Iveson confirms he'll seek mayor's chair again

Mayor Don Iveson used his annual "state of the city" address on Wednesday to announce he will seek re-election in the Oct. 16 municipal election.

Referring to himself as "collaborator-in-chief,"Ivesontold an Edmonton Chamber of Commerce audience the city has made "huge progress" regionalizing its approach to economic development, and promised to build on that.

"I intend to bring the same level of focus and attention that I brought to the work in the region to this work on innovation and economic diversification," Iveson told reporters after his speech.

"It's a major theme I'll be talking about," he said, referring to the months ahead leading up to the election.

Iveson, 37, was first elected mayor in 2013 after serving two terms as a city councillor.

Explaining "collaborator-in-chief" after his speech,Iveson said it's how he describes his leadership style on council, in the region, with other levels of government and with the business community.

"Someone once described the role of mayor as conductor," he said. "You're not actually playing an instrument most of the time, you're conducting the symphony. That's a collaborative role."

The job of a mayor is to lead but Iveson said "you don't get music if people aren't playing along."

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The speech, delivered to approximately 2,000 people at the Shaw Conference Centre, focused on embracing change and on Edmonton becoming a city that supports startups and helps them to grow to the next level.

He pledged to cut wait times for permit approval and to simplify the process of working with city regulations.

He also pointed to the Expo and Shaw Conference Centres as entities that need to be brought together, much in the same way as municipalities in the region.

Right now, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) operates Shaw, while Northlands takes care of Edmonton Expo Centre. The two compete for a similar pool of events and attractions.

There will still be a role for Northlands, but it won't continue as the operator of the Expo Centre, the mayor said.

"Northlands needs to go through a major adjustment to be viable into the future."

He suggested the organization may need to go back to its roots and focus on agriculture and events such as Farmfair and K-Days.

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Northlands will be presenting a business plan for the future to city council at the end of June.

Once the report is before council, it will be determined if EEDCor a newly established convention and events authoritywill operate the two entities, he said.

"Just like with the region we can go out and hunt as a pack for more trade shows, more international events," said Iveson "And get these conference centres performing better in the future."