So how am I going to help?

This will be the 3rd week of my weekly information releases. Again, my belief is that before you vote for me, you should know what my goals are and be able to evaluate my plans. But equally important to me is that discussions about those goals/ideas have started to happen – thank you. I have found those discussions to be critical to my planning to date. I hope to continue those discussions when I’m elected.

I feel I am good at seeing the ‘bigger picture’. The ability to see how different operational processes work together should allow me to anticipate and respond more efficiently to evolving events/situations.

I have committed to 3 main areas of focus and have clear, realistic plans to achieve my goals. Those 3 areas of focus include one, restoring budget fundamentals to save the Cochrane taxpayers money, two, I will restore transparency and accountability in council chambers and three, I will address the other issues affecting our Cochrane like the environment, emergency services, seniors, traffic, public safety, sustainable growth etc. I also have some other ideas that you will find interesting.

There are two other candidates that are now seeking to be elected (Mr. Paul Singh) and/or re-election (Mr. Patrick Wilson). It is my intention to give some preliminary evaluations of their election’s platforms.

Both Mr. Singh and Mr. Wilson have made a number of different statements that make up their election platforms. However, they have provided very few operational details as to how they would accomplish those goals. Potentially there are a number of different areas we could potentially collaborate on/work towards but the lack of details makes it impossible to confirm this. The expression, ‘the devil is in the details’ seems to sum up my evaluation of their platforms thus far.

Some Specific ideas include:

-The fact is that the Town of Cochrane’s (ToC) debt has never been higher in decades. We have a growth dependent budget and our taxation base still relies predominantly on residential taxes. On top of that, tools such as off-site levies, that have a dual function which includes future repair and maintenance for the area that the levy is collected on, have been largely already spent.

What that means is that ToC has very few options in order to raise taxes – to increase your property taxes. In the coming weeks I will outline a multi level strategy to support businesses in Cochrane and to grow our taxation base.  That basic strategy, growing our tax base, will give council the realistic option of lowering your property taxes while sustaining our current level of services. Other uses could include paying for the infrastructure upgrades that council has already committed to without large residential tax increases, or paying debt to decrease our debt maintenance costs. I would expect that supporting a vibrant and growing business environment will increase jobs in the ToC.

I have already had discussion with a number of businesses in Cochrane as well as having to meet business owners through the Chamber of Commerce. Possible direct support options could be to ensure that the present monopoly on lease space does not continue. This will include a percentage limitation of ownership for future commerce spaces for any single buyer/leasing agent or equivalent. I will seek to examine the current ‘job incubator’ program. While I believe in the concept of this plan and would consider expanding this program, I am not convinced that it is effective in its current format.

I will add further details, including an option that could transform the business opportunities in Cochrane, next week!

- I foresee a ward system as something that will become a reality for Cochrane sometime in the future. I see this as a pragmatic reality as a consequence for continued growth. My concern is that a ward system will become ‘political’ vs. being having the planning and public consultation behind it that are required to maximize the benefits. I don’t want this to become someone’s political promise. A ward system is not about personal political gain like some issues in Cochrane have been. You plan, you set targets and when those targets are met you put it to the public for a referendum but NOT before! That planning should start now.

-Nobody enjoys paying taxes but a lack of transparency leads to distrust and resentment. In addition to the efforts that I have already announced regarding increasing transparency (Calling for a forensic audit, the reformatting of council notes, putting strict limits on the use of ‘in camera’ sessions, a consensus system to ensure all questions asked are answered in council meetings, increased project monitoring etc.); I will seek to introduce an element of choice into your taxes. Why not include line items in your property assessment that gives you the choice on where your tax dollars are spent? Items such as fund raising, additional funding for community partners like the Cochrane Humane society, future fund raising for sports facilities, school fees etc. seem like possible choices. Functional details would still need to be determined by council and administration.

-I have looked at the publicly available budget information in details for over a decade now and have never been truly satisfied. I am good at ‘connecting the dots’ and I have often found the lack of detail left me with more questions than answers. However, the last budget was particularly bad and efforts by a select few council members were not even answered. That is completely unacceptable.

I will seek to have all budgetary information be made available to the public at least 1-month prior to the first council deliberations. I will seek to have a policy put in place that would demand that a consensus be reached by council to ensure that all council questions have been answered before the approval of a budget can be made. I will also seek to have it mandatory that the public be allowed to attend and ask questions directly to council and administration at every stage of deliberations and/or prior to any final approval of the budget.

-Last weekend Michelle stated her concern about the Cochrane Ranchehouse forcing non-profits to pay rent for fundraising. I stated that I agreed with her concern and that I find the operational decisions related to the Ranchehouse to be short sighted and lack a community emphasis. Why have a community owned and operated building remain unused when there are so many community needs/events that could be utilizing this vacant space?!

If I am elected, I will seek to have all community fund raiser activities in the Ranchehouse to be free.  Some consideration will have to be given to issues such as additional staffing/cleaning costs but at most these would be limited to cost recovery based on actual operational expenses. There would be size and scheduling limitations.

- One event that I want to explore further would be to host a qualifier tournament for the E-Sports World Cup. I have already started working with some of the gaming community with promising results. The operational costs for this tournament would be low so it is realistic for the gaming community to host such an event and the potential business spin offs for Cochrane could be substantial. The key to starting what could become a destination event this is finding a place to host the initial tournament.

- If I’m elected, I will take measures to increase public safety. I believe that the current emergency coverage model is for a town size of 25,000 people but the last consensus numbers for Cochrane lists the town with a population of over 38,000 people. As a former paramedic with firefighter training, I know that in an emergency situation, minutes can sometimes mean the difference between life vs. death or a full recovery vs. a lifetime disability. For fires, those minutes can mean the difference between smoke damage vs. a complete loss. For police, those additional minutes are equally profound.

I would seek to first find out what is needed to increase our emergency service coverage and create a plan to have the coverage levels increased to the appropriate level within the next 5-years.The existing development planning may need to be re-evaluated while this evaluation takes place – this may assist in a sustained development approach but it will for sure save the Cochrane taxpayer money by ensuring proper planning takes place.

I want to explore an underpass for the Heritage Hills area.

There continues to be car thefts and break ins. People have a right to feel safe in their homes! The feeling of safety is one of the things that makes Cochrane the community we love!

I want to explore increased monitoring and emergency response. The Town is already exploring hiring private security. I am still unconvinced that this is required, especially given the continued lack of transparency involved with this initiative thus far. However, if this involved an element of an enhanced community response option, that could be a game changer for me. The basic idea for me would involve some form of motion activated sensor that would trigger an alert to the RCMP/town security to investigate. We all know that thieves will go from house to house in the middle of the night seeking easy targets. We have all seen thieves rummaging through someone’s unlocked vehicles. This sensor trigger and investigation would help interrupt this targeting by criminals.

-I would like to limit public political signage to a couple of spaces in town placed in alphabetical order. This may seem trivial to some people but could help democratize one of the most critical aspects for candidates in an election – exposure. This would not affect lawn signs.

-There has been talk of a Railway tunnel running under Cochrane for years now. However, to date, all these discussions have been based on assumptions and I am unaware of any actual numbers associated with this potential transformational project for Cochrane. I would want to see a committee formed to assist administration in forming a report to council. That report would contain basic information such as initial cost estimates and solutions, initial considerations, actions required for further inquiries etc. This would not involve another consultation report! All I am suggesting is to deal with facts.

As always, I would love to hear from you.

Regards

Dan Cunin