Our Vision Statement
A Vision for a More Affordable, Accountable and Prosperous Owen Sound
Concerned Owen Sound Taxpayers (COST) envisions an Owen Sound that is confident about its future, accountable to its taxpayers and committed to becoming a growing, prosperous and vibrant community.
We believe Owen Sound has enormous potential. Our location, heritage, natural environment, waterfront, educational and health-care institutions, existing infrastructure and quality of life provide the foundation for a successful future. What has been lacking is not potential, but the sustained leadership, vision and willingness to embrace change needed to realize it.
For too long, Owen Sound has accepted stagnation as inevitable. We believe it is not.
Our vision is for a municipality that sets ambitious goals for growth and prosperity, measures its progress honestly and holds itself accountable for achieving results. Municipal government should not exist simply to administer what already exists. It should continually ask whether it is operating efficiently, whether services are delivering value for taxpayers and whether long-standing practices still make sense in a changing world.
A government that respects taxpayers
We envision a municipal government that recognizes that every dollar it spends belongs to the residents who earned it.
Taxes and user fees should be affordable, predictable and supported by clear evidence of need. Municipal departments should be expected to identify efficiencies, challenge established spending patterns and demonstrate the value of the services they provide.
Council—not administration—must ultimately be accountable to taxpayers for how their money is spent.
We believe taxpayers deserve to know the true cost of municipal services, including the costs of administration and shared services, and to understand the reasoning behind significant spending, staffing and policy decisions.
Leadership that embraces change
We envision a City Hall that is lean, professional, innovative and results-oriented.
Municipal leadership should be measured not simply by how well it administers existing programs, but by its ability to identify problems, develop solutions, manage change and deliver measurable results.
We believe Owen Sound needs leaders who are prepared to question assumptions, consider new approaches and learn from successful communities elsewhere. Doing something for decades is not, by itself, evidence that it is still the right thing to do.
We therefore support a culture in which innovation is encouraged, performance is measured and both Council and senior administration are accountable for outcomes.
A community that grows
Our vision is for Owen Sound to become a growing community with a diversified economy and an expanding tax base.
Growth should not be viewed simply as an increase in population. It should mean more businesses, more investment, more housing choices, more employment opportunities, stronger public services and a broader tax base capable of supporting the community without placing an ever-greater burden on existing taxpayers.
We want Owen Sound to be a community where entrepreneurs choose to invest, businesses choose to locate, families choose to build their futures and young people see opportunities to stay and prosper.
We believe growth should be planned, intentional and measurable, with clear population and economic objectives and a strategy for achieving them.
A downtown that is safe, active and welcoming
We envision an Owen Sound downtown that residents are proud of and visitors want to experience.
That means a downtown where businesses can succeed, people feel safe walking the streets, families feel comfortable visiting and property owners have confidence investing.
Addressing homelessness, addiction and public disorder will require more than any one level of government can provide. We envision a strong partnership among the City, County, service providers, businesses and community organizations, combining appropriate housing, treatment and mental-health supports with reasonable and consistent enforcement when public safety and the rights of others are affected.
Compassion and accountability should not be viewed as competing objectives. A successful community requires both.
Better services, delivered intelligently
We envision municipal services that are designed around the needs of residents rather than around the convenience of government.
That means asking fundamental questions: What service are we providing? Why are we providing it? What does it actually cost? Is there a better way to deliver it? Could another organization provide it more effectively? And are residents receiving the value they should expect?
We believe Council should be prepared to consider partnerships, technology, innovation, restructuring and alternative service-delivery models where they can improve results or reduce costs without compromising public safety or essential services.
A more engaged relationship between City Hall and residents
We envision a relationship between taxpayers and their municipal government based on respect, openness and dialogue.
Residents should be treated as stakeholders in their community—not as obstacles to government decision-making.
Council should actively seek public input, explain the reasoning behind important decisions and provide meaningful opportunities for residents to ask questions and challenge assumptions.
We believe transparency is more than publishing information. True accountability means being willing to explain decisions, defend them with evidence and change course when the evidence shows that something is not working.
Leadership for the long term
Most importantly, we envision a community that looks beyond the next budget and the next election.
Owen Sound needs leadership capable of thinking 10, 20 and 30 years ahead while taking practical steps today to move toward that future.
The choices made by Council should be judged not only by what they accomplish this year, but by the community they leave for the next generation.
We believe Owen Sound can once again become a community known for opportunity, confidence, innovation and prosperity. Achieving that will require change—and change will inevitably be uncomfortable at times.But the greater risk is not change. The greater risk is continuing to do what we have always done and expecting a different result.
Our Commitment
COST will remain non-partisan and independent.
Our role is not to tell residents what they should think, nor to tell elected officials what they should do. Our role is to inform, question and encourage improvement.
We will ask difficult questions, examine the answers, challenge assumptions and encourage voters to look beyond promises and personalities to the leadership, ideas and commitment candidates bring to the future of Owen Sound.
We will support candidates who demonstrate the vision to imagine a better Owen Sound, the courage to challenge the status quo and the leadership ability to turn ideas into results.
Our ultimate vision is simple:
An Owen Sound that is affordable to live in, attractive to invest in, safe to enjoy, accountable to its
taxpayers and confident in its future—an Owen Sound that is growing, prosperous and vibrant once again.