Fiacco taking another run at Regina mayor’s chair
Tony Fiacco made it official on Saturday afternoon that he is taking another crack at becoming Regina’s mayor.
Having previously run in the 2016 municipal election, Fiacco said he’s ready for another go after reflecting on what he learned during his previous attempt.
“It was a learning experience and we’re gong to be working harder,” said Fiacco speaking on Saturday.
A main take-away from his previous run was the need to be present in the community, meeting voters and attending events.
“Make yourself available and have a good plan of action in place,” he said.
The limited platform presented by Fiacco included addressing crime, infrastructure and transparency at city hall. He said he wanted to hear from people before solidifying his campaign’s platform and goals.
“Things aren’t getting better here they’re getting worse,” Fiacco said.
He added that he felt the city council had become complacent.
As for addressing crime, Fiacco said he would not defund the Regina Police Service or reallocate funds earmarked for it.
“The city police are handling things that should not be handled by city police, such as addictions and mental health,” Fiacco said. “They’re already shortchanged.”
Instead he said the city needs to work with all levels of government to get a better handle on addictions and other social determinants of health. He hopes that intervention would result in police tending to criminal matters, but Fiacco did not elaborate on whether he would be in favour of creating an entirely new entity or what his response would look like.
He also said the low voter turnout of 2016 is an “extreme concern” for him. The previous municipal election set a record low for voter turnout with 31 per cent of the electorate voting.
Mayor Michael Fougere has not announced whether he will seek re-election.
Fiacco was the first to throw his hat in the race.
Pat Fiacco, Tony’s brother, was Regina’s mayor for 12 years and was succeeded by Fougere.
The municipal election will be held on Nov. 9.