The mayor of Saint John says he is proud of council and city staff for staying focused on the priorities which matter to the city.
In a year-end interview, Don Darling said they placed a spotlight on growth, municipal reform and fixing their finances in 2018.
“We’re having incredibly important conversations,” Darling said from his office on the eighth floor of City Hall.
“We’re not shying away from conversations that have perhaps not been had in the past about some of the key barriers that we face.”
Population growth
Growing Saint John’s economy and population have been big priorities for city council over the past 12 months.
Darling said a shrinking population is a challenge the city has faced for decades but they have taken steps to help reverse the trend, such as developing a population growth framework.
“We have taken more actions in the last 12 months on population growth than probably the previous decades,” he said, “so I’m very proud of that.”
Darling said the city also released its draft central peninsula neighbourhood plan to bring more people uptown and a growth targets dashboard to help measure their progress.
The mayor said the city is also making improvements in the way it markets itself not only to Saint John residents but those across the country.
Story by Brad Perry
Twitter: @BradMPerry
Email: perry.brad@radioabl.ca
(Photo: Brad Perry/Acadia News)
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