Duane Hicks
“It’s time for a change.”
That’s the campaign slogan of Andrew Hallikas who, after eight years as a town councillor, is vying to be mayor in this month’s municipal election because he feels he is an agent of positive change to help steer Fort Frances toward a better future.
Hallikas, who is a “healthy, vibrant” 64, said he is a third-generation resident of Fort Frances and wants do everything he can for the community he feels privileged to have grown up in.
“I believe in the community. It’s an amazing place to live,” he stressed.
“It’s populated by amazing people and our community has the potential to be great.
“Aside from loving this community and being proud of it, I think that I can help,” Hallikas added.
“We’re going through a time of change right now,” he conceded. “[But] this is not necessarily an unusual situation. A lot of places are going through change.
“But I feel with dynamic and innovative leadership, Fort Frances can move forward into a very successful and prosperous future,” Hallikas said.
“And I’d like to share my skills and abilities that I’ve developed over my lifetime with my community in order to help it move forward into it’s rightful place in the future.”
Hallikas, a retired Fort Frances High School teacher who continues to work as a contract instructor for Confederation College here, said his skill set includes problem-solving, negotiating, finding consensus, innovation, finding win-win compromises, communication, public speaking, and dynamic leadership.
“I believe that I do have the life experiences, background, education, and the ability to lead our town during a time of change,” he remarked.
“And I certainly have the motivation because this is the town that I love.”
The biggest part of Hallikas’ platform is economic development, which he says must be approached in terms of partnerships.
“Fort Frances is not the only community undergoing economic woes,” he stressed. “Other communities in our district and region, including our area First Nations, are also in the same situation so we’re definitely not in this alone.
“And so it’s not a solution we should be pursuing alone.
“I think, generally, mayor and council need to do business differently,” Hallikas said. “In the past, we’ve been reactive and we need to be proactive.
“And I think that we need to think the big picture—we need to think globally, we need to think strategically, and not just tactically.”
Hallikas said Fort Frances needs to reach out to neighbouring First Nations, district municipalities, and the City of International Falls to pursue joint-economic goals, especially since government funding often is available for partnerships such as these.
“Right now, as an example, we’re partnering with International Falls on the ‘Peace Pull,’ and that’s a pretty unique event that can easily be expanded into a major festival that can draw people to our community,” he noted.
He added the two communities also are investigating the sharing of certain medical services.
Hallikas said the town’s economic problems did not happen overnight and there’s “no magic quick fix.” Any solution is going to take time, commitment, and dynamic and innovative leadership—and the stage must be set.
“Before we can entertain any real economic development, we need to ensure our ducks are in a row,” he noted.
“That means ensuring the things that attract investors are in place.”
These include:
•protecting the historic power agreement and advertising the fact Fort Frances has the lowest power costs in the province;
•consolidate usage of the tourist information centre with other partners and share costs, as well as secure a longer-term lease or buy it outright (this is part of a greater plan to market Fort Frances as a destination and not simply a gateway);
•making the area’s wood supply available for economic development in the district, which means lobbying the province so companies like Resolute don’t have sole control over the wood supply (an enhanced single forest licence would permit municipalities, First Nations, and other stakeholders have a say in how the wood is used);
•ensuring quality health care, including priorizing doctor recruitment and retention, lobbying the province for more nurse practitioners, and expanding or building a new clinic (although this would not be paid for by the town);
•positioning the town as a “senior-friendly centre,” which could mean increasing services at Sister Kennedy Centre, perhaps working towards an assisted living complex, and anything else to attract and retain seniors to live and spend money here;
•work on the downtown core to make it “vibrant” (while the Rainy Lake Market Square project is “on the right track,” more can and should be done);
•supporting and marketing arts, culture, and recreation because these are factors which attract people to visit and encourage them to stay;
•supporting the airport since it is an essential conduit to investment and industry (Hallikas said he’d like to get the support of district municipalities in running the airport, which, in turn, would be marketed as a district airport, not just a Fort Frances one);
•work with area First Nations to secure a government licence to build a casino in the district; and
•preparing Fort Frances, due to its central location in a district, to be a mining hub to meet the needs of miners and mining companies (this must be done now because there’s going to be a short window of opportunity when all of the mining construction begins).
Despite public criticism, Hallikas said he feels town council was prudent in developing the Huffman Court subdivision in anticipation of the mining boom.
A major concern for the town is its aging infrastructure. According to the town’s asset management plan, council needs to sock away more dollars to plan for the inevitable replacement of its old pipes.
Hallikas noted the asset management plan is new but the town’s infrastructure problem is not.
“Problems that have occurred over time can never be solved simply and quickly,” he stressed.
“This council happens to be the council that is dealing with problems we have inherited from the past.”
Hallikas noted when the town gets funding for road projects, they try to get the most out of it by replacing old sewer and watermains at the same time.
“The town constantly applies for grants and provincial funding in order to maintain and improve the infrastructure,” he said.
“We need to good infrastructure to attract good investment, but nothing stands alone and we need many other things to attract good investment.”
If elected, Hallikas said he’ll push for increasing contributions for infrastructure but that money should come from the provincial and federal governments—not solely from local taxpayers.
“I’m in favour of a steady planned approach to any problem, including infrastructure,” said Hallikas.
“The problem’s not going to be solved overnight but it will be solved over time.”
Another concern is the town’s shrinking tax base, thanks mainly to the loss of assessment of the shuttered pulp and paper mill here.
With less and less tax revenue, balancing the budget each year has become increasingly difficult.
Hypothetically, if council were to face a $1.8-million shortfall in its the 2015 budget, Hallikas said he’d be wary of cutting services and affecting the quality of life here.
Because council has been preparing for decreased tax revenues, the operational budget has been honed to a point where the town is running with a lean staff and is very efficient with what it has.
It would be difficult to reduce staff without a deterioration of services, he warned.
The capital budget, or “wish list” of projects and equipment purchases, is where it is somewhat easier for council to trim, added Hallikas.
If there were a budget shortfall, council would have to increase revenue through taxation or decrease costs by cutting services, or a combination of both.
“None of these are particularly palatable,” Hallikas conceded. “But you have be careful because cutting services will reduce the quality of life in our town.
“[And] quality of life is a major factor in attracting new residents and professionals and investment.”
Hallikas said, from his point-of-view, cutting services would be a last resort.
“I think you have to be very, very careful with service cuts—which ones will be done and if you cut the budget to a particular service, will it cripple it unduly?” he remarked.
“If service cuts are necessary, they have to be minimized, carefully thought out, and spread out throughout all of the services,” he stressed.
“You just can’t cut one and say this one is less important than the other.”
Hallikas said many municipalities have held the line on tax increases, but this philosophy often leads to the eventual need for large ones.
“No one wants to pay more taxes, including myself, but I think it’s better to have a small tax increase when needed than to be faced with large tax increases down the road,” he reasoned.
For more information, go to hallikasformayor.com or find him on Facebook.
