Candidates for top office have their say

Here’s what the four candidates running to become Saskatoon’s next mayor said at a forum hosted Wednesday by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce at Prairieland Park. These are excerpts from the candidates’ closing statements.

DON ATCHISON

“Would you risk your company on inexperience? I don’t believe so. Strong leadership means making the right choice, not the easy one and, boy, I can tell you all about that. Some people say this election is about change. Well, I’ve been leading change for the past 13 years ... We are a changing city.”

CHARLIE CLARK

“We have this unique opportunity to be the city that got it right. Building on your talent, your knowledge on what works here and the chance to learn from the mistakes of other cities, to build on the sense of community that we all know makes us a strong city and that we can build on in order to be inclusive and incorporate all the people who are moving here to enjoy the city together, to succeed together and to make opportunity here together.”

DEVON HEIN

“If you vote for any one of the other three candidates, you can look at at least another 20 to 25 per cent tax increase. Not only that, you’re not going to know what they’re really going to do because their plans are really not very obvious here. They just talk a lot about the issues. They describe them well, but they’re really not telling you what they’re going to do to eliminate those problems.”

KELLEY MOORE

“I think you need a new perspective, a fresh perspective and some different leadership to look at things with a clear mind .... The world is changing around us and our city hall needs to change along with that. We do have issues around record debt right now. We do have higher taxes than we have ever had. We have aging infrastructure. We also have amenities and growth right now that we cannot afford. We must do things differently.”