Council’s credibility needs rebuild: Gray

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

It’s highly unlikely that Ward 5 city councillor elect John Gray would have envisioned himself re-entering into the world of municipal politics a year ago.

Gray, who served three terms on council and was mayor between 2003 and 2010, admits his decision to run was a rather late one.

Running for mayor again was considered, but not the right choice in his mind.

“My most trusted advisor told me I always clear out my bank account when I run. I want to stay married, so I listened to my wife,” Gray jokes.

However, he is not laughing when speaking on the main reason he chose to run.

Gray says was unhappy with how the city handled a push for documents related to the purchase of the operations depot at 199 Wentworth Street East.

“It made it clear that something wasn’t quite right,” he observes.

That situation, in the former mayor’s view, raises some serious questions.

“There is now a credibility issue that council has, and we need to clean that up.”

Gray says the city shouldn’t hesitate to provide information to the public.

“Let the public make their own decisions. Political spin doctors will spin any issue any which way. The only thing that matters at the end of the day is what are the facts and what is the truth,” he says.

Gray says these criticisms are not political in nature.

“If they made some decisions that I perhaps didn’t agree with, that’s okay, that’s what councils do. I’m sure there were some people who came on after I left that were perhaps not happy with some of the decisions we made.”

He also voiced concerns over a media release from the summer where the city’s clerks department apologized for certain oversights that contributed to the lack of transparency and non-release of documents pertaining to the city’s purchase of lands for the depot.

First off, Gray says the media statement “threw the clerks department under the bus.”

“I think you’ve got to be much more accurate when you put out these press releases, and can’t be seen to be covering for politicians and senior staff,” Gray adds.

While the city has experienced record growth over the past few years, Gray says there are underlying issues, namely the ratio of residential taxpayers to commercial and industrial.

“It’s really gone backward. We are now upwards of 80 to 90 per cent of assessments coming from residential, and in the old days, we had a much healthier ratio,” he says. “It’s telling you where our economy has gone.”

He was pleased to hear discussion about pre-servicing more land in the regional chair race.

“We are all looking for the big fish, and there are very few big fish in the pond. But when they do come to town, and you can’t service the land, and it’s going to take three years for something to go forward, guess what, they’re going to move to another community,” he says.

While Gray concedes the expansion of GO Train service eastward will bring in development, that is still years away.

“There will be some pre-investment, and the go-getters are going step in and buy land around the stations. But in the meantime, that’s not good enough,” he says. “We have to have some pretty good tools in our toolbox to make sure we are getting the jobs, and most importantly, those assessment dollars, so we aren’t so reliant on the residential base.”

But there are positives to the growth.

He notes that Oshawa used to have a “horrible reputation” with the development community.

This was something he aspired to change as mayor.

“We eliminated that issue. We met with some of the big developers…and showed them Oshawa was a worthwhile community to invest in,” Gray says.

This made it easier to work with developers and enabled the construction of facilities such as the Legends Centre, and Tribute Communities Centre.

“We made sure it was worthwhile for new residents to come here. I wouldn’t want to go back 12 to 14 years ago when parents were driving to Scarborough just to get ice time for their son or daughter.”

In Ward 5 specifically, Gray wants to progress on the harbour lands.

He uses Pickering and Whitby as examples of communities with vibrant waterfronts.

“Whitby used to have a pretty scrubby waterfront, and over the years they’ve continued to work at it. They’ve done a superb job, and there is no reason why Oshawa can’t do the same thing.”

Bringing a marina back to the city is essential, Gray adds, but won’t happen overnight.

“The first order of operation is a dredging, and it appears to be very expensive.”

Another hurdle the city faces is where materials from that dredging will be relocated to.

Gray points out that Oshawa never had “a high-end marina,” but it was something that many people enjoyed.

“Average everyday folks wanting to put a boat in the water and enjoy the culture that developed around the waterfront.”

To him, the marina was a significant source of revenue for the Oshawa Port Authority, and it only closed because the organization didn’t put resources back into it.

“If they had invested over the years, we’d still have a marina operational and have that extra revenue.”

But there are other steps that can be taken in the short-term to make the lands more accessible and inviting the public on the East Wharf, such as adding trees, boardwalks and additional parking. These are all things that can be done without breaking the bank, in Gray’s opinion.

“That’s an important first step in my estimation to improving the experience of our harbour,” he says.

Gray says once more of the city’s debt is paid down further, it gives council more freedom to look at bigger projects.

Since leaving office, Gray has seen what he calls a lack of “maintenance and beautification.”

“It affects all of us. We’re a community that is challenged sometimes for pride and esteem. We need to take that to heart, and make sure the city is going ahead with its best foot forward.”

He harkens back to when Oshawa won awards through the Communities In Bloom competition.

“That’s the real Oshawa,” he says.

Allowing weeds to overgrow around intersections are the “little things that really cause people to get down on the city. I don’t want that, I want people to be proud of where they live.”

On the return to the ward system, Gray thinks it’s the best choice.

“We had the experience of the general vote system. And the people discovered when you call members of council and they don’t feel a connection to the neighbourhood, they didn’t get the callback, and they were frustrated,” he says.

But being the representative for Ward 5 does not absolve him of focusing on issues across the city.

“Does it mean I have to stop worrying about what is going on downtown or worry about the airport, or does it mean I don’t have to worry about growth in the north end? Of course, I do,” he says.

As one of three former councillors returning, Gray says he understands the learning curve for the newcomers.

“We have to show respect for our colleagues when they ask questions we already know the answers to,” he says.

He is aware of some of the challenges Dan Carter will be facing in his new role of mayor.

“I discovered that first year there are always people throwing some landmines in front of you. If Dan wants any advice, he’s welcome to come to me, and I’ll give him advice. If he chooses to listen to me, great, and if he chooses to get his information from somebody else, I’m happy too.”

He is glad to mentor anybody who asks him for help, but “the bottom line has always got to be how we move the city forward and make it a better place.”