Your ultimate election guide: 6 Saskatoon mayoral candidates, 5 hot topics
Contenders weigh in on property taxes, downtown safety, BRT, COVID-19 and a new library
On Monday, voters in Saskatoon's civic election will have their last chance to cast their ballots for the next mayor of the city.
Don Atchison, Charlie Clark, Rob Norris, Zubair Sheikh, Cary Tarasoff and Mark Zielke have participated in a fair share of debates and forums in the last two months.
Their last was conducted by Saskatoon Morning host Leisha Grebinski earlier this week, with candidates taking questions on a host of hot button issues.
Below, we've compiled their responses to questions about property taxes, COVID-19, downtown safety, a new library and a proposed bus-rapid-transit service.
Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Their responses have been edited and shortened for clarity and brevity.
Links to candidates full platforms can be found here:
Video and audio from the Saskatoon Morning's two-day forum can be found below.
1. Property taxes
Question: What do you plan to do with property taxes?
Don Atchison: "No increase in 2021. We're going to defer the landfill [replacement reserve] for the upcoming year. The next part is the $19-million low emissions community plan. We're not going to be doing that. The bus-rapid-transit [BRT] is also another area. Hard and difficult decisions have to be made, and it's easy just to pass the buck and increase taxes."
Charlie Clark: "Budgeting is tough. Anybody who's promising a one per cent or a zero per cent property tax increase needs to come up with $7 million or $9 million dollars of reductions in service, or they are deferring those costs on to 2022, which is outside of the election promise cycle here. I have never promised something that I can't deliver on when it comes to property taxes."
Rob Norris: "A one per cent property tax increase [in 2021]. There are savings that we can find in fuel. We can find savings from delaying and pressing pause on BRT (Bus Rapid Transit). I'm willing to see the mayor's salary reduced by 10 per cent, the chief of staff's salary reduced by 10 per cent, the communications budget in the mayor's office reduced by 10 per cent."
Zubair Sheikh: He has previously promised a zero per cent tax increase in 2021.
"We have to spend wisely. We should learn to live in our [means]. The city should not be trying to own each and every project. There should be a private public partnership or investments from the private sector."
Cary Tarasoff: He has previously said he can't promise to cut taxes right now.
"I know people are suffering and they may not even be able to make their taxes this year. But we're million of dollars in debt. So even if I cut property tax increase for next year, it wouldn't make up the difference in the next period. It would be for the moment. I want to hold on to every dollar we can."
Mark Zielke: "My plan is to rationalize every budget line item and then articulate clearly to the taxpayers of Saskatoon where we need to go from there. Nobody wants taxes to go up but we do have significant issues when it comes to infrastructure. I'm going to be looking for every ounce of tax savings, but also to make sure that we're not cutting anything that we desperately need."
2. Businesses hit by COVID-19
Question: What could you do as mayor to help businesses and organizations struggling with the pandemic?
Don Atchison: "Some businesses are paying anywhere from $50,000 to $65,000 dollars a month in property tax. We need to find a way that they are able to make those payments. This is going to have to extend over a three- to 10-year period. They need certainty and stability that we're going to be able to work out proper payment schedules for them."
Charlie Clark: "We've very quickly acted to have a property tax and utility deferral program in place. There are certain businesses and certain sectors that are facing significant ongoing challenges. Especially in the hospitality industry, we need to continue to talk, listen, engage and be adaptive to provide the relief in terms of payment programs. I've also proposed free parking on Saturdays and funds to be able to get people into an animating business improvement districts."
Rob Norris: "There's a $15 million dollar fund for vehicle replacement. Let's take a third of that, let's put it toward arts, culture, sports and recreational organisations. They'll have an option of whether they'll take a cheque or whether they'll be able to take a property tax relie. If it means that we don't have as many Ford F-150s for a couple of years, that's what families are having to do."
Zubair Sheikh: "This is an international situation. We are not something special. But luckily and with the good restrictions and good following of the public health authorities, we are on the lowest level of this pandemic. I believe that it's going to go away. The vaccine [is] going to come and the economic situation will open up for businesses."
Cary Tarasoff: Due to time constraints, Tarasoff was not asked this question. But Tarasoff previously outlined a number of potential measures, including:
- "Adjusting business licensing regulations to make it easier for business to change focus, to expand and to move to new locations."
- "Allowing hurt businesses an extended grace period to pay outstanding taxes with proof of financial hardship (not applicable to businesses thriving in this pandemic)."
- "Working to see if a bulk purchase agreement of CoVID personal protective equipment can be established to help with the economy of scale so that small businesses can buy in on the purchasing power of larger combined business efforts, including the City of Saskatoon."
Mark Zielke: "Flexibility and reform with zoning and streamlined and reform process when it comes to tax appeals. Also, when it comes to bylaws and opening up opportunities for business, creating certainty, taking away predatory taxes such as a business license fees that are predicated upon the fact that some businesses may be profitable."
3. Downtown safety
Question: Some people have raised issues about downtown Saskatoon feeling unsafe. Is it unsafe? And what would you do to make people feel safe?
Don Atchison: "Perception is reality. If people don't feel safe, it's not safe for them. We need to have more officers on the street. We need to talk about having a new home for [The Lighthouse shelter for vulnerable people] — not in downtown Saskatoon. [We need to] divide the different categories [of service] up. There's too many [people] all congregated together and we need me to be able to split them up so that they, in fact, can have a reasonable life. When you lock the doors at 9 a.m. and you can't come back until 5 p.m., Mother Nature calls, and it's not it's not a good thing for anyone in our community."
Charlie Clark: "I have been working hard on these issues for the last four years. The system is currently failing our residents, it's failing our downtown, it's failing people who need mental health and addiction services. We can come up with a solution for homelessness and for the shelters in The Lighthouse that is better for clients and people who need those services and for downtown businesses. The Sawēyihotān partnership that we have developed with the Saskatoon Tribal Council and Ministry of Social Services, police and the inter-agency Safe Community Action Alliance is an important paradigm-shifting step in that direction. But we need strong leadership that builds trust and partnerships."
Rob Norris: "This is a real issue and it spreads well beyond downtown. I'm standing shoulder to shoulder with the police. I think it's time for an effective lobby. We haven't seen that, thus far, for additional resources for Police and Crisis Teams (PACT). The second piece is moving forward with the [safe consumption site] pilot project. Again, the current mayor was unable to secure sufficient resources on the safe consumption site. Finally, I'm suggesting that it's time for a blue ribbon panel. The era of The Lighthouse has come to an end. Let's get the best advice."
Zubair Sheikh: "We have to clean it up. We have to sit down with the businesspeople over there and listen to them, try to understand what they need. [The Lighthouse] has to be addressed on a priority basis. It has to break down in different groups [requiring services] and be taken away in a different location, in a safer location where they are safe, the downtown people are safe, and the businesses. There will be more CCTV cameras, more police patrolling. That's why I said there should be no compromise on the police budget."
Cary Tarasoff: "For sure we have a safety problem. We have a very multi-dynamic situation going on there right now because there's mental health, there's addictions, there's extreme poverty, homelessness and then perception. If you see a wrong person go by you, you're just all of a sudden fearful and they may just be a poor person going by you. We need to decompress the Lighthouse. We're not giving [clients] enough support and we need to separate the ones quickly that we can help in a faster way, like homeless people that just need a place to live and maybe a job and get them out of there and work in stages. Anybody who says they're just going to move it right away, I'd say, where are you moving it to and which neighborhood of the city?"
Mark Zielke: "We have more addictions issues, we have more homelessness and poverty than I've ever seen before. That's why I'm very critical of the current mayor for not dealing with those issues. A big deal is is compartmentalizing, breaking up into five groups, The Lighthouse, for example. We don't need to put people who are trying to overcome mental health issues or addictions challenges or homelessness all in one room together. I also don't agree with just putting millions and millions of dollars extra into a police budget when in fact, it's obviously not working on our streets."
4. The library
Question: Do you support plans for a new $134 million downtown library that was approved by the mayor and council?
Don Atchison: "We don't even know whether or not we can do anything about [that approval]. City council missed the golden opportunity to ask the city solicitor and the city clerk that question. There are a lot of other avenues [to develop the library]. It could be co-developed. It could be a lease. It could be a lease to purchase. You could also have a residential tower on top or a commercial tower on top. You could have commercial retail on the on the main floor."
Charlie Clark: "Any proposal to shelve the library project at this point is going to cost them more money. Council has made a decision. I agreed when we debated that the cost was high and that the project could be done at a lower amount. That is why we approved a $20 million reduced amount for them to borrow. Any mayor that wants to come in and try and rescind the decision is going to bring a world of hurt to the city. Lawsuits, additional costs. Whether you like the project or not is no longer the discussion. We're in the middle of a pandemic. What a distraction from the real work that needs to be done."
Rob Norris: "No. We're talking about $67.5 million dollars of debt, put on the shoulders of hardworking people. City council missed an opportunity to talk about a multi-use facility. We need to shelve this project. We need to ask critical questions like, how can Halifax, Guelph and Kitchener have libraries for between $50 million and $70 million dollars and Saskatoon, well, taxpayers are being asked to to go almost double that. We need to make sure that we get those dollars back."
Zubair Sheikh: "No, not at all, because right now we are in this pandemic and every businesses and people are struggling to cope with their financial needs. The city should put a pause on that funding. Libraries are always in your cell phone and in your laptops and everywhere else. So this much money spending on the library is not a wise decision. When you have these kinds of megaprojects, then you spend every year for their maintenance — millions of dollars to keep them in good shape."
Cary Tarasoff: "Not as it currently stands. I don't want the debt during a pandemic. People are desperate. Charlie Clark had a forum in 2019 which specifically said single-use structures don't suit the public good, and yet he still breached that to go ahead with this. They did the [library] debate so fast, and they've spent multiple meetings talking about fire pits. I want to stop the debt taking and I don't want to release a bunch of extra money out of our bank account just to put it into the library's bank account for holding."
Mark Zielke: "I personally would look at the project later on. Listen, I'm somebody who used the library pre-COVID almost every day. It's where I do a lot of advocacy work. So I understand what the library provides. I just don't agree with the project in the sense of building another monastery right now rather than actually looking at how we can make it affordable and also make it possible to actually serve the people it's supposed to serve."
5. Bus-rapid-transit (BRT)
Question: Do you support the bus rapid transit system that the city has planned for 2025?
Don Atchison: "Not at all. I support a high frequency bus service instead. The notion that [the BRT is] going to be $120 million is totally inaccurate. Go to Mississauga News. You'll find that it was $528 million. London, Ontario, was $500 million. They bought land in Ontario. We've got overpasses here. We haven't even talked about autonomous vehicles and how that's going to affect things. The pandemic, how is that going to change people? Are people to be working from home instead?"
Charlie Clark: "Yeah. The transit systems that have been proposed in London and cities in Ontario are very different than what is being talked about here. This is one of the projects that will help stimulate jobs in our community. We don't want to leave federal and provincial money on the table by not making progress on BRT. Our bus service provided over four million rides in 2019. Service went up by 12 per cent. And as the city grows, we're not going to be able to expand 8th Street, 22nd Street, Attridge Drive to add more vehicle lanes."
Rob Norris: "Now's the time to press pause on the BRT. Let's understand what the effects of it or even some of the consequences regarding the BRT [that] I don't think were really addressed at an engineering level. The notion of dozens of buses a day running down Broadway Avenue — I would like to see the engineering reports for that. What we can't do is literally have the tar pounded out of Broadway because it's not suitable for the BRT."
Zubairt Sheikh: "For any economically growing city, the bus-rapid-transit is very essential. We have to commute and transport people from one place to another. This is a project which is with the federal and provincial government grants. We should not be turning it down."
Cary Tarasoff: "They keep saying that it's [around] $110 million, except they negate to say what we have to contribute to get that money. That [federal fund eyed for Saskatoon BRT money] can do a lot more things, like recreation. We can improve our bus service predictive model. We can put in bus shelters. We can make regular bus service, your schedule, a regular service so that, at least on a given day, you always know at a certain time there for sure will be a bus and then maybe more density in between. Right now people can't get to their jobs."
Mark Zielke: "Not in this current way. There are some significant flaws with that. I think the numbers don't make sense. It needs to be rationalized."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
with files from Leisha Grebinski and Saskatoon Morning