PRESS RELEASE – issued October 9, 2020
Mayor Clark states that he is the best voice for safety and infill development in Saskatoon. Mr. Norris feels that he should head up the Police Commission and that we need a bunch of “Blue Ribbon” committees. This is just political posturing.
When I look at Mayor Clark’s current plan, all I see is a shopping list of failures for the past 4 years that he was supposed to be leading on. This goes back further another 13 years prior to that with Don Atchison as Mayor and Charlie as a Councillor. Regurgitating the same speeches isn’t progress.
After 8 years on the Police Commission, Mayor Clark can only point to one thing he spearheaded and that is a motion from June of this year. Kind of late to figure out you should have been contributing more than this all along, I would say.
What are big issues for people in the city but especially those living or working in Riversdale, Pleasant Hill, and Caswell Hill? How about good New Attainable Housing and Residential Infill Development.
Did Mayor Clark realize that his own City Annual Report for 2019 shows conflicting reporting on this critical issue?
“Performance Targets with Trends – Community Support” calls for 500 or more “New Attainable Housing Units” each year. In 2016, that number was 525. In 2017, that dropped to 377. In 2018, that dropped further to 142. Last year, it was at 145. That was given a “neutral” long term progress grade by the City themselves. Really?!
Here is the head scratcher. “Performance Targets with Trends – Urban Planning and Development” calls for 200 or more “New Attainable Housing Units” each year. Somehow “Community Support” is supposed to reach 500+ units when “Planning” only sees 200+ as a target. Still though, their year to year numbers are identical to “Community Support” and the 145 in 2019 was the latest reported. Again, that is seen as a “neutral” long term progress grade.
“Residential Infill Development Targets – Urban Planning and Development” call for a target of 25% of development over the last 5 years. That rolling average was 14.8% in 2016, it was 13.7% in 2017, it was 14.8% in 2018 and finally 13.9% in 2019. Far short of the target.
Last year, Mayor Clark and City Council were very quick to act on a water filled home in an affluent area of Briarwood to move to demolish this for the good of the neighborhood. Yet only recently has the Saskatoon Fire Service been able to expedite the demolition of some boarded-up properties in the core areas of the city. And after some of these are demolished, the property still remains in the name of the original owner, which does not free it up for redevelopment. There may be a large bill from the City for this work, but if the homeowner does not or can not pay this, time will move on and the land is still legally tied up and not available for infill.
Therefore, the fire issue might be reduced but the social issues are not cleared up. The City of Winnipeg has a Taking Title to Vacant and Derelict Building Bylaw and the action from that puts forward a process where the City follows some steps and at the end, they can legally level a site and immediately own the land for quick redevelopment. Saskatoon needs this level of power.
Infill development adds population. More people watching over things lowers the ability of criminals to operate. If the City put more effort into this area, disenfranchised people would feel pride. But too often, many view these neighborhoods as a dumping ground for anything and everything that the City wants to ignore.
Rob Norris talking about being the head of the Police Commission is a further insult since he has no on-the-ground experience and his grand standing like a provincial politician will only serve to hurt local interests later when his performance is woefully underwhelming.
Putting off every tough topic as a reason for another “Blue Ribbon” panel is just deflection. Start thinking “Blue Collar” if you want to make a difference in this area of the city. Either be prepared to get your hands dirty or step aside!
I want vacant land redeveloped. I want open commercial land in Riversdale, Caswell Hill, and Pleasant Hill to be free from unfair Offsite Levies. If you want to take back a community, give people better places to live and new potential employment.
I worked on 20th Street for years as a kid. I also lived on 20th Street while in University. My background is diverse with 30+ years of development experience. Beyond being a Registered Architectural Technologist in Saskatchewan, I am also a Registered Professional Planner in Saskatchewan and Canada.
Where most other candidates have to ‘phone a friend’ to find out what options might exist for this issue, I have substantial real world personal experience that will push me as Mayor to drive the City Administration and City Council in the right direction.
We need a better-informed leader to head City Hall and I am exactly that person.
My name is Cary Tarasoff and I want to serve as your Mayor.