By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Mayor Spearman touches on growth, drug-related challenges, and a big 2019 in State of the City address

Jan 15, 2019 | 10:05 AM

LETHBRIDGE – A packed crowd at the Sandman Hotel on Mayor Magrath Drive huddled in early on Tuesday, Jan. 15, to listen to Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman give his yearly State of the City address where he touched on a number of topics from the previous year as well as what’s to come in 2019.

Spearman spoke about finances in the city, the work that was done in the 2019-2021 Operating Budget to try and keep taxes as low as possible while funding initiatives the community deemed important, as well as the growth and the development taking place in Lethbridge.

“In talking to the business community about working together, we’ve received a lot of input from them over the past year around what’s working and what’s not working. We want to make sure that we address those, and we’ve tried to do that through our budget priorities. The budget priorities were to keep taxes down and make sure we fund community safety and security, and we did that,” Spearman said.

One particular point of emphasis was the continuing growth the Lethbridge Airport is seeing since the City of Lethbridge took ownership of it from Lethbridge County back in July.

Spearman referenced airports in smaller cities like Moncton, New Brunswick and Charlottetown, P.E.I. that see more flights and more direct economic spinoff in the areas near their airports as examples the city can follow as they continue to grow that sector.

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Then the speech took a turn towards the impacts the drug crisis has had locally, and what the city is doing to ensure a safer and cleaner community in 2019 thanks to new initiatives and support from different levels of government.

“2018 was a challenging year,” Spearman stated in a media scrum after the speech.

“Certainly, the social issues were things that we never predicted but year over year we saw them coming. We saw the issue double in severity in 2015, 2016 and again in 2017. Then we saw the nature of the social issues changing, and the nature of the drugs being used changing.”

These are issues that aren’t normally dealt with by a municipality because these are health issues and social issues which are normally the responsibility of other levels of government.

“We needed to make sure that Lethbridge got the supports that we needed to deal with the issues. Those supports were lacking, but now they’ve been funded and we’re looking forward to moving forward in a positive way.”

In looking ahead to 2019, national events and big local projects wrapping up were the focal points. The events include the U-Sports Men’s National Hockey Championships in March, the Men’s World Curling Championship in April and others.

Projects included Phase 2 of the ATB Leisure Centre opening in the spring, Phase 2 of Legacy Park finishing, a new fire hall being built in West Lethbridge, the finished upgrading and refurbishing of the Yates Theatre, and the downtown bus terminal which Spearman says will add another level of service to transit in the city.

“I guess the question is what comes next, but we want to take the time to celebrate what we have done. To see these projects coming to fruition, to see improved services in the downtown and to the population as a whole, its great to have these wonderful projects. What we need as a challenge is how do we respond as these major projects complete, how do we keep the economy going and how do we continue to invest in the City of Lethbridge,” Spearman said.

After opening the floor for a question and answer period following his address, no one took the time to ask Spearman any questions, but is that a sign that community partners and the business community is happy about where things are at now?

“I’m not sure what that means,” Spearman responded with a laugh. “The invitation is to have an open dialogue, to have an open relationship so we can hear what’s working and what isn’t working so that we can respond.”

Spearman ended his address talking about a positive message, and about how he would like for citizens to join with city council to share more positive messages about things happening in the city moving forward.

Dealing with the drug issues in 2018 was stressful for everyone involved according to Spearman, and it meant that they needed to engage and have cooperation from the levels of government that are responsible for those issues.

Asked whether the drug issues will become something that municipal politicians are having to deal with more and more due to the severity, Spearman said it’s an increasingly complex situation.

“Our geographical location creates some challenges for us but when we see our Supervised Consumption Site having two or three times the volume of usage of Calgary that indicates we’ve got a severe problem,” Spearman continued. “The supports are long overdue, and the challenge for us now will be how to deal with it until those facilities are built and programs implemented.”

Spearman forecasts they will still have challenges for the next 18 months to two years, but that they will work with community partners to try and address them in the short term.

With both a provincial and federal election on the horizon in 2019, Spearman also touched on how important it is for both sitting governments and parties looking to form government to commit to promises already made.

“We can’t have things suddenly stop or have a hesitation after a provincial election. Similarly, after a federal election, we need to build those relationships. I see us going to Edmonton and going to Ottawa to make sure that we continue to have positive relationships with the governments, so they know that Lethbridge exists. We can’t be off the radar anymore we’re too large a city and we need to work in collaboration with the other levels of government to make sure Lethbridge gets the services we need.”