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2017 ELECTION PREVIEW 2


Ted Clugston


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For the other candidates to suggest there is an issue with transparency at city hall is not based on fact. During the last four years we have engaged with more user groups and various citizens than anytime in history. Some limited examples include input from the Social Development Advisory Board, UDI and CHBA, Urban and Recreation Advisory Board, Youth Advisory Board, Chamber of Commerce, Senior Citizens Advisory Board, Heritage Advisory Board, NGPR technical committee, Financially Fit Advisory Board, open houses for affected citizens of Riverside Pool closure and redevelopment, Senior Centre and Financially Fit initiatives.


The Mayor’s State of the City speech and business week presentation would be a great place to learn about what’s going on at City Hall.


I suggest they follow the City of Medicine Hat on Facebook and Twitter for the latest information to stay up to date, and of course traditional media.


DARREN HIRSCH FOR CITY COUNCIL


City Council Experience


Proven Strong Financial Skills


Proven Community Builder


Proven Leadership


Proven Integrity & Decision Making


Contact Darren Hirsch at hirschforcouncillor@gmail.com Hirsch for Councillor hirsch4councillor


DARREN HIRSCH


for CITY COUNCIL


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I think it is fairly obvious I support the Financially Fit Program, as we implemented it. It is a 10-year plan to decrease our dependence on various utility and commodity revenue by pulling on various levers of spending cutbacks, efficiency and programs or service cuts. The amount of political courage required to see it through is immense, but any candidate that suggests we shouldn’t proceed with the Financially Fit initiative will have to come up with alternate viable solutions or explain how they are going to justify massive tax increases.


3


The city’s business units have suffered under low commodity prices for Gas, Oil and Electricity. This isn’t the first or last time. The city has returned to profitability and we hope to increase our net profitability even more in the coming years. Then we will prudently place the profits into our Medicine Hat Heritage Fund.


City Council has taken advantage of the downturn to hire some of the best engineers and technical people in the industry, with years of knowledge and experience. We have taken a bit of a counter cyclical approach and ramped up investment in exploration, putting local people back to work, while most of the industry contracted. This has served us well both in price for services and the ability to attract the best human resources.


The city divested some non-profitable Natural Gas assets, shoring up the balance sheet while investing more capital into Oil Exploration and Electricity Generation.


Quite simply. Following the 10-year strategy set out in Financially Fit. A great deal of work has been done in the last year through consultation and feedback from many stakeholders and advisors.


I have done this literally hundreds of times; oſten when speaking to possible new physicians looking to relocate to Medicine Hat.


The Mayor must be careful not to assume anything, just because people appear to be retired doesn’t mean there is a stereotypical set of experiences and facilities they are looking for. It’s best to ask questions and listen actively. Do you like the theatre, parks, paths, is safety a concern, etc. They will tell you what interests them and then as Medicine Hat’s ambassador it is easy. We have one of the safest, cleanest communities in Canada. Our recreational opportunities are second to none and our cultural facilities are the best in a city our size. Even more effective, take them from the elevator and show them personally what Medicine Hat has to offer. This has worked well with proven results.


The order of the candidate responses is in order that they were received by the News.


No responses were received from Thomas Fougere.


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