
City council members: in their own words
Published Saturday May 30th, 2009


In this survey, council members were asked two questions. What, in your view, is council's biggest accomplishment in year one? What is your biggest disappointment in council in year one? Here are their answers.
COUN. PATTY HIGGINS Biggest accomplishment in year one? Focus on priority neighbourhoods. We're making great effort to help support the initiatives that our priority neighbourhoods are heading towards. I have two disappointments. I'm finding it hard to get my point across to fellow members of council. I'd like to focus on solutions that have been tested and found to be effective in other municipalities. I was disappointed in the budget process as well. We spread our resources too thinly to too many areas which will end up being less effective than more resources in certain areas.
COUN. BILL FARREN I believe this council's biggest accomplishment would have to be the effort, and solidarity, we've had in obtaining safe, clean drinking water for Saint John. I believe my biggest disappointment of this council would have to be not conducting a public inquiry into the civic pension plan deficit which I believe will end up being this, and future council's, biggest millstone. It will prevent recreational and other infrastructure improvements that are needed for our city's future growth.
COUN. DONNIE SNOOK Our biggest accomplishment is the action council has taken on our city's vulnerable neighbourhoods - pushing for a new by-law to deal with vacant/derelict buildings; advocating for the implementation of safer communities and neighbourhood legislation in order to address areas experiencing chronic crime; and a reinvestment in our community centers and neighbourhood park infrastructure. My greatest disappointment is the length of time it is taking to create a greater level of efficiency with regard to customer service delivery outcomes.
COUN. CARL KILLEN Our greatest accomplishment is a general one: having managed to move ahead with persistence on the major items we identified as council's priorities. Our accomplishments have been many. My greatest disappointment would be our inability to convince the Greater Saint John region of the need for a greater regionalization of services.
COUN. GARY SULLIVAN Controlling the debate on Long Wharf, rallying around clean, safe drinking water, and getting recreation back as a priority are the biggest accomplishments. Lack of strategic planning is a disappointment. We had a great priority setting session but have had no follow up.
COUN. BRUCE COURT Staying united to push water as our number one priority is our biggest accomplishment. My biggest disappointment in council as a whole is when a councillor speaks out against what we're trying to do as a body and takes his own individual stand. I'm talking about Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase.
COUN. JOE MOTT What I see as the biggest accomplishment is the fact that Irving Oil is going to expand and build a new refinery and LNG project out at Red Head. It's giving people in the area a much more positive attitude toward Saint John, and we're looking at things we can do because we can see our tax base is going to increase. My biggest disappointment would probably be Exhibition Park Raceway. We're one of the only tracks in the Maritimes that doesn't have a grand stand, and the facility we have right now is just a small room. Not a lot's happening on the file, and that's what disappoints me.
COUN. PETER MCGUIRE Top one, I think we've done a very good job at identifying and communicating to the other two levels of government that our number one priority is clean, safe drinking water. Part B of that is seeing the Westfield Road obtain additional funding. My biggest disappointment? Not enough focus on the economic growth in Saint John. I don't think we spend enough time on growing the city economically. A good example in my ward is bringing Enterprise Saint John into the retail world over there. The outcome is the retail forum held Thursday night.
COUN. CHRIS TITUS Did not reply to several messages.
DEPUTY MAYOR STEPHEN CHASE Two of the biggest accomplishments are issues we're just dealing with now: engagement of Morneau Sobeco to reform the pension plan, and the other one is the value for money audit. We're only just getting into the meat of it, so there's been no hard results yet. My biggest disappointment, is that it takes so long to make progress. We passed both those items in January, but here we are six months into the year, we're only getting started. That's a product of bureaucracy, unfortunately. I also wish there was a greater recognition from our employee groups that substantive changes are needed. Shelving of the Jean-Guy Finn by the province was disappointing because it would have enabled more extensive regional cooperation.
MAYOR IVAN COURT Listen, I've got no comment. I don't want to comment on anything. I have a strange feeling you guys are going to change a good story into a bad story because I saw the second question and, you know what, we've done some great things, and that's all I'm going to say. I don't want to see what I saw in the past, and I think you guys are going about this good-guy, bad-guy type of thing, one good question, one bad question. I don't think that's fair to this council or to anybody else. My comment is no comment.


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He says 'Listen I have no comment' then babbles on for anothe 97 words.
That's the longest 'no comment ever'. He just can't resist hearing his own voice. As for his brother, some advise - Better to keep your mouth closed & be thought a fool than to open it & remove all possible doubt.
What a pair of losers.