Letter: No matter who’s elected, change is needed

Regardless of who is elected as mayor or councillor Oct. 27, is it important for these individuals to recognize that is should not be business as usual at Tom Davies Square.

With polls and surveys showing the majority of citizens are distrustful of city hall and unhappy with level of service provided and the way dollars are spent, change is necessary.

Would it not make sense to look to other communities where citizen satisfaction is high to see how this is achieved?

Perhaps a careful examination of how Windsor, with about the same population, manages to generate a high level of citizen approval, perhaps because there has been no tax increase for the past six years while maintaining and enhancing infrastructure and building new recreational and library facilities.

It might be a good idea to take a look at Kawartha Lakes, about the same physical size as Greater Sudbury, where they are engaged in a performance-based management system that in just the initial stages in the first year has produced more than $3 million in savings, and according to the mayor, “process management is changing the culture and way in which our organization operates.”

There must be other good examples from which we could learn and apply practices and solutions to our own situation.

For too long, we have been myopic in the operation of our civic government. We have the opportunity to change for the better. Let us not miss this opportunity by electing those with the courage and vision to make it happen.

John Lindsay
chair, Friendly to Seniors Sudbury