Economic development, public safety, event attraction priorities for Mayor Bater

North Battleford mayor-elect Ryan Bater was not planning on taking over the highest-profile position at City Hall so soon.

Like most others in the city, he expected Ian Hamilton would be running for a third term as mayor.

That was fine with him. “My plan at that time was to run for council,” said Bater.

But Hamilton’s announcement that he would not run again “caught everybody by surprise,” Bater said.

It also prompted serious thinking on his part about whether he should run for, and whether he was up to the job.

After Hamilton’s announcement, he said, “that obviously left a leadership void, and after consultation with other members of council my colleagues, my family, friends, I came to the conclusion that this was a step I wanted to take and a commitment I was willing to make.”  

When nominations closed Wednesday afternoon Bater was the only candidate in the race for mayor. The mayor’s job was his by acclamation.

Soon after the news broke, he expressed his thoughts on Twitter. “Thank you North Battleford. I will serve our city as mayor to the best of my ability,” his Tweet stated.

Bater spoke with the News-Optimist shortly before the fateful Wednesday nomination deadline in what was originally planned to be a candidate profile.

In that interview Bater spoke about how he sees the role of mayor, and the difference from being a member of council. 

“In terms of setting policy, they’re the same, the same way,” said Bater, “because the mayor gets one vote, as does every member of council.

“But there’s a function that the mayor serves that goes over and above what the councillor serves. You are the ambassador of the city, in most cases the spokesperson. Most important, the mayor is the individual that senior levels of government will meet with to discuss areas of mutual concern or interest. Most local interest groups will want to meet with the mayor when discussing their needs and their wishes for the community.

“So the mayor needs to be somebody who can communicate well, somebody who can have enough savvy to negotiate well when it comes to senior levels of government. That to me is a fundamental difference between being mayor and being councillor.”

He believes having prior civic government experience is vital for anyone taking on the mayor’s role. Bater also sees it as important that the mayor be able to work with the rest of council, and to ensure council directives are “actually carried out, whether you agree with it or not.”

Bater says he believes he’s developed some good relationships with administration officials in his role on council.  

But Bater’s own experience extends beyond the municipal field.

He had been active in provincial politics for years with the provincial Liberals, leading the party in the 2011 provincial election. 

Municipal politics, where elected officials are able to voice their own conscience instead of being “whipped” to support a party policy, has been far more enjoyable for Bater compared to the partisan nature of provincial politics.

“Politics is much more effective when you take the partisanship away from it,” said Bater.

“It’s much more enjoyable because it’s much more pure.”

But Bater also notes the unique and direct role municipal government and its officials have.

“The municipal government is the closest to the people. The decisions you make impact people directly and immediately.” He pointed to decisions on roads as an example.

“People will see those decisions immediately, and the outcomes of them immediately.”

Bater talked about what the priorities would be for the city under his leadership as mayor.

He said people can expect largely a continuation of his record as councillor, which has been economic-development focused.

“It’s my view that for taxes to be affordable for people you have to broaden out the tax base, and to do that, we need to attract new people and new business.”

Bater pointed to the developments that have gone on in the city in recent years, including the records set two years ago in building permits.

“Even in the last 18 months, a lot of communities, with the downturn of the energy sector, are not seeing much development, but we are, because we are a stable community.”

He said he wants to continue to work with council to continue promoting the message that North Battleford is a stable and thriving community.

Bater also said he was a proponent of “controlled infrastructure spending.” He noted the previous council brought in the UPAR program, but adds “the future of that program will be decided by the next council.”

Bater supports UPAR and recognizes the pipes, some of which are 100 years old, have to be replaced.

However, he adds that “you have to balance that with affordability for people,” saying many individuals in the community are on fixed incomes.

“When you introduce a new levy, you need to give them an opportunity to adjust for that.”

Bater also said the next council will have need to address the whole issue of taxation, “especially commercial taxation,” he said.

It will be up to the next council to make the decision on whether to change the tax structure, he said. 

Another priority is crime and safety.

“It’s arguably our biggest issue in this community. It’s not one that’s going to be solved in a year or two. It’s a generational issue, but the council needs to be proactive in addressing those issues.”

He pointed to initiatives that were introduced by the last council, including introducing Community Safety Officers. But he also pointed to poverty as an underlying reason for the amount of crime and believes the province has a large role to play in solving the issue.

“This isn’t about one community just having more criminals around. It’s a reality that when people grow up in conditions where they don’t feel they have hope or a future they resort to these kinds of lifestyles. It’s really sad, and it’s really unfortunate, and it happens right here. And in order to address that we have to think of the next generation.”

Other issues of importance include replacing an aging recreational building.

“This next council will have to complete the strategy for replacement for the Civic Centre,” said Bater. That includes such considerations as meeting the needs of the various user groups, and also the location. Figuring out the cost and how to finance the new facility is another priority.

Bater stressed the importance of North Battleford heeding the lessons of other communities in planning ahead for a replacement.

“Four years from now, there had better be a plan in place.”

Efforts to continue to revive the downtown core are also a priority. Bater supported the BID initiative as well as the efforts to clean up downtown and improve the look. But he believes the arrival of a new movie theatre downtown will have a major positive impact.

“What downtown needs is an anchor,” said Bater. “I think it will transform downtown.”

Bater is also interested in continuing the momentum in event attraction to the community over the next few years. He credits the Destination Marketing Fee as well as the facilities in the community as spurring on that interest. 

The 55+ Games were held this year and Bater himself was instrumental in helping put together the winning Saskatchewan Winter Games bid for 2018.  

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling will be the next big event for North Battleford in January, welcoming top curlers from around the world.

Bater is already looking forward to welcoming curlers and fans to North Battleford in his new capacity as mayor.

“The greatest curlers in the world are going to be here in the Battlefords in January,” said Bater. “It’s going to be amazing.”