‘Moving boldly’: Mayor discusses homelessness, DEED and funding at State of the City

Article content

“Moving boldly” is the theme that Saskatoon’s mayor brought to her State of the City event, as she fielded questions from businesses and media on a range of hot topics.

Article content

Here’s a rundown of some of the discussions.

Article content

Article content

Downtown Event and Entertainment District

Article content

“In the 1960s, this building (TCU Place), once the Centennial Auditorium, was the front page of the newspaper and everyone was screaming ‘we don’t want this’,” Cynthia Block told the crowd on Thursday.

Article content

Article content

Now, she said she couldn’t imagine not having TCU Place in downtown Saskatoon.

Article content

Article content

The same thing happened in the 1970s, when railroad tracks needed to be moved to make way for Midtown Plaza, Block noted.

Article content

“People were super mad. Could you imagine not having that anchor in our downtown?”

Article content

She said these kinds of public investments bring in tourism — and private investment follows.

Article content

Today’s examples, Block said, include the Link Bus Rapid Transit system and the Downtown Event and Entertainment District.

Article content

Article content

She stressed that while there isn’t an announcement coming, she hopes there will be one in the future.

Article content

Block acknowledged that public pushback comes from caring, and fear loss, adding that she saw the DEED as a natural evolution of Saskatoon.

Article content

She said it’s not just a “nice to have” project: they are losing business due to less opportunities at the SaskTel Centre.

Article content

Article content

Homelessness

Article content

Article content

Article content

“That’s up 30 per cent from last year. That is not sustainable, it is unmanageable, and I don’t think there’s a single person in this room that hasn’t been impacted by it and is frustrated.”

Article content

Article content

Block said the only way Saskatoon is improving the state of homelessness is through interim housing.

Article content

“There is no other way out … housing is the foundation to begin recovery in 99.99 per cent of cases.”

Article content

She said housing with wraparound services to support people facing homelessness can be really expensive, but the city is spending much more money doing what it is now to deal with homelessness.

Article content

Funding cities

Article content

Article content

She said cities maintain about 60 per cent of the infrastructure in the country, but only get about eight per cent of the tax revenue.

Article content

Many people are mad about their property assessment increasing, which causes their property taxes to increase, Block noted.

Article content

She said property taxes aren’t the right tool, and the four-year assessment cycle can create “enormous swings in assessment,” creating risk for homes and businesses.