Robin Paul – Owen Sound Council Candidate
Do you have any strategies prepared to encourage local economic growth? Which issue should this next term’s council give to more focus to: A) Bringing in new business developments, or B) encouraging small businesses presently in operations?
No, I do not have any strategies prepared, but, I can guarantee I will have lots of ideas and questions to voice as I work with the other six Councillors, Deputy Mayor, Mayor and City Staff. As a city we should be doing both A and B.
What do you see has been the largest challenge over the last 10 years, faced by business operators in your region?
Retention of customers for reasons such as;
- Loss of jobs means less money to spend
- Too high of taxes steals from the purses of people to be able to spend
- Difficult to stay competitive with hard costs continuously rising
- Lack of local city hall support to use our local businesses
I can guarantee I will have lots of ideas and questions to voice.Do you think local business taxes are at a fair rate, or should be lowered or raised? Should there be any changes in the municipal services provided to businesses, (such as garbage removal)?
I don’t think any of our taxes are a ‘fair’ rate. I believe the entire system needs to be assessed and hard questions asked and big decisions made for the betterment of the entire city. Are we delivering the services promised to the business community?
