Every day this week we are featuring platform highlights from the Ward Councillor candidates in the upcoming election. Our stations have reached out to each Councillor candidate to outline their platform for listeners. This is Ward 4 Councillor candidate David Gerald Shale’s submitted platform.

My wife and I moved to Timmins in 1988 as newlyweds. At the same Time we purchased the Palmour Tavern. WE have lived in Porcupine for 30yrs. WE continue to work and invest in the city. I am also and Aircraft maintenance engineer and pilot.  Our children live and work in the Timmins. That is one of the reasons that I have decided to run for council. So they can continue live and work in a vibrant city. I  can  bring a business perspective to council with the ability to make the tough choices that will be necessary to gain back control of city finances. 

 

I will not only the councillor for ward 4 but for all of Timmins.

 Crime in the city seems to  be escalating. I suggest the installing of more cameras with volunteer monitoring so police can spent more time on the streets.

WE have lost two of our three banks in the east end. IF you want to see a doctor, lawyer, bank you go downtown.

Downtown Timmins must be more than a parking cash cow for the city. The number one  complaint I hear is parking tickets in the downtown and lack of parking on third and pine. WE need longer meter times and lower parking rates off the downtown to entice employees to park in those area and leave the downtown spots for shoppers.

If we want development in Timmins we must reduce red Tape at city hall.

 THIS REQUIRES THE HIRING OF LOCAL Contractors for city work. Lets keep your neighbours working.
A return to weekly Council meetings and the committee system so council knows what administration is up to. (i.e. The  attempted sale of Bobs Lake Park) I sometime think the bureaucrats at city hall have lost site that they are there to serve the city of Timmins residents not the other way around.

 The city is the largest employer in the city at around 950. The city tax base and population are  decreasing. The size of city government  must reflect this reality. An immediate hiring freeze is needed. Not only are our taxes high but so are the fees charged. If you drove the roads here, we cant promise a tax freeze but we can certainly freeze any increase in fees

 

There is a  need to get control of the capital projects in this city.

 WE have all seen the major cost overruns with the matagami river treatment plant and the fiasco just outside the door by going out of town. Speaking of screw ups. WE need to get control of the capital projects in this city. A constant stream of over-budget and unforeseen problems we cannot afford\ i.e.

20 million matagami river sewage plant

4 million for the infamous type o  and the triple paving of the connecting link.

2 million dollars on fire hall we did not  need and know is with in 1 km of the other east end fire hall

750k + over budget on the Whitney public works yard

now i hear we are at 450k on a 150k budget for the  SERVICE TIMMINS RENO

And then there is the infamous 2.2 million on stares and thunder and

1.5 million on plans for a pool we cant afford

 

THE CITY HAS A $80,000,000 DEBT AND GROWING.

 

Ward 4 is the largest riding and very much a rural riding. Most of the complaints I hear are the taxes paid for the services received. Many residents live over 45kms from the city centre. A review of this discrepancy is warranted. The province needs to take back the connecting link roads, The timmins taxpayers are unable to support these many kilometres of rural  highways.

Since the city is unable to provide adequate services a propose a rural tax rate reduction for the outlying regions.

 

The porcupine lake dumping and the east end  pumping stations has turned into a multi million dollar boondoggle  cost overruns that must be budgeted for an addressed.

This is a Ward 4 priority.

Bobs lake lagoon rehab.

Porcupine lake clean up

I will bring a small businessman’s perspective to city government. We watch every dollar. The city administration must be put on a spending diet. Every dollar spent must be analyzed as to how it will affect the TAXPAYER. The city must Keep it simple (KISS) The city has a declining tax base and a growing debt and must start to live within it means. If that means no Stars and Thunder and no new pool, so be it.

 

FOR RESPONSIBLE,  RESPONSIVE, REPRESENTATION

ELECT DAVID SHALE

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