Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 03, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 SAVE 30% OFF SAVE 60 % TO 85 % OFF All 2015 Winter Apparel & Riding Gear SKI- DOO, FXR, SLEDNECKS, FOX & SCOTT! All Discontinued Winter Apparel & Riding Gear SKI- DOO, FXR, OAKLEY & SCOTT! Visit us at EnnsBrothers. com Get a loan, get $ 250 cash back. For a limited time, take out a loan, or transfer your existing loan or credit card balance to Cambrian and get $ 250 bonus cash back. It's time to transfer your loan! Great rates, hassle- free service and cash! www. cambrian. mb. ca ( 204) 925- 2600 11 branches serving Winnipeg and Selkirk Apply online or visit a branch today! Conditions Apply Target liquidation to begin / B4 CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7292 I CITY. DESK@ FREEPRESS. MB. CA I WINNIPEGFREEPRESS. COM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015 B 1 M AYOR Brian Bowman was in a celebratory mood Monday as he marked his first 100 days in office. It began with a 40- minute telephone town- hall meeting in the morning, during which he took questions from Twitter and live callers about the budget process and his response to Maclean's magazine's portrayal of the city. He followed it up with an exchange with reporters. " This virtual town hall. is a good, positive first step," Bowman told those who called in to participate. " It's just the beginning of the dialogue we're going to have over the next four years." Bowman evoked the memory of U. S. president John F. Kennedy when he told reporters why he took time out of his schedule to mark the 100- day anniversary. " I know it's going to take a lot more than 100 days to completely restore trust and faith in city hall, but like JFK said, ' All this may not be finished in the first 100 days or the first thousand or maybe not even in our lifetime, but let us begin.' " Bowman said he'd fulfilled 18 of the 19 commitments he set out for his first 100 days - the only item not completed was the hiring of a new chief administrative officer, but he added that would be done in March. The checklist of 19 commitments included many things Bowman was required to do upon taking office, including attending his own swearing- in ceremony and attending the organizational meeting of council. Not on that list were a few events that caught everyone by surprise and earned Bowman praise for how he handled them: the suspension of the interim acting chief administrative officer; dealing with a city- wide boil- water advisory; responding to a front- cover Maclean's story describing Winnipeg as the most racist city in Canada; and a public showdown with the leadership of CentreVenture, the city's downtown development agency, over its involvement in the purchase and redevelopment of a hotel site near the RBC Convention Centre. But Bowman said the toughest challenge to date has been changing the culture and public perception at city hall. " The toughest ( campaign) pledge was really to restore trust and faith at city hall," Bowman said. " That was undoubtedly the No. 1 priority I heard at the doorstep, and that's why I focused so much attention on opening up city hall. " But we have a long way to go before Winnipeggers can say decisively, ' Yeah, city hall is open, transparent and accountable right now.' " We've got a lot of work to do there." Bowman said he had no figures to show how many people participated in the town hall - believed to be the first event of its kind for the mayor's office - but said he was pleased with the number of questions forwarded to him on Twitter. Bowman said the two biggest surprises of his first 100 days were the Maclean's article and the boil- water advisory. " The job is being able to respond to the challenges as they are thrown at you as a leader, as well as it is about moving my agenda," Bowman said. " You have to be pragmatic to be able to deal with those things." Bowman said his next target date is the annual Mayor's State of the City luncheon hosted by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, set for March 20, at which he'll lay out his vision for the remainder of the year and his four years in office - which he calculated to be 1,358 days. Bowman conceded he offered Winnipeggers an ambitious set of promises during his campaign because he wanted to elevate the expectations of voters. " Had I ran a less ambitious platform, I don't think I'd be serving as mayor, because Winnipeggers have high hopes for the mayor and high hopes for city hall, and I'm prepared to work very hard to fulfil those pledges." Bowman said most of the energies at city hall to date have been focused on drafting the 2015 operating and capital budgets, which he described as " the toughest budget Winnipeggers have faced in many decades." Bowman ran for office with a promise to restrict the property- tax increase to no more than cost- of- living, expected to be about 2.3 per cent, and to trim two per cent from all civic departments, except fire, paramedics and police. Without providing details, Bowman said some departments will see serious impacts. " Something's gotta give," Bowman said. " There are decision that will have to be made in the budget that will not be popular. I'm not happy with some of the decisions that we're being forced to make, but that's the job." Bowman said he has no plans to abandon any campaign promises, including his commitment to complete all five bus rapid- transit corridors by 2030, squeeze more infrastructure dollars from the province, and find an alternative to property taxes as the city's primary source of revenue. aldo. santin@ freepress. mb. ca The first 100 DAYS Mayor marks milestone with virtual town hall B RIAN Bowman was swept to power last fall on a promise to change the culture of the mayor's office in particular, and city hall in general. How has the new mayor fared in this lofty goal? On Monday, Bowman convened a virtual town hall meeting - a conference call open to all citizens of Winnipeg - and held a news briefing to commemorate his first 100 days in office. It certainly looked and felt different. Bowman represents a dramatic change from his predecessor, Sam Katz, in terms of manner, personal style and even tailoring. Bowman is genuinely social- media savvy. His virtual town- hall conference call was a nice mix of the serious and silly. ( Right off the bat, a citizen asked Bowman via Twitter the following question: If he were a professional wrestler, what would be his ring name and what would he use as his entrance music? The mayor chose " Big, Bad, Bodacious Bowman" as his nom de ring, and Unchained by Van Halen as his theme song. It was an awkward but endearing moment.) At the news conference, Bowman was earnest, direct and succinct while fielding questions. That's a nice change from the Katz years, during which the mayor used to revel in his ability to confound journalists and deflect questions. As for sartorial splendour, Katz could never hide his penchant for flamboyant colours and styles - a holdover, no doubt, from his days in entertainment promotion. In contrast, Bowman's style is sleek and modern. On Monday, that was evident from his trendy woollen tie and his skinny cut Swedish suit. But what of more substantive change? Is 100 days enough time to reboot a city hall that had become, at the time of his election last fall, a den rife with patronage, corner- cutting and rulebreaking? It should be noted the 100- days marker is little more than a political gimmick. The term was coined in 1933 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who tasked the 73rd U. S. Congress to use a special 100- day session to pass several pieces of legislation necessary to combat the ravages of the Great Depression. Since then, it has become a not- altogether- meaningful unit of measurement for the urgency and effectiveness of newly elected politicians. Bowman issued more than 100 promises during the mayoral campaign, but only 19 he promised to accomplish before 100 days were up. Bowman claimed success in meeting that deadline, although he rightly admitted some of the pledges ( a transition meeting with former mayor Sam Katz and attending his swearing- in ceremony) were pretty " mundane." He also discussed his performance on a couple of hot- button issues that were not part of his 100- day promises, but have nonetheless become part of his early record. Bowman performed admirably in responding to an empirically challenged story in Maclean's magazine, declaring Winnipeg the most racist city in Canada. And his calm resolve during the water- contamination scare is already being celebrated. Apart from specific accomplishments, Bowman has done a good job of signalling it is not " business as usual" at city hall. In that spirit, he and some of the newly elected members of council have definitely shaken things up. It's too early to say for certain all that shaking was positive or negative. But there has been shaking, of this there is no doubt. Some of the shaking was due more to a new mayor and councillors and the steep learning curve in civic politics. Like when Coun. Marty Morantz, the chairman of the city's finance committee, spewed venom at senior police officers to demonstrate his discomfort over escalating police budgets. In time, Morantz will learn he needs the co- operation of police to bring the budgets under control. Bowman, as well, has stumbled at times. For example, Bowman lashed out at private snow- clearing contractors after receiving complaints about icy ruts. Over time, it will become more evident to the new mayor cold temperatures and snowfalls result in icy ruts that defy better efforts to scrape them away. And that disparaging the folks who drive the plows does not make for better winter road conditions. Those incidents, however, do not erase the fact there has been some real change. Even if it has come in the form of baby steps. Bowman led the charge to suspend interim chief administrative officer Deepak Joshi for reasons that remain mostly unknown at this time. However, after admitting he had lost faith in Joshi, Bowman has served notice to the civic service the new mayor has different and loftier expectations. That is a very good thing indeed. In the end, it seemed evident Bowman is learning the most important things he will accomplish at city hall may not come from a list of campaign pledges. His ability to manage a crisis, make solid contact with life's curveballs and otherwise deal with myriad unforeseen problems and complications will be far more important than whether he was able to attend his own swearingin ceremony. And to date, Bowman is showing he is up to the job. dan. lett@ freepress. mb. ca Bowman already a far cry from predecessor DAN LETT By Aldo Santin JOIN THE CONVERSATION How do you think our new mayor did in his first 100 days? Go to winnipegfreepress. com and add your comments to the conversation SCAN PAGE TO SEE MAYOR DISCUSS HIS FIRST 100 DAYS MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mayor Brian Bowman speaks to a caller during a virtual town hall Monday morning. B_ 01_ Feb- 03- 15_ FP_ 01. indd B1 2/ 2/ 15 8: 45: 56 PM ;