Charlottetown mayor takes on new assignment

Clifford Lee still has several months to serve as the capital city’s mayor, but he has already started to transition to his next job. The former civil servant has been given the task of special advisor to a new housing hub the province is creating as part of its affordable housing strategy. The outgoing mayor will be reporting to a cabinet committee to be chaired by Finance Minister Heath MacDonald. As housing prices continue to rise, especially in the capital region, the need for affordable housing is becoming more acute. Even if the strategy was 100 per cent successful and created 1,000 more units over the next four years, the need would still be significant. In his current role as mayor, Lee has never been shy about pointing out that need and criticizing governments (no matter what their political stripe) when they fail to address that need. Charlottetown currently has a vacancy rate of one per cent. While rental increases are capped each year by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, rent is also very much a function of supply and demand. A limited supply of rental units obviously means higher prices. The four-year appointment caught many by surprise, and both Lee and the province are keeping silent on whether the job was advertised through the Public Service Commission process. If it wasn’t, it definitely should have been. That is certainly not saying the outgoing mayor is not qualified for the post, because he is. The optics are simply wrong. Lee will be paid at the director level within the Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy – a wage range between $82,610 and $114,389. His duties will include working with not-for-profit housing groups, private developers and municipalities to study options for implementing the strategy. The mayor’s announcement came just on the heels of Charlottetown adopting an affordable housing policy of its own. The capital is looking at tax incentives for developers to build afford housing, as well as looking at a number of housing options including tiny homes, garden suites and basement apartments. The city is acting correctly in looking at several options. There is no one magic bullet that will eradicate the challenge of finding housing options for every Islander. As the outgoing mayor has been fond of saying in the past, the time for action is now. All Islanders will be looking for results from the new housing czar, not more studies and reports. The jury is certainly still out on what Lee can accomplish on the job. I would suggest his record at city council indicates he will not simply spout a government line and that he will work hard to ensure the province has a long-range plan to address the issue on an ongoing basis. That would be a lasting legacy, not only to the capital city but the province as a whole.