Bennett deserves credit for leaving city in good shape

It says a lot about outgoing Mayor Daryl Bennett’s style that his concession speech following a resounding defeat sounded very much like a Bennett victory speech would have.

He was thoughtful, forceful and deliberate, telling a very quiet crowd that a lot of good was done over the past eight years, they had made Peterborough a better place and that legacy would carry on.

What he didn’t include was any hint of concession. Bennett never once mentioned his opponent, mayorelect Diane Therrien. None of the usual – some would say polite and required – references to her and her team fighting a good campaign and no good wishes for future success in the job she took from him.

His closing line, “It’s been a great run and we’ll continue on,” carried a lot more rallying cry than resignation.

No one who followed Bennett’s two terms as mayor would be surprised. It was both a strength and a weakness of his style to never admit something might have gone wrong and very seldom sway from his original intentions.

A successful, wealthy businessman with no political experience, Bennett’s first campaign was anchored on a promise to run the city like a business.

That was one commitment that he softened on, somewhat, as he gained experience.

His greatest achievement is one that many wouldn’t immediately recognize: leading council to an understanding that with cheap money available this was the time to fix aging infrastructure.

That included multi-million-dollar sewage, road and bridge reconstruction projects, as well as tens of millions for flood control works. The city’s debt load is higher as a result but still manageable.

And for someone who feuded bitterly at times with the leading downtown store and property owners, Bennett led a council that is remaking Bethune St. into an innovative linear park, creating a public square on the old Louis St. parking lot and rebuilding Charlotte St.

He has also championed a push to put a bigger, flashier Memorial Centre replacement downtown.

The city has a casino and will now get millions in annual revenue that was going to Cavan-Monaghan Township, fixing a previous council’s mistake.

And it is on the verge of breaking a 20-year stalemate in negotiations to acquire the Peterborough Airport and thousands of acres of future development land from Cavan-Monaghan.

Police budgets are under control, another necessary step that previous councils were unwilling or unable to take.

To get there, however, the city burned through three Police Services Board chairs and several members. Bennett was thrown off the board, charged and censured by a provincial review, and fought his way back on after threatening court action.

The police board saga is the clearest example of the outgoing mayor’s strengths and weaknesses. The goal was achieved but the fallout was at times nearly crippling.

Another Bennett priority – sale of the city-owned utility company’s distribution arm to Hydro One – might not survive his departure, in part because he failed to bring enough councillors, and the public, on side.

However, Bennett was right when he told that election night crowd that Peterborough is in good shape to succeed for decades to come.

He deserves a good deal of credit for achieving that goal. He has left the new mayor the task of moving the city forward in greater harmony.