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Fredericton Mayor Mike O'Brien launch Video to announce he's reoffering for Mayor viewed by Blogger
Fredericton mayor reoffers, promotes himself as steady hand
Mike O'Brien seeking second term as mayor of capital city
CBC News· Posted: Feb 18, 2021 11:46 AM AT
Mike O'Brien has officially reoffered to be mayor of Fredericton. O'Brien says he has guided the city through some tough times during his term as mayor. (Philip Drost/CBC)
Mike O'Brien is pitching himself as a steady, experienced hand in uncertain times as he officially announces his candidacy for mayor of Fredericton.
O'Brien, who has already served one term as mayor of the capital city, announced his decision to reoffer Tuesday.
He said a lot has happened in the city since he's become mayor, which demonstrates the need for a steady hand at the top.
"Being the leader of the city during the [shooting] tragedy of 2018, a couple of spring floods, all those issues that it takes a pretty steady hand at the top to keep the city moving forward and healing during those kinds of processes," said O'Brien.
"Those are things you can never plan for, but when you live through them, it gives you the experience to really help moving forward."
But several portfolios have seemingly come to a standstill during O'Brien's time as mayor, including plans for a regional aquatic centre, a new court house and a performing arts centre to replace the aging Playhouse.
O'Brien maintains those projects require provincial buy-in and will see limited movement until the province is onboard.
"Sometimes you have to play the long game on these," said O'Brien.
"We talk about it consistently and meet with them all the time. So, no, there's no commitment yet, but it's not a lack of effort or trying and it will happen."
Controversy
At least one project begun during O'Brien's tenure has created some controversy.
The development of Officers' Square drew the ire of residents concerned about maintaining the site's historic value and the requirement to remove several large trees.
O'Brien said the decision to move ahead with the revitalization was made by council, not him alone, but admitted communication around the project could've been better.
"We learned kind of last minute about some of the implications that might be on the trees," said O'Brien.
"People in the city are passionate about trees. We plant 500 of them a year, but if you remove one or two, you hear about it."
Competition
O'Brien already has competition for his job.
Earlier this month, city councillor Kate Rogers announced her candidacy for mayor.
Earlier this month city councillor Kate Rogers announced her candidacy for mayor. If elected Rogers would make history by becoming the first woman to be mayor of Fredericton. (Gary Moore/CBC)
If elected, Rogers would make history by becoming the first woman to be mayor of Fredericton.
She is the only woman serving on council.
Municipal elections, which were postponed last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are scheduled to be held on May 10.
With files from Information Morning Fredericton
STU professor running for mayor to ‘challenge’ the way things are
(Alishya Weiland/AQ)
Corinne Saunders Hersey has been a sociology professor at St. Thomas University for 17 years. Now she’s running for mayor of Fredericton. She said Mike O’Brien’s time as mayor didn’t meet her expectations.
Running for mayor was something Hersey had considered for a while and after the City of Fredericton budget meeting in December 2019, she knew there was no turning back.
“[You get to] that moment where you say, ‘Okay, I have to let it go’ or ‘I have to do it.’”
She said she disagrees on how the money was distributed.
“The New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition gets no money from the city. The homeless shelters don’t get much of anything from the city.”
She said Fredericton could also be doing more to combat climate change, help reduce homelessness and provide better public transportation.
“If don’t get in, then I don’t get in. But at least I can raise some of the concerns that I feel in the debate.”
Hersey has yet to submit her nomination papers because she said she wants to formulate a plan first and discuss things with her team. She plans to submit the papers this week.
A lifelong Fredericton resident, she’s been heavily involved in politics most of her life. She is member of the Council of Canadians and grew up in a political household, but has never been a politician.
“I never ran for politics, and I didn’t think I would ever have to. But I just didn’t see anybody else that was going to challenge what was happening.”
She said she was convinced to vote for O’Brien after asking him questions about student housing and jobs for students.
Hersey said he wanted to tackle these issues and she was happy with his answers but hasn’t seen him do anything to move forward on past promises.
She said the mayor’s task force on homelessness was a good start to solving some of the city’s issues but that it hasn’t seen any movement.
Part of her decision to run was based on the municipal government’s reaction to the Officers’ Square protests. Many groups including Save Officers’ Square and the Calithumpians theatre troupe came together to ask the city to reconsider their plans to cut down trees and renovate the square.
“10,000 people signed a petition that wasn’t even heard in city council.”
Even if she wins, Hersey said real change won’t happen unless some different city councillors are elected. That isn’t possible when some councillors for certain districts run unchallenged.
Hersey said she thinks more young people should run for city council and vote in municipal elections.
“I think they pay more attention to provincial not thinking that municipal holds a lot of power, but you have to start somewhere.”
https://www.facebook.com/Corinne4Mayor/
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Fredericton, NB
Joined October 2016