Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky says he knocked on 80 doors during his first morning of campaigning Wednesday. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Civic election

Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky enters mayoral race

Jul 30, 2020 | 2:52 PM

After much speculation, ward seven councillor Dennis Nowoselsky has emerged as Mayor Greg Dionne’s first challenger in the November municipal election.

A four-term veteran of Prince Albert city council, Nowoselsky discussed his intention to run for mayor with paNOW in April, but waited until Wednesday to formally declare his candidacy.

Increased transparency at city hall and better financial management are key pillars of his campaign, along with greater investment in water and sewer infrastructure.

“If we don’t have a new direction and new leadership, the city is getter further and further into financial debt,” he told paNOW. “Some tough decisions need to be made to keep this city afloat.”

He criticized the city for asking to increase its debt limit from $55 million to $65 million, while at the same time borrowing $16 million for what he calls “the new water palace.”

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At Monday’s city council meeting he attempted to get council to discuss holding a public vote on the rec centre.

“That’s money we don’t have,” he said, adding he believed the city’s more urgent needs lay in upgrades to water and sewer infrastructure including at the aging sewage treatment plant and raw water pump house.

“We need to live within our means,” he said. “You can’t keep raising taxes, there will be more people leaving P.A.”

Asked what would get the chop if he were mayor, Nowoselsky said those decisions would have to be made collectively with the new council and he couldn’t say at this point.

However, he’s long advocated for police spending cuts.

“You’ve got to restructure,” he said, citing the city spends roughly a quarter of its total budget on policing. “You can’t have 22 sergeants – a sergeant for every five men under – there’s got to be some clean up there.”

Nowoselsky also promised increased transparency and accountability at city hall, something he sees as lacking both with the public and internally among councillors.

“Some councillors are well informed, if they’re giving [the mayor] the decisions that he wants,” he said. “And there are some that are left in the dark.”

Additionally he said too much is discussed behind closed doors at in-camera meetings.

“You’ve got to have more disclosure of the discussions,” he said. “The people are only seeing little tidbits.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom