During an election campaign, it’s easy to focus on what candidates say they want to do. I think it’s just as important (probably more important) to look at what it will actually take to make those things happen.
It’s easy to say what you would like to see happen. We all have ideas about what could make our community better. But good municipal leadership means going a step further and asking how those ideas will become reality.
What are the steps? Who needs to be involved? Do we have the staff capacity to take it on? What will it cost? What other funding might be available? And where will the money come from?
Our municipal budget is a good example of why these questions matter. In West Nipissing, an increase of roughly $225,000 in the municipal budget can represent about a 1% property tax increase. But money isn’t the only resource we have to consider. Staff time and capacity are also limited. When we talk about adding a service, expanding a program or taking on a new project, we have to ask whether we have the staff time and resources to do it properly, and how we will pay for it.
Sometimes that means making choices. If we spend more in one area, what does that mean somewhere else? If we take on something new, can we afford to operate and maintain it five or ten years from now? If we don’t have the money today, can we find other funding or build a partnership to make it possible?
That doesn’t mean we should be afraid to have big ideas or invest in our community. Quite the opposite. I think we should be ambitious about what we want for West Nipissing. But ambition has to be matched with a realistic plan.
Over the past four years, I’ve learned firsthand what it takes to turn an idea into a result. It means working with staff, building partnerships, making the case to other levels of government, finding funding and figuring out how to turn an idea into something that can actually work. And sometimes, it means recognizing that we simply can’t do everything at once.
Promises are easy. Turning priorities into results is the harder part.
So as you listen to candidates over the next few weeks, I encourage you to ask more than “What will you do?”
Ask “How will you do it?”
Ask “How will you pay for it?”
And ask “What will it take to actually make it happen?”
Because a good idea is only the beginning. What really counts is whether there is a achievable path to delivering it.