Council Candidate

MIDDLEBRO', Melanie

Responses to the questions posed by Concerned Owen Sound Taxpayers (COST).

1. Municipal leadership and management

Owen Sound's population has stagnated for more than two decades, while the size and cost of the municipal management structure have increased significantly. What changes would you make to ensure that the City's senior management structure is lean, accountable and focused on results rather than simply administering the status quo? Would you support recruiting a City Manager with a demonstrated record of organizational transformation, cost reduction and successful change management? Would you also support establishing fixed-term, renewable contracts for senior management positions, with a significant portion of compensation tied to measurable performance objectives established by Council?.

Candidate response

Service levels drive the budget. Over the past 3 years I have sat on the Service Review Committee, which is looking at all aspects of the city�s operations to find efficiencies and cost-savings. I believe this initiative should continue throughout the next term of council to right-size service levels and figure out what we can afford as a City.

Regarding recruiting a city manager: No. We have a City Manager in place whom I support

Regarding fix terms: No. We are in a very competitive labour market. We continually lose staff to neighbouring municipalities. These measures would only serve to push out more senior employees to other jurisdictions which don�t require such measures. Everytime we replace an employee it consumes staff resources and city finances to recruit, hire and train employees and institutional knowledge is lost when employees leave.

2. Controlling property tax increases

Owen Sound taxpayers have experienced property-tax increases that, in our view, have exceeded what can reasonably be justified by inflation and population growth. Would you support a policy limiting annual property-tax increases to the rate of inflation unless Council can demonstrate a compelling reason to exceed it? If you would support exceeding inflation, what circumstances would justify doing so?

Candidate response

No. This line of thinking is too simplistic. The factors affecting budgets are multi-faceted and fluid. Council does its best to control budgetary increases. I personally would like to keep increases under inflation, but it isn�t always feasible. It takes discipline, the ability to say NO and to make some unpopular decisions.

Regarding exceeding inflation: Again, circumstances are always changing. It is impossible to comment on or predict all the factors that can affect the budget - local, provincial, federal, global, climate, tariffs, pandemics etc. You look at the current situation you are in and make the best decisions you can in the current fiscal climate.

3. Reducing the cost of government

Owen Sound's population today is smaller than it was in 2011, yet municipal spending and staffing have continued to grow. Would you support requiring every municipal department to identify 5–10% in potential savings, including staff cuts, as part of the budget process? Would you support using the City's 2011 budget, adjusted for inflation, as a benchmark for determining whether today's spending levels are justified? If not, what alternative approach would you use to identify and eliminate unnecessary spending?

Candidate response

Through the Service Review Initiative, each department of the City has been asked to review their processes and look for savings. We have made a good start, but the process needs to continue and become a part of the Corporate culture of the City.

Regarding using th 2011 budget: No. So much has changed since 2011, I think that is highly unrealistic. Also, we are subject to Strong Mayor Powers and the Mayor has the responsibility of producing the budget, unless they delegate back to Council

Again, the City is doing this work through Service Review. Council gets to review the budget and request changes. It takes more than 1 person to create change. We only get 1 vote.

4. Council accountability and relationship with taxpayers

Many residents believe there is an increasing disconnect between City Hall and the taxpayers it serves. What would you do to make City Council more transparent, accessible and accountable to residents? Would you support greater public disclosure of the rationale behind major spending decisions, staffing increases, consultant contracts and significant policy decisions? More importantly, what would you do to ensure that residents are treated as stakeholders in municipal government rather than as an obstacle to it?

Candidate response

I have no additional input here. All meetings are public, except for closed session. Public are able to attend meetings in person or watch the coverage online. Public members have sat on all committees. There is a public forum during all meetings where people can ask questions or make statements. Council can be emailed via our Council email addresses. You can email questions, make deputations to council or committee. We do an open house, we are striving to improve communications on City Initiatives through our Communications strategies.

Regarding greater publich disclosure: I don�t know in what way you intend for this to happen. Again, meetings are public, councillors are free to speak to all reports, ask questions of staff, make motions and vote. All of this is done in the public domain. I regularly speak out about things like consulting contracts and my personal distaste for them, but again, I am one vote an

Regarding More importantly, what would you do to ensure that residents are treated as stakeholders in municipal government rather than as an obstacle to it: That is your opinion, not mine.

5. Homelessness, addiction and the downtown

Owen Sound's downtown is facing increasingly visible homelessness, addiction and public disorder. What specific actions would you take to address these problems? Would you support a coordinated approach with the County that combines: increased access to addiction treatment and mental-health services; meaningful pathways into appropriate housing; stronger enforcement of existing laws and bylaws when public safety is affected; and clear expectations for individuals receiving publicly funded support? What would you do differently from the current approach, and how would you measure whether your strategy is working?

Candidate response

In this regard we need to focus on what we can control. Strengthen our bylaws - Nuisance, Property Standards, Waste Management, Bylaw Enforcement, create a Shopping Cart Bylaw, Zoning etc. We have been adding more tools to our toolbox, but we need to see what is working elsewhere and incorporate those measures.

We can also make sure we invest in the downtown with lighting, beautification, events and activations to make sure it is a place that people want to come and enjoy. If you don�t come downtown and only focus on the negatives then you aren�t helping downtown businesses thrive.

I want the County to spread its social services across all 9 member municipalities. Owen Sound should not have the majority of the support services and housing for the homeless and addicted. Provide supports in other communities, we do not want Owen Sound to be the homelessness hub of the County.

Regarding would you support a coordinated approach: Coordinated approach how exactly? The County receives the funding and carries out the programs. We do not have the budget to support these initiatives. We assist by waiving development charges on non-profit housing, donating City held property for housing and enforcing our bylaw

6. Development charges and economic growth

Owen Sound needs more residential and commercial development if it is going to reverse decades of population stagnation. Would you support reviewing the City's development-charge structure with the objective of making Owen Sound more attractive to developers and encouraging new housing construction? Would you support targeted incentives or a temporary reduction or moratorium on development charges where appropriate, particularly where developers commit to including affordable or geared-to-income housing? More broadly, what specific steps would you take to make Owen Sound a more attractive place to invest, build businesses and raise a family?

Candidate response

The previous council had done away with Development Charges to spur growth, which has had a positive effect. The reality is though, that Infrastructure costs a lot of money. This Council supported bringing back CERTAIN development charges, only for hard infrastructure and the Rec Centre. Our development charges are reasonable and comparable and will generate revenue to use for vital infrastructure to support future growth. Constituents need to be aware that Development Charges are governed by The Development Charges Act. Council must follow prescribed legislation.

Regarding Would you support targeted incentives: Again, we must operate under the controls of the Municipal Act and Development Charges Act - which both prescribe what you can and cannot do as far as incentives and reductions. Certain exemptions for DCs on affordable housing already exist.

7. The true cost of municipal services

We believe taxpayers should be able to see the full cost of every municipal service, including the costs of administration, HR, payroll, facilities, information technology and other shared services. Would you support fully allocating these costs to each municipal department, agency or shared-service arrangement so Council and taxpayers can see the true cost of each service? Would you also support using this information when negotiating cost-sharing arrangements with organizations such as the Library and other agencies?

Candidate response

Regarding fully burdening cost centers: Yes

Regarding using these costs to negotiate Library agreement: Yes

8. Water and wastewater costs

Water and wastewater charges have increased significantly, yet these costs are sometimes treated separately from the City's broader budget decisions. Would you support requiring the Water Department to present Council with a complete explanation and justification for proposed rate increases as part of the annual budget process? Would you also support requiring the Water Department to participate in the same cost-reduction and efficiency reviews expected of other municipal departments? Ultimately, do you believe Council-not municipal staff-should be fully accountable to taxpayers for increases in water and wastewater charges?

Candidate response

With regard to all questions under section 8, The province regulates water and wastewater services through a variety of Acts: The Safe Water Drinking Act 2002, The Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act 2002, Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, The Municipal Act etc. Under the authority of these Acts the Province dictates a "full-cost recovery" model. This law mandates that the money collected from your water bills must cover the entire cost of providing the service. This includes daily operations, water treatment, water meter management, and a dedicated reserve fund to fix or replace aging infrastructure. Water services are funded strictly through these user fees, meaning property tax dollars cannot be used to artificially lower water bills. Council has no jurisdiction to go against the mandated legislation of the Province.

9. Judgment and Proportionality

We are now asking candidates to consider one additional issue that raises important questions about municipal governance, accountability, judgment, and the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Please read the attached opinion paper, “A Failure of Judgment at Owen Sound City Hall,” which examines the City's prosecution of a Georgian College nursing student over an Amazon box found in a municipal garbage receptacle. We are not asking you to prejudge the outcome of the court proceedings. Rather, we believe this case raises broader questions about how municipal enforcement decisions are made, who is responsible for reviewing the strength and proportionality of those decisions, how legal services are procured and overseen, and how Council ensures that taxpayer resources are being used responsibly. As we noted in our previous correspondence, COST believes that significant change in the way City Hall operates is essential if Owen Sound is to move forward. With that in mind, we would like to ask you one additional question: "If elected to Owen Sound City Council, what specific steps would you take to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again—where a municipal prosecution involving questionable evidence proceeds through multiple court appearances at significant cost to taxpayers?"

Candidate response

As a sitting councillor it would be improper for me to comment on a case that is before the court and according to the City's procedural bylaw and conduct of Council rules it is improper to question decisions of Council once those decisions are made.

COST will update this page when a candidate response is received. Candidate responses are presented for voter information and are not necessarily the views of COST.