New Kids On The Block: Saskatoon’s new mayor, council sworn in at city hall

Saskatoon’s new city council and mayor were sworn in on Wednesday night at city hall.

Two items were on the agenda: The returning officer’s declaration of the official election results, and the appointments for deputy mayor and council’s standing policy committees.

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Six of the councillors – Kathryn MacDonald, Senos Timon, Robert Pearce, Jasmin Parker, Holly Kelleher and Scott Ford – are new to city council. Troy Davies and Randy Donauer won back their wards, while Zach Jeffries and Bev Dubois were acclaimed.

The declaration verified the results from election night, officially making Cynthia Block Saskatoon’s new mayor. Block served two terms as councillor for Ward 6 before joining the mayoral race, after incumbent Charlie Clark decided not to run for a third term.

The city’s deputy mayor will be appointed on a monthly rotation. Dubois will hold the title for the rest of November, and Donauer will take over for the month of December.

Block joined guest host Gerald Bauman on 650 CKOM’s Morning Show on Thursday to speak about her campaign and some of the issues facing the city.

The mayor said there’s a lot of learning to be done.

“I think that my specific orientation is ongoing,” Block said. “Our orientation as a council is extremely helpful for the new folks on council, but it’s also a really good refresher for the those who are returning on council.”

Block also tackled the question of snow clearing on city streets, noting that not everyone is happy with the progress made so far.

“When people ask us to have more snow removal or more residential plowing, my response is we can do that, but there is cost associated to it. We can do all of that work, and the very next day we might have to do it again,” Block explained.

“I think it’s a balancing act – ensuring that we have good clearing so that people have access out of their neighborhoods, and making sure that we are also keeping in mind the budget.”

Block made homelessness a top priority during her campaign, and said that issue still remains at the top of her list to tackle.

“We know that people need to be safely housed, so we continue to work urgently with all levels of government and service providers to find a more permanent strategy to not only make sure that that goal is achieved, but to find new ways to ensure that we’re transitioning people out of homelessness,” Block said.

The new mayor’s campaign had a strong online presence, with many residents connecting with her over social media. While Block said her social media presence may scale back now that she’s in office, she noted that she doesn’t want to lose the ground she gained during the campaign.

“I really want to continue my own version of how we ensure that residents feel that they know what’s going on, and that they have an opportunity to be involved in the process,” Block said.