Ward 8 Coun. Scott Ford wants to grow Saskatoon’s ‘tremendous opportunity’

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Ward 8 Coun. Scott Ford spoke about his experience in Saskatoon and what he brings to city council.

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As Saskatoon’s new city councillors are getting settled in at city hall, the StarPhoenix sat down with them to get an idea of what they hope to see in the city …

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After three decades at SaskTel Centre, much of which was spent as its executive director, Scott Ford decided to try something different.

He’d previously considered running for city council but never acted on it. Last year, he jumped in.

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“I felt that this was the time for me to make that change,” said Ford, who in November was elected Ward 8 councillor, replacing Sarina Gersher, who held the position for eight years.

“I feel that this is a new opportunity to actually try to do some great things for the city.”

Ford said his motivation to run for council came from his love of Saskatoon, noting that he’s been in Ward 8 for 25 years.

“We have a city that’s growing and it has tremendous opportunity,” he added.

Though he’s a newcomer to council, he feels his 30 years at SaskTel Centre will help with the transition, he said, noting that he was often involved in budgets, strategic planning and contract negotiations.

“A budget is an initial document, but things change throughout the course of the year. You also have to recognize that even though you set the initial budget, you continue to re-evaluate it as you’re progressing to the end of the term for that budget.”

He described himself as creative and innovative, which led to some opportunities and revenue streams for SaskTel Centre. He wants to do the same for the city, he said.

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Budget adjustments were among the immediate tasks for council after the election. Ford noted that much of the work was already accomplished by the last council; the discussion revolved around the second year of a two-year budget.

“I really enjoyed the process,” he said.

Detailed information was available prior to deliberations and councillors were able to review the entire budget thanks to efforts from the city administration, he said.

“Mayor Block and the veteran councillors have gone through this process many times, so as new councillors it was nice to lean on their experience.”

He highlighted the additional resources for police as a good news story that came out of those deliberations. The province has funded 37 new officers for Saskatoon, but it’s the city’s role to pay for their equipment.

“We just came off an election where community safety was one of the primary topics,” Ford said.

He was surprised by how well-organized the city was for the onboarding of new council members, teaching them all the processes and systems they needed to know about, he said.

“It was far beyond anything I had expected.”

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