THUNDER BAY – Larry Hebert is just about as sure a thing as there is in the at-large race.
Three times he’s sought a seat – one of five up for grabs – and three times he’s finished in the runner-up position.
This time around the well-known former head of Thunder Bay Hydro, a fixture on the local sports scene, was initially considering running for mayor in 2018, even turning in his nomination papers to run for the city’s top elected job.
But Hebert, 71, said he had a change of heart inspired by business opportunities at his energy consulting business that wouldn’t have allowed him to take on the more demanding role of mayor. So for the fourth time, he’s back in the at-large race, saying there’s still work to be done.
It starts small, he said.
“I want to see strong neighbourhoods developed, something like the people in the east end of have done with their neighbourhood stuff and the North End Rec (Centre) and the swimming on the north side as well,” Hebert said.
“They’ve really built some strong neighbourhoods there and the south side has too, and we should copy those because we’re losing that familiarity, how neighbours look after each other.”
Hebert said he’s proud to say he’s never voted in favour of a city budget in his 12 years on council, noting he’s never been convinced the city couldn’t do more to cut the annual tax-levy hike – though he notes there has to be a compromise and some services will be lost if taxes are to be lowered.
“We’re laying more and more on the residential sector … We have to somehow solve that. I think there are some things we can do. Railway taxation is one of them.”
A private-public partnership at the remaining two city golf courses is another possible tax saver, as his plan to address skyrocketing water rates. Too much of the cost to build a new wastewater treatment plant is being borne by current rate-payers.
“I think we need to spread that cost over a longer number of years and evenly divide those cost between current users and future users,” Hebert said.
The municipal election is on Oct. 22.
