State of the City Address

On behalf of Kitchener city council, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2010 State of the City Address. I am extremely pleased that each of you have decided to join me this evening. I know how busy you all are. I know there are other things you could have chosen to do this evening. So, I truly value your time.

I would like to recognize a number of elected officials who are with us today. In particular, I would like to acknowledge members of Kitchener City Council – some of whom are in the audience today. It is not an exaggeration to say that over the years your efforts and your support for our ambitious forward-thinking agenda has made a huge difference in the lives of the residents you represent. So, thank you for attending this evening and thank you for your ongoing service to this community.

Net proceeds from tonight’s event go towards the Kitchener Mayor and Council Fund held by the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation. The money benefits local charities, so thank you for your support.

Last year the City of Kitchener finalized and released its first-ever, comprehensive strategic plan for the future of our city.

Meant to serve as a roadmap to a better community – and a better tomorrow – our strategic plan describes a shared vision for our future and it identifies six priority areas for us to act upon.

Downtown
Leadership and Engagement
Environment
Development
Diversity
Quality of Life

Over the past five years the annual State of the City addresses have focused our collective attention on five of those six community priorities.

In previous years, I have spoken to you about the importance of each of these areas. I have recounted much of the progress we have made together and I have challenged us all to put our minds to our future.

This year, my remarks will focus on the final and most important of our priorities – improving the quality of life of residents in our city.

Today, I want to tell you in no uncertain terms why I am proud to be a Kitchener resident and why I am proud to be the Mayor of this incredible city.

While boasting about all that is good in our city is definitely not my usual style, I truly believe that it is exactly what is needed today.

As our entire community prepares to engage in a discussion about the future of our city – and the future of our neighbours to the north, it will be more important than ever that we hear from everyone, and not just the naysayers, the critics and the cynics.

It will be more important than ever for us to dream big, imagine the possibilities and dare to be different. After all, where would we be as a community if we hadn’t taken the road less traveled before? Imagine what we would have missed out on.

In the weeks and months ahead much will be said about the character, the history, the people and the potential of the City of Kitchener. And while I am hopeful that the majority of those comments will be made thoughtfully and respectfully, there will no doubt be some who will choose to throw mud and make misinformed comments about our city.

While I respect individuals have a right to their own opinions, as the Mayor of this city I should notand I will not allow unfounded comments to stand.

To do so would be a disservice to the people of the City of Kitchener – people who have worked together with our neighbours for decades to help build a strong and vibrant region where an individual’s quality of life is measured by their hopes and dreams, not their address.

It is no secret that I am a strong supporter of efforts to open a dialogue on a potential merger between the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo. My 22 years of public service – 13 of which I have served as Mayor – have proven to me that, while a merger may not save us a lot of money – it will certainly make us more efficient and give us a stronger voice on the national and international stage.

While I have been advocating for some form of a municipal merger for many years, and I will continue to argue strongly for its benefits, I will do so respectfully and in the spirit of wanting to build a better community for us all. And – it is looking more likely than ever that at the end of the day it will be the members of this community that will get a chance to decide on our collective future.

Kitchener residents are proud of our neighbours. We understand our shared heritage, we recognize the strengths they bring to this region, and we do not seek to diminish or devalue those things that make them unique – even as we recognize, celebrate and seek to leverage all that is similar and shared between us.

As a community Kitchener is sensible, modest and humble. We have been from the very beginning. But do not take our modesty for complacency.

While we might not brag about it much, over the years Kitchener has invested more into the lives of our residents’ quality of life than virtually any other similar-sized municipality in Ontario. And as a community, Kitchener residents understand the investments we make in our quality of life benefit the lives of residents across this entire region.

When Kitchener invests in upgrades to the Centre in the Square, attracts another singing sensation to The Aud, hosts the region’s premier blues festival, or builds a new LEED certified multi-sportsplex, we know those facilities and events benefit patrons from across the region – and they improve the quality of life of residents far beyond our municipal boundaries.
When Kitchener builds one of Ontario’s largest solar-roofs, achieves ISO certification for its vehicles, invests more money in our green spaces and spurs community-based environmental action through our $5 million LEAF fund, we know those efforts help improve the air quality of the entire region.
When I represent this region as the Chair of the Big City Mayor’s Caucus, I am advocating for funding from the federal and provincial governments that will benefit all local municipalities – and all residents’ quality of life.
And – when Kitchener taxpayers invest $110 million into biotechnology, education and knowledge creation, digital media and advanced manufacturing, we know those dollars will spur economic growth reaching far beyond our boundaries. This is no different than the research and technology park in Waterloo which provides job opportunities to residents living right here in Kitchener.

It is simply a fact that the UW’s Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus and the Downtown Kitchener Communitech Digital Media Hub are set to become two of the region’s strongest engines for creativity, innovation, prosperity – and jobs.

Just as importantly, as Kitchener invests in the new economy, we cannot and we are not turning our backs on the economic pioneers of our region.

As the global economy continues to transform itself, Kitchener is doing all that we can to help this region’s traditional industries embrace, transform and succeed in the economy of tomorrow. It is important to note that these companies do not seek to verify addresses as part of their hiring process – instead they employ thousands of residents from across this entire region.

While unemployment is still too high and some in our community continue to struggle under the weight of the global economic downturn, Kitchener’s investments in the economy of this region are helping to position us for the third highest growth rate in Canada – next only to Toronto and Vancouver.

And – ladies and gentlemen, I am extremely proud to report that by taking a balanced approach to our budgeting, and taking full and strategic advantage of our city-owned gas utility and our stake in Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro – Kitchener has made all of these investments while maintaining one of the lowest property taxes in Ontario.

Let me repeat this very important and often overlooked point. We have made all of these investments into the lives of our residents while maintaining one of the lowest property taxes in Ontario.

Make no mistake about it. Kitchener residents are proud of our investments in the quality of life of our city and we welcome the benefits that extend beyond our boundaries because we have a strongly held belief that:

we are better off when a child living in Waterloo can learn to swim at any one of our seven pools, or they can learn to read at one of our five libraries.
we are better off when an unemployed high-tech worker living in the Bauer Lofts finds a job at Kitchener’s Christie Digital, Igloo Software, Canada’s Technology Triangle or Desire2Learn.
and we are better as a community when a new Canadian settling near Wilfrid Laurier’s main campus attends ESL classes at one of our 14 community centres, or learns to skate on one of our 10 ice pads.

It is a collective belief that – together we are better – and that our community does not end at some seemingly arbitrary border drawn on a map decades ago; barely visible to passersby today.

It is important to note that Kitchener’s influence and our commitment to the wider region is nothing new. It is interesting to note that more than 50 years ago it was three prominent Kitchener businessmen who helped found the University of Waterloo – an institution whose positive influence on this entire region cannot be overstated.

And while this city’s residents are proud of our contributions to this region, we are equally proud to call Kitchener home. Now – I understand that some might consider me biased when it comes to talking about the successes of our community – but the facts speak for themselves.

When Kitchener residents recently responded to a survey conducted by one of Canada’s leading experts in public opinion research, their support for the city and their satisfaction with the programs and services we offer was very clear – and very positive.

81% believe Kitchener is heading in the right direction;
84% are satisfied with Kitchener’s municipal government, and;
88% are satisfied with municipal services.

When asked about specific city programs and amenities, residents are also very satisfied. Look at these numbers. Look at the high scores. 90. 87. 84 per cent.

90% are satisfied with Kitchener’s parks;
90% are satisfied with Kitchener’s fire fighters;
87% are satisfied with Kitchener’s public library system;
84% are satisfied with Kitchener’s gas and water utilities, and;
83% are satisfied with Kitchener’s community centres.

As you can see, Kitchener’s residents are also very satisfied with our delivery of core municipal services. Again, very respectable numbers.

81% are satisfied with street sweeping;
78% are satisfied with municipal leaf collection;
74% are satisfied with municipal grass cutting, and;
72% are satisfied with snow removal.

In fact, when we consider the 48 different programs, services and amenities Environics asked residents about in 2005 and again in late 2009, satisfaction levels have increased in all but seven areas.

Overall it is clear that the vast majority of our residents are proud of the progress we have made together – and they are proud to call Kitchener home.

Engaging our citizens through this survey also helps us to focus on areas that require our continued attention and action. The Environics survey indicated residents want us to continue working on our transportation system, our downtown and important facilities like The Aud and the Market.

Some of these areas come as no surprise to us. They are challenges we have been working on for many years. We know that as our city continues to grow and change we must continue to work hard and remain focused on improving residents’ quality of life.

We have known for some time that we must work with our partners at the region to plan our neighbourhoods and our transportation systems of the future – planning that will see our roads, buses, rapid transit, GO and VIA rail service all converge right here in downtown Kitchener.

To that end, early last year Kitchener City Council endorsed the city’s first-ever, comprehensive growth management strategy and later this year we will begin the process of developing a full transportation strategy.
We have been working hard to re-energize our downtown – and our vision for its future is now coming to life as a place for employment, people and for vitality. Downtown Kitchener is already an entertainment and festival hub for the region and it is a place where residents go to celebrate and embrace our community’s true diversity.
Downtown Kitchener already has a medical school and emerging biotechnology cluster at one end and we will soon have a consolidated regional courthouse and legal cluster at the other. Tying these two powerhouse economic engines together are a wealth of investments and projects both public and private.

With residential and employment growth already happening downtown, we are now working with the downtown BIA to implement an aggressive retail attraction strategy that will reanimate more of our retail spaces.
Over the years Kitchener has taken our social responsibilities very seriously.
Unfortunately, there are some within our region who continue to live under the delusion that homelessness, hunger, mental illness and poverty do not exist right in their own city – right in their own neighbourhoods. For some, it is much easier and more convenient to believe that these are downtown challenges best left to others to solve.

It is a fact that Kitchener has the highest concentration of social support agencies, social services and supportive housing of any municipality in the region – by far. It is also a fact that many of the users of those Kitchener-based services live in other neighbouring municipalities.

Just a quick glance at these five Region of Waterloo brochures starts to tell the story of this troubling imbalance. By my rough calculation, of the social services highlighted in these brochures 64% are offered out of Kitchener – while we only have 42% of the region’s population.

And that calculation doesn’t even include all of the many not-for-profit and community organizations providing valuable social services in this region.

Kitchener residents continue to welcome, embrace and support all of our citizens, regardless of the size of their bank account or their life’s circumstance. However, effectively tackling the social challenges facing our entire region requires all of our municipal partners to be at the table and equitably share in the distribution of these important services.

While there is still more we can do to help improve the lives of the less fortunate, improve our transportation systems and continue our downtown transformation – everything I have spoken about so far – all of this work and all of these investments, have resulted in a better quality of life for Kitchener residents and for the broader community.

After all, helping one another is our most basic and important task. It is the reason city councillors seek to serve their fellow citizens. It is the reason city staff come to work each day – and it is the reason community groups organize and mobilize.

The city’s strategic plan describes our collective vision of quality of life as, “a community that invests in maintaining basic services, in addition to amenities such as community centres, museums, theatres, art galleries, and leisure facilities, even if that means paying higher taxes.”

This vision was recently confirmed through our Environics survey when 66% of residents indicated they would prefer a high-level of services, versus 30% who would prefer lower taxes.

It is also important to note that when we look closely at the three key elements of that shared vision:

maintaining basic services;
adding community amenities; and
paying for all of these initiatives,

it is clear that we have done a lot of work and achieved much progress in these areas.

Maintaining Basic Services

Investing in and improving our most basic municipal services goes to the core of our responsibilities as a government – and yet they are often overlooked or taken for granted. So let’s take a few minutes to focus on a few of our core services.

Snow Removal

Clearing our streets of snow quickly and effectively allows residents to travel safely and efficiently. Recently the city has made a number of operational changes which have resulted in our streets getting cleared of snow on average six hours faster than just two years ago.

Leaf Collection

Not without controversy, last fall city council implemented a number of changes to our leaf collection program aimed at getting fallen leaves off the ground faster by sharing responsibility between the city and residents. Our new leaf collection program allowed us to complete leaf pick-up 4 weeks faster than previous years – with some help from the weather.

Infrastructure

Our roads, sidewalks, sewers and bridges are instrumental to meeting the most basic of our citizens’ needs.

The federal and provincial governments are to be congratulated for their investments in municipal infrastructure over the past year – investments that are creating jobs and helping address some of Canada’s infrastructure deficit.

In a recent poll conducted by The Strategic Counsel, 96% of Canadians said that as the federal government begins to deal with its deficit, funding for local infrastructure should be maintained or increased. In fact, Canadians ranked continued investments in local infrastructure second only to health care on their list of federal funding priorities.

Clearly Canadians understand the crucial role our core infrastructure plays in their quality of life. As the federal and provincial governments begin to tackle their deficits, they would be wise not to do so on the backs of municipalities.

Now let me be clear on one important point. While I will continue to argue strongly for other orders of government to invest more into our infrastructure, that does not mean we here in Kitchener have been sitting back waiting.

In 2004 we implemented our Accelerated Infrastructure Renewal Program and more recently we have turned our attention to the creation of a utility that will allow us to properly fund and maintain our stormwater infrastructure – protecting local source water and the natural environment.

While we still have a long way to go, these steps have put Kitchener well ahead of other municipalities in addressing our infrastructure deficit.

CMF

One of the most important initiatives we have undertaken in decades to improve the core services we provide to residents is the construction of our new Consolidated Maintenance Facility – or CMF as it is commonly known.

The new CMF will replace the city’s current patchwork of inefficient, inadequate and aging facilities located at a variety of random locations across the city.

Once complete it will house more than 40 per cent of the city’s workforce and the vast majority of its vehicles and equipment. Essential and valued services will operate out of this modern but modest facility.

In the years ahead, the CMF will enable the city to provide enhanced services to taxpayers through the delivery of faster, more efficient and better-coordinated municipal services.

Community Amenities:

Beyond the provision of core municipal services, Kitchener has made significant investments into the quality of life of our residents by building and operating an incredible variety of facilities, amenities, programs and services.

Very few other Canadian municipalities offer the variety and the number of community amenities found right here in Kitchener.

Community Centres

Unlike almost any other city in Canada, over the years Kitchener has proactively built a network of 14 community centres located throughout our city. These centres are a defining part of who we are as a community and they play an immeasurable role in the quality of life of our residents.

Through our unique partnerships with neighbourhood associations and other volunteer groups, our community centres provide a wide range of resources and outreach programs for all ages, geared to the recreational, social and cultural needs of the areas they serve.

Parks, Trails and Natural Areas

Outside of our community centres, just last month city council passed it’s 2010 budget which substantially increased funding for parks, trails, natural areas and sportsfields to a total of $37 million over the next ten years.

In addition to this increased commitment and funding for the green spaces located across our city, our 2010 budget significantly accelerated the clean-up of Victoria Park lake with preliminary design work potentially beginning as early as this year.

These are positive steps in the right direction. But, there is still more we can do to create a fully connected and well maintained system of parks, trails and natural areas throughout the entire city.

Sports and Recreation

Ensuring residents have an opportunity to enjoy the sports and recreational opportunities they and their families want is no longer as simple as building our next arena – although that is still important.

120 Playgrounds
150 Sportsfields
2 Golf Courses
2 Skateboard Parks
175 km of Trails
Indoor Walking Track
BMX Bike Park
4 splash pads
Kiwanis Park
Huron Natural Area
Victoria Park

While there is certainly more we can do to meet the sports and recreational needs of our residents, Kitchener is well-positioned ahead of other municipalities in responding to the needs for such a diverse range of facilities and opportunities.

Arts and Culture

For decades Kitchener has recognized the importance and the benefits of investing in a strong and vibrant regional arts and culture community.

Through our investments we have created a city that is not only an arts and culture hub for this region, it is also a sought after destination for the creative minds of tomorrow. Try to imagine any other city of our size that has anything comparable to this list of facilities, organizations and opportunities.

Waterloo Regional Children's Museum Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts
Woodside National Heritage Site
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Doon Heritage Crossroads
Joseph Schneider House
Homer Watson House
Centre in the Square
Rotunda Gallery
Registry Theatre
KW Art Gallery

Unfortunately, in recent years a funding imbalance has developed as Kitchener has invested 2-3 times more per capita than other municipalities into the regional arts and culture community. At the same time as the Prosperity Council is asking for additional funding, the fact is that in 2007, for every dollar Kitchener spent per capita to support and build a strong local arts and culture community, Cambridge spent 44 cents and Waterloo spent 29 cents.

While those dollar figures may have changed over the past two years, this significant funding imbalance continues today.

This inequity in support for our arts and culture community cannot continue if residents from across the region hope to continue to enjoy all that our artists bring to this community – in entertainment and in economic growth. Hopefully, through the Prosperity Council’s initiative to create an arts and culture enabling organization, we can help address this imbalance.

Conclusion:

As I close my remarks to you this evening, I think it is important to talk about the ongoing role all of us can play in continuing to improve the quality of life of our fellow residents.

As a municipality, we build and operate facilities and programs to give residents recreational choices. We invest in the diversification of our local economy to help create jobs. And – we implement environmentally friendly policies to help improve the region’s air quality.

Just as importantly – as citizens and leaders within this community, you donate money to local charities to ensure our most vulnerable have a place to live and a meal to eat. And you volunteer your time with youth sports teams so that our leaders of tomorrow can laugh, play and learn together.

Your role – the role of citizens in improving the day-to-day lives of our families, friends and neighbours cannot be overstated. Because, while this city council and those before us have made great progress – more work remains to be done by the next city council and those that follow.

While councillors and mayors come and go over the years, it is the citizens – the heart and soul of this community – to whom responsibility falls to continue our momentum towards a better future.

Before we leave this hall tonight I challenge us to stop and think of all that is good about this city – and all that we have built together.

A city well served by recreational and cultural amenities, facilities and events.

A city continually improving the delivery of our most basic services.

A city that proactively invests in the economy and the jobs of tomorrow.

A city already taking concrete steps to address our infrastructure deficit.

A city that cares and invests in our quality of life and in the quality of life of our entire region.

A city that holds firmly to the belief that – together we are better.

I am proud to call Kitchener home – and I trust you are too.

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