Meet the candidates: Andrew Black, running for mayor of Tantramar

Andrew Black was just elected for a second term on Sackville town council when the province decided to amalgamate surrounding areas and create a new town of Tantramar. After serving the past year as Deputy Mayor and taking an active role in the Union of New Brunswick Municipalities (Black was elected president of the organization last month), he decided to run for mayor of the amalgamated municipality. Black says the coming year in municipal government will be a tough one, dealing with unknowns and a new council composition.

CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Andrew Black here:

TRANSCRIPT:

CHMA: So thanks for taking the time today, Andrew Black. Could you start by telling me a bit about yourself and how long you’ve been involved with council?

Andrew Black: Well, I’m 47 years old. I was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia. And I think it was five months old when my parents moved out west., I lived in Calgary until I was about 10 years old and moved back to the Maritimes, to Sackville, in 1985. So I’ve lived here most of my life. Graduated from Tantramar High School, graduated from Mount Allison University and my parents are both from the area. My mom is a Hicks. So I have deep, deep roots and am related to I think probably, jokingly, half of Sackville.
So I’ve been on council for six years, I was first elected in 2016. And then that council was supposed to be four years, but COVID hit so they asked us to stay an extra year. And then I ran again a year ago and got re-elected. And I’ve been, as you say, Deputy Mayor for the last year.

CHMA: And what made you choose to decide to run again for council, particularly as mayor of the new town of Tantramar?

Andrew Black: Well, I had every intention to run for council. Certainly, as soon as I knew there was an election coming up, I knew I was going to run for council. Probably about a month ago, I was elected president of UMNB, which is the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, which is a provincial advocacy group for municipalities. And I spoke with some of my colleagues from other municipalities across the province. I spoke with a previous mayor of Sackville. And my wife, of course, and my family. And just talked about the possibility of running for mayor. It’s something that I had thought about the last time I ran and everything seemed to align. So the last conversation I had was with my current employer just to make sure that everything would work out, and here I am. So I wanted to run for Sackville. I’ve been very involved as a councillor, and I think that I could do some great things as mayor, so I’m ready to take that step.

CHMA: Okay, and I want to get your take on some of the local issues that we’ve been following at CHMA, starting with housing. As you know, often people refer to housing as primarily a provincial file or responsibility. But then we also see examples of places like Moncton where the municipality launched the affordable housing initiative called Rising Tide. And, here in Sackville, people have reported being subjected to big rent increases. As you know, there’s a rent freeze on right now, rent cap on right now. But it’s due to expire in December. All right. And on the other hand, so people are people are finding that, you know, with higher interest rates and so on it’s and just it’s hard for people to become first-time buyers as the market is so hot, houses have become much more expensive in the last few years. So all this to say what do you see as the town’s role or potential role in protecting housing affordability, and availability?

Andrew Black: That’s a lot. You’re absolutely right. It’s sad that housing has become such a huge issue. And you’re absolutely right, that it’s not just here, it’s everywhere. So I’ve often talked to people about housing and saying that if you attempted to move away from Sackville because you couldn’t find housing, you would just go to another town or another city and also not find housing. And your point about it being a provincial and federal issue? Yes, traditionally, that’s true, but the lines are blurring for what municipalities can do with those issues like health care, housing, education, stuff like that.

There is a group that myself and a couple other councillors have been involved with, an ad hoc community group that is gaining ground in Sackville. And it’s a community-driven sort of specialists and interested parties around the table who’ve been talking about housing and trying to move the needle on housing. And I would, as mayor or as part of council, I think it’s probably worthwhile to keep investing in that group, sitting, listening, talking, and figuring out next steps. There are housing co-op initiatives in Sackville as well that could use a boost. So as far as the town goes, the connection that we can make with housing, is to try to make it easier for those things to happen, like development, for example. So we have some bylaws that are going to have to be rewritten in the town of Tantramar. Those bylaws can be, especially zoning bylaws, those bylaws can be looked at to make it easier for affordable housing or housing in general to be built.

I also think that it’s important for the, I guess, particularly the mayor to be able to talk to provincial ministers and non-profit groups and other interested parties to keep Sackville on the map and informed of any changes that happen within the housing crisis story.

CHMA: Now, looking at the topic of transparency and openness and municipal government. The leadership of the current municipal council has been criticized for what some people say is a lack of transparency over issues like these consultant reports that don’t get released, like the Montana report, for example, on the fire department. What’s your philosophy when it comes to transparency in municipal government?

Andrew Black: Well, I think it’s important, I really think it’s important to stay transparent as much as possible. And to be able to give taxpayers, citizens of the town of Tantramar, the information that they need. As far as the Montana report and some of the Code of Conduct violation issues that have happened recently, a lot of that is protected under confidentiality agreements for specific purposes. A lot of times people will give information that they don’t want anybody to hear. So we have to respect the confidentiality. In the Montana report, there were a lot of firefighters who opened up about issues within the department and to release that report to the public would put those people who spoke truthfully in a bad position.

But I do believe in transparency. I personally think that Sackville for the most part has done a pretty good job of it. There’s always work that can be done. I think that, as far as Code of Conduct violations, the bylaw could certainly be rewritten. And so what is an informal and formal complaint process could certainly be worked and looked at, but I think transparency is absolutely important.

CHMA: Now looking at economic development. As you know, as part of the ongoing municipal reform initiatives from the provincial government, the Southeast Regional Services Commission has been mandated to take on economic development. Do you think that Tantramar should have its own business development or economic development activities, in addition to whatever the Southeast Regional Service Commission ends up doing?

Andrew Black: Yeah, absolutely. The Regional Service Commission–and that’s just obviously one of the new mandated services coming down from the Southeast Regional Service Commission. The economic development piece is regional, right? So there are an awful lot of communities that sit around that table. And so what does a regional economic approach look like? How much impact will the money that we pay for that mandated service here in the town of Tantramar actually impact specifically the town of Tantramar? You know, we’re all in it together. I think that if the region wins, then the municipalities within the region win to an extent. But I think it’s absolutely important for the town of Tantramar to have economic development. We do have a manager of tourism and business development currently. That portfolio could certainly be flushed out. Obviously, that would be the decision of the CAO along with mayor and council to discuss that. But there’s a lot to offer in Sackville. And there’s a lot that Sackville could do towards business development. And I think that it would be important to continue what the town of Tantramar does in the future. So yeah, I think that it’s important.

I also think that because we’re having an expanded border, and we’re going to become this new municipality, we’re going to have a lot more people who have expertise in things like business development, entrepreneurship, small business ownership. And to bring those people around the table and maybe an ad hoc economic development committee, I think would be a really important thing as well. And that’s something that I’d like to see in the in the town of Tantramar.

CHMA: Now looking at climate change, obviously, an important issue all over the world, and in particular for the Sackville area, the Tantramar area, we have the problem of flooding and sea level rise. What actions do you think the town needs to take to protect it from flooding and the impacts of climate change?

Andrew Black: Again, that’s a huge question. Well, I think Sackville has been doing…I know that the village of Dorchester is taking steps as well. But as far as the town of Tantramar goes, there’s a lot of unknowns there, just like everything else. You know, we in Sackville, specifically, we’ve done some things to protect the town from climate change and sea level rise, like building retention ponds, the phase one and phase two of the Lorne Street project. Phase three is in the works.

But with the expanded borders again in the town of Tantramar, then there’s first of all going to have to be a discussion from the people who live in former LSD areas to find out what kind of issues they have around climate change, sea level rise. So, you know, we do have a climate change advisory committee as well in Sackville. That will have to be the climate change advisory committee for the town of Tantramar. So get them involved in looking at sort of, what kind of issues people have with climate change and, and climate change adaptation. I think it’s still important to continue on with phase three of Lorne Street reconstruction. But one of the biggest pieces to all of this is the Chignecto Isthmus project. That report came out a couple of years ago. And for the most part, I mean, it’s obviously still referenced, but it seems like it’s starting to fizzle a little bit. And I don’t think that that can happen…

CHMA: Do you mean the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia report, because that came out earlier this year, didn’t it?

Andrew Black: Right. Yes, but it had started. They started that research project quite a bit before that. It took forever for that for that report to come out. We had waited and waited and waited for it to come out. But I think that it’s important to continue talking about that, obviously with Nova Scotia but with our extended borders, and what it looks like to affect the greater Tantramar area and to keep on top of that as well.

CHMA: I know there are so many issues to talk about, are there any in particular that you’re hoping to highlight in your campaign?

Andrew Black: Well, I think one of the biggest problems probably, I guess the biggest issue for me is this first year. I think the first year is going to be busy. I don’t want to paint it as being stark, but it’s going to be a little bit of a difficult year just to try to get a brand new council, with a brand new council composition, off the ground and running. And that’s going to be a lot of work. Plus, there’s a lot of unknowns for this first year for the town of Tantramar around staffing, fire departments, for example, is another sort of key issue. So I think really just bringing everybody together, new councillors around the table, getting them to sort of understand what it means to be a councillor and part of a council, their responsibilities to the town of Tantramar, and the people who elected them. Orientation, that sort of stuff, is going to be big. The learning curve for this job, mayor and council, is pretty steep. And I think the first year is going to be getting everybody together, trying to figure out where we’re going. working with staff closely, and getting the town of Tantramar ready for 2023 and into 2024, when we really, you know, start rolling. That’s one of the biggest issues for me that I see facing at least the sort of organization and structure of the town of Tantramar and council.

But then, you know, obviously the issues that you mentioned around economic development and climate change and housing and transparency… The health care issue is still ongoing as well, which Sackville has been doing very well on. And Dorchester has been involved in that as well. So the town of Tantramar is going to have to continue on that, keep working on health care as well.

And then probably within the next year and a half, we’re going to see education reform. And that’s again, Sackville has worked on that, but the town of Tantramar is going to have to continue that project as well trying to sort of work with the government to figure out what education reform looks like in our region… Maybe that’s a lot.

CHMA: But I guess to kind of sum it up, it’s a question of, sort of the administrative challenges of this amalgamated community or communities and, and just management of change, including, perhaps especially changes that are handed down from the provincial government.

Andrew Black: Absolutely, I mean, what, you know, one of the one of the beautiful parts of the reform process and amalgamation is the fact that we have these former LSD areas that have never had an opportunity to be represented or have a voice before. I mean, other than talking directly with the Minister of Local Government, which, you know, I can’t even imagine how frustrating that must be.

But having those voices at council… One of the one of the first things that’s going to have to happen is the ward councillors are going to have to get to know their constituents, and bring any issues or concerns or wins to the table so that all of council can understand where the town of Tantramar is coming from and where we’re going to be going. And that’s a lot. I mean, it’s a lot to deal with. And then on top of a budget that we haven’t really seen, that’s going to be another thing that’s going to take up a considerable amount of time to try to figure out with the new council.

CHMA: Anything else you’d like people in the Tantramar area to know?

Andrew Black: One of the last things I would like like to say is really just to get out and vote. I’ve been doing some door knocking in the Tantramar area. And one of the first things that I say to people is, here are the election dates, please get out to vote. Municipal elections have some of the lowest voter turnouts of municipal, provincial and federal elections. And I would argue that municipal governance is, you know, those tangible things that people are impacted by every day, the decisions that affect everybody almost on an individual basis. And I really want to push that message out, that people need to get out and vote.

CHMA: Okay, great. Well, thank you, Deputy Mayor Andrew Black, who is running for the position of mayor of the new town of Tantramar in a race with current mayor of Sackville Shawn Mesheau and Bonnie Swift. So we’ll have interviews of those candidates here on CHMA. You can find them on CHMAfm.com. Thank you very much. Mr. Black.

Andrew Black: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.