Candidate Questions - Ashlea Street
1 In 2023, for several reasons, a secondary audit was requested of SAMA. SAMA declined this request. Currently the City and council have chosen to do nothing in regards to this issue. What are you prepared to do?
I am prepared to follow through to do the necessary things to correct the very obvious issues we have with SAMA. I would engage in other Government agencies to get a secondary audit done by an actual independent auditor, this could be the government relations or provincial auditor.
2. Saskatoon has a Governance Committee which oversees their property tax/assessment department, and theirs far exceeds ours. Are you prepared to implement the changes needed in order to mirror/reflect theirs? Or something better?
Yes, we need to consolidate with other cities and see what the pros and cons were of the systems they have in place to see what would best suit moose Jaws size and take that imprint and implement that based on research and development already done by a bigger Center.
3. a). In your words, What does a Moose Jaw Citizen say when they are asked “What do you think of Moose Jaw?”
Citizens I have come across seem……Let down, you can hear it in their voice and see it in their face, having said this I believe that they have faith.
b). If you are elected, What will the Citizens be saying in 4 years?
I am confident in who I am, and I know that if I have been elected along with councillors that were truly running for the right reasons, I know that in 4 years Citizens will see big improvements of many things in a short period time, because I am one that likes to get things done and if I have to dig in the dirt to get it done I will!
4. Right now there is a lot of talk about a proposed hotel on the zero block of River Street West. Rumours which include the potential building of a parkade by the City in the area.
The question is as an elected official how much City money - if any - are you prepared to spend either directly or indirectly in an effort to see the proposed hotel development get off the ground?
I cannot fully answer something I am not fully informed of, having said this I am in favour of economic development and welcome development to improve for many reasons.
5. Are you in favour of more or less funding by the way of levies? Or do you favour finding more funding by the way of tax increases? Can you explain your reasoning?
Levies are building a fund and are currently not being reconciled properly and may not be utilized for what they supposedly are collected for. Essentially Levies & taxes are the same and make it very confusing for the rate payer.
6. In your own words what is the most important infrastructure projection that needs to be completed.
The programs and initiatives we are funding!
Where or how would you locate funding for this project?
Currently we are not doing the bare minimum for the projected amount for the 20 yr plan Cast Iron project possibly in my opinion this is and area that should be looked at and reconcilled. There are unnecessary expenditures such as the greenwave initiatives as well as the southeast industrial excessively expensive studies & Master plan along with the transportation plan. These are some of the long list of things that I have found in my research as to where one could save, If elected I would like to see the process and procedures, but ultimately I believe that there is a way of properly managing and budgeting to get things done and to save money at the same time while keeping the citizens happy! This can be done!
7. Affordability is a major concern for many residents.
Are you prepared - yes or no - to strive to make Moose Jaw more affordable?
Yes absolutely and I believe it can be done with the right city council and city Administrations
Can you briefly explain how you would accomplish this?
Processes and procedures, development, management, maintenance, good business practice etc. all need to be done right and maintained and you have to spend the money to do this which in return will maintain the housing value in this city and bring economic development and new business to this city with a balance of new home owners which means more tax dollars for this city without having to over tax the loyal citizens of this community.