Council Candidate

WALTON, David

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

City Manager and that person hires the rest of the staff. It is important that we have a good manager and I can't comment on the abilities of our current manager. One thing that I would push to introduce is to have each city department convene a meeting of all employees because I think that the front line workers know their jobs better than anyone else and can propose ways to improve efficiency and therefore cut costs. The structure of city departments could be examined for overlaps (if they exist) and again the front line workers will know this. Management should never be top heavy. I don't support recruiting a new city manager but the council could set some goals to be achieved in the coming year and then do a performance review.

I don't know contract law so I don't know if problems could arise when terminating a contract. I don't like the idea of having compensation tied to performance objectives.

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

Taxes are necessary and no one wants their services reduced. All tax increases must be justified but I don't think that inflation is the only factor. We are in a time of extreme weather events that can't be predicted and they will increase costs for the city. The city can set budgets but the last 2 winters showed us that budgets get exceeded. We can't have the snowplows stop when the budget runs out.

Other geo political factors can increase costs dramatically as we have seen recently. I would support exceeding the budget under the above mentioned conditions.

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

I support identifying potential savings by looking at efficiencies and overlaps but I don't support staffing cuts. There will be retirements and with efficiencies maybe positions can be modified so that a replacement isn't required.

This trade war that Canada is in right now is changing everything so costs are very unpredictable for all of us and that includes the city. I don't think that the 2011 budget adjusted for inflation can really cover the situation that we are in now.

We now have green bin pickup and I promoted that but I think that we could cut some cost by having green bins picked up bi-weekly through the winter. Looking for efficiencies and overlaps in services can help cut costs.

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

Municipal elections have an even lower voter participation than Provincial and federal elections. Municipal government is very close to home and has a more direct impact on taxpayers lives so therefore people need to get out to vote and be more involved. I think that the public question period in council meetings is very important and the time restrictions should be reversed so that people can express their concerns.

Council meetings are open so they are accessible to taxpayers that take the time to show up. All major spending decisions should be published along with the rationale for that expenditure. I don't really understand why you think that residents are an obstacle to municipal government.

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

There are no easy answers and I won't try to say that I can fix these problems. Owen Sound must work with upper tier governments to get to the root of the problem. Band-aid solutions never work in the long term. Education, proper health care including mental health care are essential. Federal and provincial cuts in these areas are making these problems worse. I agree with the first 2 bullet points and I agree that we should enforce existing laws when public safety is affected. We already have laws to deal with public safety.

As for publicly funded support, I support the concept of a Universal Basic Income which has been proven in other jurisdictions to be very effective at reducing poverty and therefore reducing homelessness and crime rates.The common argument against UBI is that people will be lazy and just live off the benefits that they get but that is not happening where UBI has been implemented.I don't believe that we should audit anyone that is receiving publicly funded support.

I understand that some individuals don't feel safe going to the shelters that are provided so we need to make sure that the shelters are a safe and welcoming place. I am not familiar enough with the shelter system to make any recommendations to improve that situation.

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

Owen Sound is a beautiful area and we need carefully planned housing not suburban sprawl. I see housing being built but most of it is for wealthy individuals. Developers will go to where they can build and build with the lowest cost and the best ability to make profit.

The federal government used to fund non profit housing so we need to push for that to happen again. I don't believe that developers will go in that direction in any meaningful way unless they are forced to go there.

Any incentives, reductions or moratoria on development charges would have to be carefully considered and have measurable results that are monitored closely. I think that Owen Sound is a good place to raise a family but families need a decent income and I don't have any strategies to bring those jobs here.

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

I think that all city expenses should be completely transparent but in a form that everyone can understand. I don't mean that every expense for say paper clips is shown as a line item. Total expenditures and expenditures per department along with staffing levels should be available to taxpayers. I don't believe that very many people will take the time to research that info.

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

Sure, the water department must justify any rate increases as I am sure that they already justify any rate increases. We should always look for efficiencies because they will reduce costs. Water is essential to all of us and the city is responsible to supply our water and take and treat the waste water. This is an essential service that is provided on a cost recovery basis. Some municipalities tried privatizing water services and they quickly found out that the costs increased rapidly because the services were provided with cost recovery plus profit for shareholders. I am a strong believer in keeping these services in the public domain and funding them properly. Council is responsible for the spending of tax dollars and is accountable to the taxpayers.

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

I know that the council shouldn't try to interfere in this case at this point in time but this should not have started. This by-law needs to be re-written so this can't happen again and I will push for that to happen. In my opinion this is a one time situation and the person involved should have been approached for an explanation before any charge was laid. If for instance the by-law officer has been finding items from this individual on a weekly basis and the person had been approached, I would say fine them.

The city will very probably lose this case and they should because there is no way to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this person put the box in the municipal bin. So how many taxpayer dollars will have been wasted on a frivolous case?

This also brings up the bag tag issue and I have always supported bag tags because I possibly mistakenly believed that bag tags would get people to try to reduce their garbage production. Garbage is a huge issue and we all need to do our part in reducing garbage. Some research should be done to see if there is evidence of reduction because of bag tags and this probably exists. When people have to pay for services they will try to find ways to avoid paying. One way to avoid paying is to produce less and we can all do that very easily without even changing our lifestyle.

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.