Saskatoon mayoral hopefuls trade blows at the Broadway Theatre debate

Mayoral candidates verbally sparred on stage at the Broadway Theatre Tuesday nightin front of a sold out crowd, making a case for why the citizens of Saskatoon should cast a vote in their name.

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A panel made up of journalists and political science professor Joe Garcea pitchedquestions to candidates. They focusedon issues around crime, leadership and the role of the mayor as well as visions for the city's future.

Entrepreneur and public servant Kelley Moore opened with the usual critique of city hall's out-of-control spending, leading to record tax increases and a rising debt ceiling.

"We need a change in leadership. We need to change the culture. The mayor is pivotal and I'm the only candidate who can do this," Moore said, calling Clark and Atchisonthe status quo.

Devon Hein followed closely behind Moore, coming down hard on Charlie Clark and Don Atchison (both served on the previous council as mayor and councillor).He calledfor an end to ballooning tax increases, saying he would stand up and represent the people of Saskatoon, something he believes his opponents will not do.

"My co-candidates want to implement their vision, not the citizen's vision. We need to make sure council represents the people. [They] want to spend and create debt," Hein said.

For Clark, having spent the past 10 years as a city councillor, saidhe's learned the strengths of the city how to invoke effective change anddismissedthe idea that he's already had his time to invoke change and has failed.

"We have to change, but what kind of change will lead the city? I have spent 10 years getting to know the strength and resilience in our city. I'm ready to lead this change because I've been leading change for the past 10 years," he said.

Incumbent Don Atchison started by celebrating the major projects he's seen built over his past 13 years as mayor, including the Gordie Howe Bridge, the Shaw Centre and the SaskTel Soccer Centre.

"We're probably close to $1 billion that has come to the city of Saskatoon," Atchison said, crediting his work sitting down with the higher levels of government of megaprojects like the Remai Modern Art Gallery and the North Commuter Parkway Bridge.

Proposed tax increase for 2017

Candidates also weighed in onthe estimated 3.89 per cent tax increaseto come after the fall election. After pressure from Moore and Clark, who both calledfor the release of the city's preliminary budget, the city came out with the nearly four per cent tax hike.The figure doesn't takethe police budget into account, which has proven to take up a significant chunk of the budget in the past.

When asked how candidates plan on tackling the proposed increase, candidates all took a very different approach.

Atchison saidthe current proposed increaseis simply incomplete and it's the reason he didn't want to preliminary budget increase to be released in the first place.

"No one even knows what the other expenses are," he said.

Hein stayed true to his campaign platform noting the city simply needs to stop writing hefty cheques and focus on core services like roadway repairs.

"We need to shelve projects make sure we're not spending money and wasting taxpayer money," Hein said, adding pet projects such as a downtown stadium proposed in other campaigns simply need to come not at the expense of the taxpayer.

Doing some math on her own, Moore said the proposed increase will be more likesix per cent, something that didn't sit well with Atchison.

"We've seen operational expenses double at city hall and a number of capital projects that have gone over budget, like the Remai Art Gallery I will look to improve procurement processes, I want to get the city inwards and upwards," she said, adding a point to Hein, saying this is not the time for big legacy projects.

Clark didn't say what he would reduce to bringtaxes down.However, he did point out the answer is not to lower the business tax proportion.

"From 2001 to 2010, there was a shift from business to homeowners that accounted for a 14 per cent tax increase for residents," he said.He added thatlowering the business proportion of the mill rate won't bring in business, and "the city needs to focus on its core services to bring business here."

Crime in the city

When asked about where each candidate stands on crime in the city and controversy of police carding, Clark said the solution starts with building community relationships, adding you can't arrest your way out of crime.

"We need to engage the public and talk about carding," he said. "Whatever the police do, it has to be about building relationships in those communities."

Atchison said thereneeds to be a fundamental shift on the social services level in helping with addictions and mental health, saying those people don't belong in a police cell.

In terms of carding, Atchison questions what patrol officers are doing on the streets if they're not conducting street checks.

Touching on her experience working with the provincial government, Moore said she knows the right people who can help the city build more community-based organizations.

"I know how they work and I know I will be calling on them to help deal with some of these issues we have in our city," she said, adding police and social services need to focus on the root causes of crime and work hard so that Indigenous people aren't over-represented in the justice system.

Clark came hard on Moore noting it's the provincial government who has turned its back through cuts to social services like The Lighthouse Supported Living Centre and the SAID program.

Coming into this debate, Moore led in the latest poll with 27 per cent support, following closely by Atchison at 25 per cent and Clark at 23 per cent. Hein held four per cent of the vote, while the undecided vote shrank to 21 per cent.