Larry O’Brien

Today I delivered my State of the City Address to Council. Please see below a copy of my speech. 

This morning I would like to provide Council with some thoughts relating to priorities for 2009.

We have just passed the halfway point of our mandate and I think it is important to put our priorities in the perspective of what we as a Council have accomplished in the last two years.

In the hectic blur of dealing with so many different issues, sometimes people forget all that we’ve accomplished together so I thought I would take a few moments to congratulate you on your many successes.

In the past two years we have improved on the following:

Tourism

You approved the funding for an amazing new Ottawa Congress Centre. The new OCC will be an incredible addition to the Capital. This was long overdue but you made it happen.

Environment

You have approved an organics waste diversion green bin program after years of failed starts. Again, this was long overdue. You made it happen.

Transportation

You have improved the mass transit plans for Ottawa. Ottawa now has a magnificent plan that will transform the City for decades to come. This was an emotional and difficult debate, but together we got it done. This new plan has significant public and almost unanimous Council support. Together we made it happen. 

Technology

You approved a multi-year technology enhancement program for the City that will see Paperless Council and many additional improvements by 2010. Again, a few years late but you got it done.

Budget

During the last two years you have improved the budget process in many other ways.

You started in 2007 by developing a fiscal framework through a facilitated planning process in our first summer. This year you introduced a budget challenge function that saved our taxpayers about $10 million from our baseline. We got there because most of you worked with staff to find savings at the start of the budget process.

I personally was not happy with the result of 2009 budget, but I was encouraged that we moved ahead with a more transparent and easier to understand process. We have now set the stage to improve even more in 2009 and 2010.

Infrastructure renewal

You approved a 2 per cent infrastructure levy in 2007 that helped us invest over $300 million in infrastructure in 2008.  This was an important and critical decision.

Education

City Council donated land to help build two new trades schools at Algonquin College and Cité Collégiale. This will ensure we train and keep the future of our workforce here in the Nation’s Capital. Good decision for the long term.

Ottawa River and environment

You also committed to investing  $100 million with the help of the federal and provincial government in to repairing the sewer systems in Ottawa so that we will reduce all accidental spills and 65 per cent of the planned spills into the Ottawa River. This was the right decision for our future.

Transformation

You have also approved the de-layering of and re-organization of City Hall that will result in reducing staff levels, the elimination of management silos, and better operational control of city operations. This is the most significant management change at City Hall since amalgamation. You have given management the okay to restructure and that took courage.

Public safety

You have worked with the Police Services Board to approve a budget in 2007 that resulted in officers back on the beat and a new squad focusing on street crimes. As a result the City feels safer and is safer. Congratulations!

And we did this along with conducting the regular business of Council and all that it entails. This Council has done an amazing amount of high-quality work. People forget all that we’ve accomplished together. Well done to all of you.

We have come a long way, but there is still much important work to be done. 

After public safety and security of our water, electricity, police, fire and paramedics, the next priority for a municipality is the prosperity of its residents. The single most important economic tool we have is our public transit system.  

Transit

Now that the strike is over, we are working hard to get all our buses back on the road and grow our ridership levels. Our next priority is achieving funding for our new public transit plan.
 
Already our staff is working with the provincial and federal governments to reach a common understanding of the technical aspects of our plan. 

Once that is complete we will invite the federal and provincial government to become fair funding partners and become part of our shared vision for the City of Ottawa transit plan.

As a Council we will also explore and debate the various alternate funding models that may accelerate the implementation of the entire plan. City Manager Kent Kirkpatrick has made it a priority of his own.

We as a Council will have important policy debates around these issues as we proceed in the best interests of the taxpayers.

Spending infrastructure stimulus money

The next priority we have will be to maximize opportunities provided by federal and provincial government stimulus funding.

Next week we will be producing a list of shovel-ready infrastructure projects and this Friday I am meeting with industry representatives to ensure we are ready to meet the challenge of spending this money effectively by the spring and in the best interests of the Citizens of Ottawa.

Lansdowne Park

Another priority is the renewal of Lansdowne Park.  

Lansdowne Park is the largest and most significant City owned property. I know all of us agree it has the potential to be the most important meeting place in our City. It should be the jewel of Ottawa.

It is time to bring Council together on this city building project and work out a process to establish the principles for this property development, reach a conclusion and move forward.  

During this debate we will also look at two competing proposals to bring new important sporting assets to Ottawa.

High quality contributors are presenting MLS Soccer and CFL Football to Ottawa and we owe it to our citizens to make a thoughtful choice of which proposal to support and what is in the best interest of the taxpayer.

Accountability and governance

We have committed to reviewing our governance process in 2009…how will Council decide to structure itself to make decisions in the future.

I believe this is an important long-term improvement that we should make in the coming year.

Our citizens have made it clear – they want our governance process to improve. 

My Task Force on Governance is set to release their report in the coming weeks.

City staff will also be circulating a series of discussion papers to help facilitate our deliberations.

These white papers are a direct result of consultations and interviews they have had with each member of Council.

Finance committee

According to staff, Council has made many valuable suggestions on how to improve our decision making process.
My belief is that we also need to include in this debate the potential of altering our committee structure to create a standing committee on finance.

I hope we can reach an agreement on creating this committee to keep an eye on spending year round and give this committee the tools and the human resources to build and recommend a budget to Council instead of leaving the heavy lifting to city staff.

The budget process is one of our most important responsibilities.

The budget is far too important not to have the checks and balances of the budget process going on all year long.

In closing I want to congratulate you again for the work you have accomplished in the past two years. 

It has been rocky at times but that is the nature of transformation.  

We are past the halfway mark in our 1,000 days of transformation and we are doing well.

Thank you and lets start the meeting.

After a chat with Dr. Michael Binder, President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), I felt better about the truck that was stopped at the U.S. border on January 29.

The truck was quarantined taking sludge from our sewage treatment facility for disposal in the U.S. and it set off radiation detectors at the border crossing. According to Dr. Binder, the likely candidate for the alert was Iodine-131.

Iodine-131 is a medical isotope used in a variety of tests and treatments in hospitals. It has a very short half-life of only eight days. This means it loses half of its radioactivity every eight days and for all essential purposes, potency is very short making it ideal as a medical isotope.

According to Dr. Binder when a patient uses washroom facilities it then ends up in our sewage system and can radiate the sludge. This sludge is fertilizer during the summer but contractors find other means to dispose of it during the winter. This particular contractor was taking it to a landfill in the United States.

By the time we get to test the truck in quarantine again, the isotopes will likely have decayed completely. Tests will confirm this in the next few days but according to the CNSC, there is no danger for the residents of Ottawa.

For more information on CNSC please click here.

I was delighted today to join both Councillor Bob Monette and Councillor Rob Jellett in Orléans to make a $50,000 presentation to both of these volunteer groups to help them continue their important work to protect and improve both the Ottawa River and Petrie Island.

Everyone agrees that Ottawa is well served by volunteer groups like these that make a difference in the day-to-day lives of the citizens of Ottawa. Meredith Brown, the Executive Director of Ottawa Riverkeeper and Allan Tweedle, Chair of the Friends of Petrie Island reflected on the need to continue working and investing in our environmental heritage.

We are a lucky city to be blessed with organizations like the ones they represent.

The City of Ottawa has committed $ 99M to solve 100% of the accidental spillage and 65% of the residual spillage that occurs after major rain events. This follows the terrible spill of one billion litres of sewage in the summer of 2006.

I am very proud of the leadership position we have taken on this issue. We asked the Federal Government to increase their commitment from $20M to $ 33M and they did. Thank you to Environment Minister John Baird. As a Council we approved the use of $33M in provincial funding to be directed to this project and matched that with an equal amount from our municipal budget. Together we found a solution to an important environmental problem. Well done to all involved!!!

This morning we covered a lot of ground at the second Gatineau/NCC/Ottawa Tripartite Committee meeting. Gatineau Mayor Marc Bureau, NCC CEO Marie Lemay and I met to discuss the issues that are important to all of us. These meetings are turning out to be a very productive way to exchange views and concerns with our partners in the National Capital Region.

First and foremost I am delighted that the City of Gatineau and the City of Ottawa will exchange technical information on the status of our respective sewer and storm water systems. Mayor Bureau was immediately supportive of our request to exchange technical data and he shares the same pride in the quality of life that the Ottawa River provides to all of us in the NCR. 

Secondly the City of Gatineau informed us they have reduced the number of STO rest (wait) stops on Ottawa streets from over 500 per day to fewer than 50. This is in response to our request to reduce the impact of STO buses on King Edward and other streets in the area. STO understands our concerns and both sides agree that 28,000 trips per day are better made by bus than by clogging up our City streets with cars. OC Transpo and STO will continue to work together to lower this number even more.

Car Free Day

Speaking of cars today is Car Free Day in the City of Ottawa. Car Free Day is an annual international event celebrated by 100 million people on every continent and I was pleased to see some of my colleagues mark the day by choosing to leave their cars at home. I saw that Councillor Gord Hunter and Councillor Alex Cullen both rode their bikes into work today. Good work Councillors!!  I am fortunate to live a short distance from City Hall and enjoyed my walk to work on this beautiful fall day.

If VRTUCAR and Green Rewards have anything to do with it next year Ottawa will celebrate Car Free Day with even more pizzazz. Both of these companies made announcements today (please click here to view press release) that will help make our City more environmentally friendly.

Green Rewards is Canada’s national green-friendly loyalty program that is the first of it’s kind in the world. This program allows Canadians to collect points on environmentally friendly items like your monthly OC Transpo pass (for more information on Green Rewards please click here).

VRTUCAR allows people who use transit, walk or bike to work to share a car by the hour or for several days. The company offers 38 locations across the City to ensure it is convenient to get a car when you need one (for more information on VRTUCAR please click here). I am delighted that the City has entered into these two worthwhile partnerships that are sure to benefit residents and our environment. All in all it has been a good day!