Mayoral candidate John Rodriguez promised if he is elected he will lobby the federal government to commit to its share to the Maley Drive extension within his first six months in office.
“During my time as mayor, I developed a good relationship with one of the key persons in the federal cabinet – Tony Clement,” Rodriguez said at a campaign announcement, in which he outlined his plans for his first six months in office.
Rodriguez said he will arrange a meeting with Clement, president of the Treasury Board, to secure the federal government's one-third share of the $125-million Maley Drive extension.
But he said his first priority, if elected, will be to meet with council to develop a four-year blueprint for the city, and to bring local developers and investors to the table, with city staff, to plan out how the city can grow and improve.
“We can do that within days,” Rodriguez said.
In his press conference Wednesday, Rodriguez reserved most of his criticism for former auditor general Brian Bigger, who has led the polls since late September.
“When a candidate for mayor says he's going to freeze taxes for a year, then he owes it to the voters to tell us where he will find the $13 million to be able to do that,” Rodriguez said, referencing Bigger's campaign promises. “I was there. I know how difficult it is to find $1 million in the budget. You can't do it without cutting back services, increasing user fees, or wiping out jobs.”
Another early priority for Rodriguez, he said, is the state of the city's roads.
He said 12 years of tax freezes have left a legacy of roads in need of rehabilitation throughout the city.
Rodriguez said he agrees with Dan Melanson's suggestion that the city could sell municipal bonds to cover infrastructure improvements, but added the province and federal government should commit to paying their shares first.
“I'm hoping there will be moneys set aside (from the federal government) for another Build Canada attack on infrastructure,” Rodriguez said.
In his final platform announcement before the election, Rodriguez also made commitments to meet with the province, Greater Sudbury Utilities and Hydro One to acquire the latter's Sudbury assets.
“One city, one hydro,” he said.
When Rodriguez was mayor of Sudbury, from 2006 to 2010, Hydro One's assets in Greater Sudbury were assessed at $81 million.