Elliot Lake Mayor Dan Marchisella has filed papers with the city clerk to run for re-election.
He is the first person to announce his candidacy in the Oct. 22 municipal election. The mayor filed his papers the day after the provincial election.
In his first run for a political seat, Marchisella handily won the race for mayor in the 2014 municipal election garnering some 2,028 votes, almost double of what the second-place candidate received.
Marchisella spoke about his campaign and what he hoped to achieve if re-elected. He noted his first election win in the 2014 vote showed Elliot Lake voters were looking for a change, something he campaigned on then.
“Four years ago the city was broken, the community was in pieces,” Marchisella said in an interview at the outside Miners Memorial with ElliotLakeToday. “There didn’t seem to be any trust in the elected officials at the time. In the last four years I think we’ve picked up a lot of those pieces and started putting them back together.”
Marchisella said, if re-elected to a second term, he would like to continue with initiatives started in this term by council.
“I think we just got started in moving the city forward,” he added. “I’ve started quite a few initiatives moving forward and I’d like to see them come to fruition.”
One of the largest initiatives is construction of a new multi-recreational sports complex with an estimated price of $41 million. The complex will have an arena, curling rink, swimming pool and exercise facilities for city seniors and people of all ages, under one roof. It will replace similar, aging facilities scattered around the city and is expected to save the city ongoing maintenance and electricity costs.
The province has already approved a grant of $13.7 million. The federal government is expected to make a decision in September on the grant it will provide to the city. Once that is done city council will know what has to be raised locally, a process that has already been under discussion.
Other initiatives include reaching an agreement with the Serpent River First Nation (SRFN) community for a closer and equal working relationship on lakefront development. Council recently sent an approved motion to SRFN council for its consideration of a working agreement between the two communities. A decision is expected Monday when SRFN council meets to consider the motion.
Marchisella would also like to see the city continue to set money aside for future projects, including road maintenance and new construction, and upgrades to the city’s aging water and sewer infrastructure.
His first term has also seen a councillor code of conduct established and training for council members sworn in right after an election. The code of conduct was approved during this term after three councillors resigned over issues of poor conduct in dealing with city staff and the public. All three were replaced.
Marchisella’s has simple advice to anyone considering running for council in the October election.
“You should be in it for the community as a whole. We’re all stakeholders, everybody who pays taxes to the city we’re all stakeholders in this massive corporation,” he said of the advice he follows and gives to others seeking public office. “Everybody needs to matter.”