THUNDER BAY – When Orville Santa looks back at the three years he spent on council from 2000 to 2003, he’s sees nothing but success.
Often chaotic and never a dull moment, the 69-year-old self-employed publisher said those three years were among the most productive in the city’s 48-year history.
“We did a lot of things – roads, sidewalks, safety concerns for children, putting forth lower speeds in front of schools, getting chemicals off of parks that children playing in, getting crossing guards – the basics that citizens of Thunder Bay are looking for,” Santa said.
Santa, who failed in a bid for the mayor’s chair in 2003, leaving him on the political sidelines for a decade-and-a-half, initially filed to run in McKellar Ward, but a last-minute switch and joined the at-large race.
He said it largely had to do with having so many people telling him they wished they could vote for him, but couldn’t because they didn’t live in his ward.
Santa’s main message is one that resonates with the majority of residents – the ever-increasing municipal tax rate.
Enough is enough, he said.
“Taxes have gone up every year since I was on council. Since 2000 it’s gone up 2.5, 3.5 per cent. I think one time it went up four or five per cent. And there’s no reason for council to be increasing taxes by listening to administration.”
He’s convinced, with help, he can turn the city’s fiscal ship around.
It’s a matter of cutting expenses by 10 per cent. But there has to be the will to make it happen.
“Those savings can only be achieved when you have a vote of seven – you need seven councillors – and then you just direct administration to go and find 10 per cent savings and in the first year you can reduce taxes by 10 per cent. There is no doubt in my mind,” Santa said.
He added he’d like to see both council and administration put more thought into decisions they make, criticizing the location of the waterfront condos and hotels and how the city has handled the south core, particularly the Simpson Street area.
“We were making inroads, trying to clean that up, but there’s not much that’s been done and you’ve got a lot of issues down there,” Santa said.
