There aren’t many people who have kept as close an eye on city council the past four years as McIntyre Ward hopeful Logan Ollivier.
His weekly Twitter play-by-play accounts –his own take thrown in for good measure – have become must-read social media these days.
The first former radio news reporter to join the city council race, Ollivier says city hall has taken far too many missteps and change is the only thing that will turn Thunder Bay’s ship around.
“Personally, I think that our city council has been caught up in a perpetual state of short-term planning where we look at what is important for right now at the expense of the future, often,” Ollivier said.
“And I think that has led to a lot of issues as far as over-taxing and a lack of true opportunity in the city. Because of that, I think I have a good perspective that I can add to council by looking more long-term and at sustainable growth and economic prosperity through long-term planning.”
A Saskatchewan native who has called Thunder Bay home for several years, Ollivier left the radio business a couple of years ago to start his own public relations firm.
He’d like to see city planner focus more on controlling urban sprawl, saying it would add dollars to the tax base without stretching infrastructure spending.
“Long-term, that’s where we can start to see savings,” he said, adding there are plenty of efficiencies that can be found at city hall.
Ollivier does believe the city needs a new event centre. Fort William Gardens, in the long run, is too costly to keep going, he said.
“It really doesn’t make sense not to approach the idea of a new event centre. And in that case, does it not make more sense to build it sooner, rather than later, before costs escalate more than they already have?”
But is the city getting the right deal?
“Are we going to have outside companies coming in an exploiting Thunder Bay for an opportunity to make money and putting all the risk on taxpayers? That’s something that I’m more concerned about, because I think that’s where have more potential for long-term problems.”
Find Logan Ollivier on Facebook; or on Twitter @LoganOllivier
