Letter: Many questions as new council starts term

Editor’s note: Mike Bleskie was one of the candidates who ran to become councillor for Ward 11 in the recent municipal elections.
With the first substantial city council meeting behind us, and an item or two off of the bucket list for this term, now is the perfect opportunity to really stop and think about what we are moving forward with.

Forethought is important. If we had forethought, maybe we would not be in the current scenario of a massive infrastructure deficit, or maybe we would have been able to muster up the courage to stop the bleeding the theft of ticket sales created in the transit department.

So, what is there to look at? For starters, are we truly ready to take on the Maley Drive project, with all of the uncertainty from above?

Are we ready to revisit the Sudbury Arena situation now that we have some time to make an educated decision at the table? How will roles change as we bring increased scrutiny to the actions of councillors and staff?

Of course, my favourite is, “Can we eat the cost of a zero-per-cent tax increase without cutting services?” Mayor Bigger’s lofty goal seems rather important to consider, especially with the many factors that are involved.

Given the city’s tumultuous relationship with such increases, are we looking at similar repercussions after even one halt? Will there be enough efficiencies in the budget to make it work? And looking at Councillor Kirwan’s concerns, how does the user fee increase play into all of this?

Of course, the current course of action can always end up being the best one, but it was the lack of questions that got our city in an organizational mess in the first place. New questions deserve some sober thought.

Mike Bleskie
Sudbury