT in favor of looking at all options. She also says we need money for treatment plants.
• On consultation, she told us how much she did for North of Union. She also says she went to most of those meetings.
• On priorities, she says accountability and transparency.
• On yearly performance reviews, she says they make employees feel good.
• On department audits, she agrees with the idea when necessary. She says people aren’t aware.
• On affordable housing, she says we need mixed housing. Says the city needs a plan for the North and South.
• On recreation, she made weird comments. She emphasizes recreation for seniors. She says she spoke with a “couple people” and determined that it’s a priority. She says too many people are “watching computers”. She closed by asking the crowd, “what ever happened to that skate park?”.
• On city boards, she says people need to apply. She did and got a position.
• On population, she said that she lives uptown and then she told a story about an ice rink.
• On the zoo, she made a weird statement about how positive it was that the monkey, April, was stolen and made national news.
• On city services, she says there isn’t good enough bus service for Martinon and Lorneville. She also called the new transit building, a “bus farm”.

Chris Titus

Chris was well spoken for most of the answers (mostly because he read nearly everything off sheets of paper); however, he did come off as indifferent to many of the concerns expressed in the questions.

• On assessments, he says that people need a plan, you can’t just say a number for the tax rate.
• On water, he was open to looking at all options.
• On consultation, he says that electing people puts them in a leadership role to make the choices
• On priorities, his number one priority was safe, clean, drinking water.
• On yearly performance reviews, he said that we do it already.
• On department audits, he says yes, on a regular basis.
• On affordable housing, he says we need to keep lobbying for it.
• On big projects, he says the city needs to prioritize what he wants to do, it can’t simply build everything it wants in four years.
• On recreation, he spoke about the need for maintenance to prevent deterioration.
• On city boards, he says the process in place is working
• On population, he stressed the need to bring people into the entire city, not just uptown.
• On the zoo, he suggested going to the outlying communities for funding.
• On city services, he identified transit as his top issue. He talked about the savings from taking cars off the road.

Danny Jardine

Danny spoke well, and he brought forward a lot of new ideas. He stayed away from solely criticizing the previous council, instead focusing on the next four years.

• On assessments, he says taxes need to be reduced. He brought up Halifax as an example of a possible solution for our city.
• On water, he is NOT open to looking at all options.
• On consultation, he says it is one of his key action items. He wants to have more town hall meetings. He says this is very important to him.
• On priorities, he says it’s up to the citizens.
• On yearly performance reviews, he stressed that we need benchmarks.
• On department audits, he says we need the best bang for our buck. He says city works are doing fine; but, the issues are with the management.
• On affordable housing, he says it’s his day job. Says 1103 people need affordable housing. Says that a boom will rise current rates.
• On big projects, he says he wants to ask the public for priorities on projects.
• On recreation, he brought up private public partnerships.
• On city boards, he says we need more diversity. He says groups that apply for funding should have to prove diversity. He also said that the city isn’t acting on reports from boards.
• On population, he says we need to make uptown more vibrant. Says groups like Fusion Saint John are making a difference.
• On the zoo, he says it brings people to the city. He says he needs to consult with the community to make sure it’s a priority.
• On city services, he says his main priority is sidewalks. He says there is a large return on this investment.

Stephen Chase

Stephen did a great job at presenting his ideas to the crowd. He only got better after a certain group in the crowd started yelling from the shadows. He was very consistent in his message to the taxpayers – that he was looking out for them in all decisions.

• On assessments, he proposed the idea of having an Auditor General, to ensure that council is spending the taxpayers money in a proper manner.
• On water, he says that we need to look at all options available. He says that we need to pick the one the best model and ensure that the taxpayers can afford it.
• On consultation, he says he is completely against closed door meetings. He says the first step to resolving the existing issues are to have sessions in the open.
• On priorities, he says that safe, clean drinking water is his main priority.
• On yearly performance reviews, he says he is in favor. He also mentioned that an Auditor General would help ensure that standards are being met and taxpayers money is being spent properly.
• On department audits, he says yes and that he has been consistent on this issue. He says citizens deserve the best value for their dollar.
• On affordable housing, he says we need more affordable housing. He says the Federal government recently made cuts. He says we need to lobby them to start the funding again.
• On big projects, he says people can’t afford more taxes. He says he made a motion on how to deliver city services more effectively.
• On recreation, he says he has two actions. One is to put out a call for proposals from the private sector. Two is to lobby the other levels of government for more funding.
• On city boards, he says these boards need to be citizen represented.
• On population, he says we need more people, making the city more affordable and attractive will help with this.
• On the zoo, he supports the zoo; however, he needs to know where the money is coming from. Suggests by saving money in service delivery, through efficiencies, we can put more towards other things such as the zoo.
• On city services, he says the main priority is road maintenances (potholes and snow removal). He says we need efficient service, need to look at all options, and select the one that citizens want and can afford.