Brian Bigger reflects on 1 year as mayor of Greater Sudbury

Marking one year since he took over the mayor's office, former auditor general Brian Bigger says hehas not ruled out a tax increase for Greater Sudbury during the upcoming budget process.

"There'll be a fair bit of deliberations this year," Bigger told CBC Sudbury's Morning North. "The citizens made it clear that they were not looking for a zero per cent tax increase through the entire council term. Really what citizens were saying was they wanted to see and feel like they were getting value for the tax dollars."

Bigger, who promised to freeze taxes for the first year of his term,said he hasn'tseen the base budget that will be brought forward on Dec. 8.

Bigger was sworn into office on Dec. 1, 2014, after the rookie politician won a hotly contested mayor's race.

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• Former CAO slams 'toxic' Sudbury mayor

Last month, former interim chief administrative officer Bob Johnston had harsh words for Bigger, telling local media that Bigger's"paranoid" leadership style createsa "toxic" environment at city hall.

Bigger casually dismissed the criticisms, saying that council "has a lot of respect for staff" and that his top priority at the moment is finding a permanent CAO.

'A practical way'

While his election campaign made the dramatic promiseto "take back" Sudbury, themayor says his approach to improving the city is a practicalone.

His focus is on a new work-order management system, improving 311 and a corporation-wide business planning process.

"They're fundamental to delivering value and improve levels of service to the citizens," he said. "I guess it's a practical way ofmoving forward."

Bigger said he's proud of repealing store hour bylaws during the new council's first meeting, saving sliding hills, and the adoption of a Sudbury charter.

He's also proud of Sudbury's recent accomplishments: being named the happiest city in Canada, an episode of The Amazing Raceand a Nobel Prize.

"There's so many things to be proud about within our city, and I think that's a really important element not to be lost," Bigger said. "There will be naysayers. There will be people who will try to detract us from the positive direction that we're taking."