John Rodriguez said the citizens of Greater Sudbury have sent a clear message they want a strong and vocal leader in the mayor's chair, and he's going to give them what they want.
After beating incumbent David Courtemanche in Monday's municipal election, the former Nickel Belt MPP, who served more than 19 years in Ottawa, said he's thrilled to have received such an overwhelming mandate to lead this community.
Rodriguez, 69, received 28,419 votes or 52 percent of the popular vote, compared to the 16,600 votes for Courtemanche, who received 30.3 percent of the popular vote. Current city councillor Lynne Reynolds finished a distant third with 8,996 votes, which was 16.4 percent of the popular vote.
"I've been there and I know the landscape" of how to exert influence with the provincial and federal governments to bring programs and funding to Greater Sudbury, said Rodriguez.
"I believe I've been given a great mandate by the citizens...I put my platform before the people and more than 50 percent agreed with what I had to say," he said.
Promising to work closely with his new council, Rodriguez made it clear he will be in charge of running the new city, and will no longer recommend or accept senior management making what he calls far too many important decisions that were too often rubberstamped by councillors.
"I'm the one now driving this bus...I'm the leader" said Rodriguez, who received several rousing standing ovations from about 300 supporters during his victory speech Monday evening at the Steel Hall.
"I'm more than willing to work with the councillors...but the leadership that's been missing will come from the mayor."
Rodriguez said he will show leadership by telling citizens exactly what he wants to do to bring jobs and economic prosperity to this community. He will then meet with people of influence, such as Sudbury MP Diane Marleau, Nickel Belt MPP Shelley Martel and Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci, and go to Queen's Park with detailed plans to ensure the provincial government hears clearly what this community has to say.
"I will follow the money, follow the money...and the money flows from Queen's Park," he said.
Rodriguez said three of his best qualities are insistence, persistence and being consistent and those are the qualities a mayor needs to make good decisions and ensure there are good results with power brokers at the provincial and federal level.
One area he will concentrate on is working with mining companies and the provincial government to see this community gets a larger share of the huge profits being realized by the mining giants, who he claims pay the province in excess of $100 million in annual taxes.
Much more of that money should be staying right here in Greater Sudbury, he said.
He also supports building a modern performing arts centre and will continue to work to reduc problems with homelessness.
He's pleased several new people were elected to city council Monday, which he believes will make for a nice mix of seasoned veterans and "new blood with new ideas and new energy."
Rodriguez only smiled when asked whether his age would hinder his ability to do the job.
He pointed out Hazel McCallion, the exceptionally popular mayor of Mississauga, was re-elected Monday and will turn 90 during the next term, yet she's considered one of Ontario's most popular and effective mayors.
"I will be judged on my energy level and ability to do the job" and age won't play any factor as he's in extremely good health and still plans on acting as a volunteer volleyball coach, said Rodriguez.
Former mayor Jim Gordon, who assisted Rodriguez during the long municipal campaign, said the electorate have selected a man who is passionate, dedicated and committed to this community.
He called Rodriguez an "excellent listener who's not threatened by people with different ideas" and one who will build consensus around the council table to make big changes to move this city forward.
Gordon said he only got involved in Rodriguez's campaign because so many citizens told him how unhappy they were with Courtemanche's leadership.
He called Courtemanche "a wonderful guy, a really nice man", but one who he never felt was comfortable in leading a progressive community like Greater Sudbury.
Citizens want a more vocal, powerful leader who will not remain quiet and will push senior levels of government to give this community a much larger share of the resource revenues that leave here each year, said Gordon.
"John Rodriguez is a man of principal...and right now Sudbury needs his type of leadership," he said.
Rodriguez thanked Gordon and his entire campaign team for doing a wonderful job and working so hard over the past several weeks.
He particularly thanked his wife Bertilla, who he's been married to for 45 years, and his five sons for their endless support and encouragement.
Rodriguez quoted the late Tommy Douglas during his victory speech who told him way back in 1972, when Rodriguez was a rookie MPP at Queen's Park, good leaders should not be afraid to make mistakes.
"He said 'John if you are not making mistakes, then you are not making decisions'."
