Hitting the streets

After a day of reflection, the city’s mayor-elect took to the streets Wednesday as part of his campaign promise to reconnect with residents.

Keith Hobbs started his first Wednesday walkabout, a campaign promise to be more visible mayor, with a trip around the Victoriaville Centre mall area. He stopped at a few businesses to get a sense of the problems facing the city's south core.

One of those he met was Paula Turner, owner of Baci Boutique on Victoria Avenue. Turner moved into the area two years ago and said while crime in the south core was a concern, she isn’t too worried about it.

"It’s been great so far," said Turner. "It’s been an overwhelming experience and each year it has gotten better and better. Crime hasn’t really affected me personally, but it has around me."

But Turner said she liked the idea that Hobbs was making himself visible on the streets and showing an interest in the concerns of area business owners.

Hobbs said the point of the walkabouts was to keep connected to the public something he believes was lacking from the previous city administration.

While not officially sworn in until December, Hobbs said he has a lot of work to do before he is ready to sit in the mayor’s chair.

"If you get to know your neighbourhood, you get to know your people and who all the players are that are good and bad," Hobbs said. "Crime is one of the issues. People are afraid to come downtown. We need to make it so people aren’t afraid to come down and shop."

Hobbs admitted there’s a lot of work to be done as mayor, and that walking around the streets every Wednesday will take time from his day that could be spent doing that work. To ensure he can keep his Wednesday walkabout campaign promise and still complete his regular mayoral duties, Hobbs said he expects he will be making sacrifices to his personal time on Saturday.

The next Wednesday walkabout is scheduled for Nov. 3 and will bring Hobbs to the city’s north core.