Sutcliffe’s Next Two Years: BENN

What advice would you give Mayor Mark Sutcliffe as he enters the second half of his term in office?

This was a question recently posed by a now retired old hand from city hall. Why did this question come up? Because the consensus around the table was that the first two years have been overwhelmingly underwhelming.

Where to start? Identify tangible, solvable problems. No more than three. Focus on deliverables. A very short list of deliverables. Deliverable as in by June 2026, which happens to be when council scatters to seek re-election.

Step 1 is to get a solid handle on the near-term sources and uses of cash. Near term being the next three years. The objective is to understand what size cash surplus or shortfall the city faces. What resources are available to address the highest priorities the city faces.

The first part of the report would present only the reliable projected sources of cash. Property taxes. Grants in lieu of taxes – at the current volumes, not the wished for volumes that the mayor was whining about a couple of months ago. Grants from identified programs, but only for the term of the program. No grants from unidentified programs. And under no circumstance transfers from reserves that are not backed up with actual cash. Not just for 2025, but for 2026 and 2027 as well.

The second part of the report should present the already contracted for expenditures. Start with standard operating costs of the city. This would include staff costs, as is. Not after the future hiring spree to fill the vacant spots that have been reported to have contributed to the financial windfall of the mid term financial update. Factor in the contractual obligations, such as major project construction costs, like the LRT or construction that cannot be deferred. Cannot physically, as opposed to cannot politically.  Scheduled interest and debt repayments on a cash basis. Leave the accounting accruals and allocations for another report. Anything that is even remotely discretionary as to need or timing (Lansdowne 2.0 cough cough) should not be in this report.

When? By the end of November. That’s right, in a month and change. Staff are already in the 2025 budget cycle, so if they can’t prepare this type of report within that time frame, then you have the wrong staff.

Next. Identify the top two priorities the city faces over the next five years. That’s right, five years. Why? Because plans require time to actually execute. But not endless time. Not time frames that are so far over the horizon that no one in a position of responsibility today will be around to see the end result.

What would I focus on? Because that is the real question posed by that old hand. My top two are fixing the transportation challenges that have plagued this city for years; and creating long term warm dry places to sleep for those who lack long term warm dry places to sleep.

The city needs to fix its transportation challenges the city faces every day of the year. It is something that affects everyone in this city. Every day. In so many different ways.

People and products need to move around the city. Need to. To get to and from work. To deliver goods to warehouses, to retailers, to homes. To purchase goods, including groceries. To get to schools, recreational or entertainment facilities. To visit family and friends.

The users of the transportation network use a wide variety of modes. Public transit. Personal and business use motor vehicles. Bicycles. Scooters. Their own feet.

This initiative must avoid, at all costs, a mindset that is driven by an effort to change the frequency or mode of movement. We need facts, not wishful thinking. Too many of the city’s plans involve an overdose of wishful thinking. One of the major contributors to the dilemma the city finds itself in is that their plans are based on changes that will take multiple generations to become effective. Or not.

When? By the end of 2025. That gives staff a year and a bit to get the job done. Again, if they aren’t up to the job, you don’t have the right staff. Consideration should be given to start by retaining the services of an organization that has a solid reputation for delivering product that is not tailored to suit a predetermined outcome. Why? See the third sentence of this paragraph.

On to the problem of providing warm dry places for people to sleep. This is not an esoteric ‘affordable housing’ discussion. This addresses the real need for those who are sleeping on the streets. For those who have no place to go. It goes hand in hand with dealing with mental health issues.

The federal government has identified a number of buildings that are surplus to its needs. Select a few located near the city centre. Why the city centre? Because that is where the greatest density of those who are sleeping on the street are located. It is where the greatest density of support services. When? Have the short list ready y the end of 2024. It can be done, but only if the city wants to get it done.

Commission architects and engineers to determine how to renovate these buildings into safe, small, self contained residences. With space for those who provide counselling and physical services to the demographic at hand. With a recognition that these buildings will be high maintenance. The individual units will need constant attention. Cleaning, maintenance. Security must be 24 hours. When? By the end of June 2025.

Construction to start by September 2025. With more haste than standard city projects that take forever to not complete. Multiple sites simultaneously. Two shifts per day. Because the need is urgent.

Then, as council dismisses itself at the end of June 2026, as its members go off to pander for votes, they can point to something they actually accomplished. To an executable plan to address how people and goods move around the city. To a plan already being executed to provide warm dry places for people who need warm dry places to sleep.

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.

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