Mayor to miss meeting For Harvard Course

For the first time in 15 years — and perhaps much longer — Saskatoon’s mayor will miss a city council meeting.

Mayor Charlie Clark has been invited to take part in a leadership workshop in New York City that includes mayors from around the world.

As a result of his participation in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, today Clark will miss his first council meeting since he was elected mayor in 2016.

Veteran Coun. Mairin Loewen, who is currently serving as deputy mayor, will chair the meeting in his absence.

Clark’s missing vote could be crucial as council considers whether or not to close Ninth Street to prevent right turns onto Lorne Avenue in the Nutana neighbourhood. Council voted to close Ninth in 2015, then reversed that decision three months later.

Clark, who used to represent Nutana as a councillor, was among those on the transportation committee who voted in favour of the closure as a one-year experiment last month.

Council is also expected to vote on how to manage ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft.

A City of Saskatoon report suggests Saskatoon could expect 600 ride-sharing drivers in the first year, and regulating the new industry could cost the city more than $200,000 in the initial year.

Clark was one of 40 mayors selected to take part in the leadership program, which starts with a classroom setting and workshops in New York this week.

Clark will study leadership, management and innovation from experts from Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ global network, a news release from the mayor’s office says.

The initiative is a collaboration between Harvard University and billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The program covers all expenses, including travel, so there is no cost to the city, the news release says.

Saskatoon’s longest-serving mayor, Don Atchison, said in an email on Friday that he never missed a council meeting in his 13 years as mayor or his nine previous years as a city councillor.

During Atchison’s tenure as mayor, which directly preceded Clark’s 2016 election, council meetings were reduced from every two weeks to once a month.

Henry Dayday, who served four terms as mayor from 1988 to 2000, said in an interview on Friday that he could not recall ever missing a council meeting as mayor.

Jim Maddin, who served as mayor from 2000 to 2003, could not be reached.