Delegations

• Consider unlimited delegations.
• Lengthen time of delegations.
• Delegations should occur earlier in the process - not on the night of the vote.
• Have an expectation that councillors interact with delegates.
• Allow delegations to be made virtually.
• Be considerate of people who may feel nervous speaking in public.

Policy Development

• Public input should be sought earlier in the policy development process.
• There should be citizen advisory committees with council representation that provide input to policy development.
• Budget consultations should be better organized and designed to facilitate public input.
• When making decisions, let the public know the trade-offs that were considered and why a particular option was chosen.
• When consulting with residents or organizations, give them enough time to prepare thoughtful input.
• Move away from departmental silos and take a more horizontal approach to policy development.

Communication

• More effective internal and external communication by the city is required.
• Provide resources to council members to allow them to more effectively communicate with their constituents.
• Show up where people are - for example, go to a park to talk about recreation.
• Utilize subject matter experts to design more effective engagement processes that are user-centric.

Engagement

• Continue canvassing door-to-door after the election to continue to hear citizen input.
• Consider holding regular "office hours" to meet with residents.
• Share the task of engaging residents with all of council.
• Consider creating resident councils in each ward.

Other

• Given increased councillor salaries, a higher degree of professionalism should be expected of council members.
• Build a culture of trust between residents and City Hall.
• Encourage senior staff to participate in broader community life and activities to develop skin in the game.
• Reward innovative thinking within City Hall.
• Consider at-large election of council members.
• Ensure that closed sessions adhere to legislative requirements.

Multi-Use Sport and Event Centre

• Replace the Memorial Centre, which no longer meets modern operational requirements.
• Explore whether the currently proposed location is the best option or if alternatives exist.
• Ensure the project must be a multi-use facility that generates economic activity, rather than just a simple arena replacement.
• Include the development of a convention centre in future phases of the project.
• Secure private sector partnerships to create new revenue streams.
• Ensure adequate parking is accommodated in the plans.
• Ensure the facility serves as a catalyst for downtown revitalization.
• While this large project will take time to develop, smaller projects that generate new economic activity should be undertaken in the short term.

Downtown

• Supporting downtown small businesses is key to the area's revitalization.
• A broader mix of businesses and services is needed downtown.
• Host more downtown events, ensuring something significant is happening every weekend.
• Ensuring people feel safe is fundamental to revitalizing the downtown core.
• Consider increased police patrols.
• Consider establishing a downtown "ambassador program," similar to successful models in other communities.
• Multiple approaches are required to deal with the root causes of homelessness.
• The financial burden of addressing social issues (such as addiction, mental illness, and homelessness) should not fall solely on local businesses and residential taxpayers.
• The city should consider building additional tiny homes outside the downtown core.
• The definition of "downtown" should encompass the broader area, not just the zone governed by the DBIA.
• Peterborough should explore offering free downtown parking, as seen in other communities.

Employment Land

• The community needs more serviced industrial land.
• Economic infrastructure must be developed to support the ALTO project.
• Prospective employers require land that is available in the short term.
• The city must work cooperatively with the County and neighboring townships to develop additional employment lands.
• When seeking new employers, Peterborough should market the entire region cooperatively with other local municipalities.
• The city should actively seek to attract GTA technology businesses to Peterborough.

City Regulations

• A one-stop approach is needed for accessing city service.
• City Hall needs to roll out the "red carpet" instead of "red tape" for prospective new businesses.
• Onerous regulations make the city less competitive in attracting new business investment.
• The permitting process for community events must be streamlined to eliminate 48-page applications.
• The city should find ways to manage liability rather than simply saying "no".
• Staff should be encouraged to find a way to get to "yes".

Marketing the Community

• Marketing efforts for Peterborough should emphasize community pride.
• We need to build a culture of "yes".
• The city must recognize that our tourism product extends beyond municipal boundaries.
• Marketing should focus on the Peterborough region as a whole, not just the city itself.
• The Fleming skilled trades centre should be emphasized as a major asset for businesses considering locating here.
• Any potential data centres must utilize green technologies, find alternatives to water cooling, and be compatible with the current electrical supply.

Economic Development Process

• The city needs a well-defined economic development strategy that is clearly communicated to residents.
• Regular economic development updates should be provided to City Council.
• The city must find a way to revitalize Clean Tech Commons and renew its partnership with Trent University.
• The city should explore a larger role for the Innovation Cluster.
• Since 85% of growth comes from existing businesses, the city must actively support and nurture them.
• Peterborough should look to other successful communities for best practices.

Other Issues

• It is important for the mayor to remain responsive to individual resident concerns.
• Strong mayor powers should never be a first choice; consensus should always be sought, and these powers should be limited to critical community priorities.
• The city has become too insular and needs to become more welcoming, connected, engaged, and forward-looking.
• There needs to be a concerted effort to engage more young people in community building and revitalization.

Taxes

• Participants pointed out that Peterborough’s taxes have increased more substantially than similarly sized communities, however we don’t seem to have anything more in the way of services or new infrastructure.
• The tax increases experienced over the last five years are not sustainable – they represent a significant burden on people.
• High municipal taxes keep businesses from locating to Peterborough.
• People are leaving the community because they feel they are not receiving good value for their tax dollars.
• Compare tax rates to neighbouring communities (like Lindsay) to ensure competitiveness.
• Remember that it is not only homeowners that pay property taxes – landlords pass extraordinary tax increases onto tenants.
• Appreciate the impact of compounding tax increases (30%+ over five year).
• Maximize the use of provincial funding.
• Cap taxes at the rate of inflation.

Efficiencies

• Do not cut services - the amount saved would have a minimal impact on the tax rates but have a big impact on people - especially those most vulnerable.
• Achieving efficiency needs to be combined with achieving growth.
• It would appear that infrastructure road work could be better planned as people observed recently resurfaced roads being ripped up for additional work to be completed.
• Proactively communicate openly on major capital projects.

Economic Development

• Key to keeping taxes low.
• Key to lower taxes is growing the assessment base - make the pie bigger - so services would not have to be cut.
• We need more serviced industrial land to enable us to attract new businesses, create more jobs, and expand our assessment base.
• Participants observed that the last 20 years has seen a decline in the number of manufacturing jobs in the community, a reduction in rail service, and an underutilization of existing employment lands in the city.
• We need more economic development - eliminating PKED without an alternative service ready to go cost the city two years of strategic business development activities.
• Excessive regulations are stifling business growth in the community.
• The City’s tourism strategy needs to be strengthened - make it simple for people to understand what they can do in Peterborough - we need to develop an identity that attracts visitors to our community.

City Hall

• Neil was asked how he would address councillors who oppose his ideas to which he identified the need to build a team approach, establish common goals at the beginning of the term and to use his skills as a consensus builder.
• Neil expressed his desire to create a municipal culture at city Hall that encourages innovation, rewards creativity, and is welcoming to staff input.
• Senior City employees should be encouraged to engage in the life of the community.
• The mayor needs to establish a culture of welcoming at City Hall - remove barriers to access mayor and staff.

Other

• Neil was asked how his best skill would equip him to be a good mayor - he responded by citing his ability to bring people together to achieve common goals, that he is a consensus builder, a passionate community builder, and that he is an optimist - especially about the future of Peterborough.
• Neil was asked his biggest accomplishment in life and replied it was the raising of his two daughters.

Neil’s Opening Comments

• To ensure a thriving downtown, I will have businesses’ back - reducing city regulations to help businesses expand, working with the police to effectively patrol downtown, making it easier to create quality second-storey residential units, and sponsoring events that bring people downtown.
• I will ensure that property standards are maintained that daily maintenance and care of the downtown is undertaken, and that complaints are responded to quickly by deploying a rapid-reporting app.
• I will establish Peterborough Proud Program - a city-led initiative that invites residents, businesses, schools, service clubs, and neighbourhood groups to help care for the downtown.
• I will create a Downtown Ambassador Program - a team of highly visible, trained individuals dedicated to making the downtown a more welcoming, vibrant, and safe place for everyone.
• I will work relentlessly with our partners to expand shelter capacity and supportive housing.

Facilitate Business Downtown

• Consider incentives to help businesses prosper
• Some think landlords are receiving tax benefits to leave spaces vacant, and that such a policy would be contrary to revitalizing downtown
• It was noted that many downtown landlords live outside of Peterborough
• Use city incentives for new businesses to come in
• Encourage new businesses to locate downtown with rental discounts
• Incentivize business employees and owners to park in parking garages rather than on streets
• Provide annual parking passes for downtown
• Implement an easier payment system for parking
• Recognize businesses for their contribution to the community
• Incentivize new businesses to come downtown instead of locating on the outskirts

Improve the Look of Downtown

• Ensure owners to take care of downtown buildings
• Heritage department should advocate and determine who gets money to maintain buildings
• Increase police foot patrols downtown

Safety

• Many suggested we need more police officers employed to lower crime and show a stronger presence
• Some suggested fewer safe consumption sites
• Many agreed that treatment services for the addicted needed to be improved
• Perception of downtown needs to be changed – reality doesn't matter if downtown is perceived as unsafe

Other Issues

• Suggestion to defund police and invest in other services
• Mental health officers should deal with calls specifically
• A desire was expressed to have a better focus on individuals and the experiences of people struggling - not just looking at downtown as an identity
• Many of the issues being experienced downtown apply to the city as a whole
• The importance of directing more services and energy to the broader community
• Less concentration of social services in the downtown - spread services across the city
• Attract businesses to downtown to increase total tax revenue, then reinvest that revenue into social services
• Fear was expressed that out-of-town investors will price current residents out of the downtown housing market
• Need more transit connections through downtown and more accessible service
• Move crisis centres away from downtown
• Fewer councillors and elect councillors at large to ensure decisions are taken with city wide interests as the priority
• Consider the return of the Unity Project

Neil’s Comments

• A compassionate city recognizes that every resident matters.
• Compassion isn’t choosing one group over another - it’s remembering everyone belongs.
• Compassion begins with listening.
• A compassionate community is one that invests in things that make people’s lives better.
• It includes investing upstream - dealing with problems before they become crisis.
• Compassion means connecting people - people who know each other are more likely to help each other.
• Compassion means treating people with dignity.
• Compassion includes helping people finding housing at different stages of life.
• Compassion means making people feel safe.
• Compassion includes fiscal responsibility.
• We need to eliminate waste, plan for the future, avoid passing today’s bills to tomorrow’s taxpayers.
• Greatest compassion is providing opportunity. People flourish when given opportunities.
• Compassion is striving to make tomorrow better than today.

People helping people

• Local initiative from Ashley Bonner in East City was described that empowers neighbours to respond to emergencies - neighbors helping each other - knowing where the vulnerable are - cooling and warming centres - people taking care of each other.
• Province has made big cuts - making being compassionate hard - we need to be forceful with the province - people are overwhelmed and need help.
• We need to understand people are struggling - especially young people - lots of despair.
• Too much black and white thinking - we need to be more creative - when we take care of the most vulnerable we have a "trickle up" economy.
• Teach people to advocate for themselves - stop people from being taken advantage of.
• Need to direct initiatives at the entire community and not just segments of the community.

Dealing with City Hall

• Sometimes people are treated as problems to be solved rather than be treated as people to be served.
• Active listening by political leaders is important - needs to continue between elections - how do you do it after elected - town halls, meetings, openness and transparency at city hall, being seen in the community, continue to canvass even after the election.
• Residents noted that their local councillors were responsive but sometimes didn’t have the information residents were looking for.
• Councillors need to encourage innovative ideas. When dealing with constituent ideas look for ways to move forward, encourage don’t discourage - innovative ways to achieve housing solutions was used as an example.
• Council needs to be transparent how they make decisions - this is particularly important around land use decisions.
• Some participants made the point that council members had an obligation to explain the reasoning behind why they voted in a certain way.
• Allow council to be creative in serving the community - be careful about too many restriction on their activities.
• Let city staff have more flexibility in dealing with the public. Works well when staff has effective leadership.
• Frustration comes from lack of information. Many good things that are happening are not well communicated.
• The communication staff in the City have heavy workloads. Could volunteers be deployed to help circulate routine messaging.
• Municipal staff leadership should be engaged in the community.

Housing

• How do we make tomorrow better for those at one city - housing is a key - need to come up with proactive solutions.
• Let’s learn from the programs that worked in the past to build new housing.
• It was noted we already are a compassionate city - lots of money has been invested in shelters and housing - compassion needs to be combined with fiscal accountability - City needs to be responsible spending money.

Economic Development

• To create wealth we need more land - need cooperative approach with County.
• Pessimism was expressed about whether we can attract new business - Neil responded that just because it didn’t happen in the past is not a reason to not try going forward.

Other issues

• Where do we find money - need to get money from the province to do things - Neil response is he has good relations with MP and MPP - money will go to communities with innovative solution.
• Taxes cannot just keep going up.
• Strong mayor powers - how will Neil use them - he replied that he will always work to build a consensus and generally won’t need to use powers. If he would need them they would be used in an open, transparent, and accountable manner.
• Compassion requires a “pain plan” - we need to address what is causing the pain - addiction, mental health, feeling of helplessness, etc. - need to get to root causes.
• Hard to measure the impact of a meal when someone is hungry, a smile when someone is lonely, one moment in time can make a world of difference.
• Important to understand the difference between compassion vs posturing - compassion is getting things done - posturing is talking about getting things done.
• Life can be difficult in Ptbo public housing properties - appear to be lots of vacancy but many people remain on waiting lists - people are housed in regular units who really need assisted living units - disruptive tenants can make life difficult for others.
• Instilling compassion should happen at the neighbourhood level - it is a grassroots effort undertaken block by block.
• There are resources for seniors in the community - we need to better communicate them.
• Important that public infrastructure is built/modified to accommodate persons with disabilities.