Stabilizing taxes is priority for new mayor.

• Author: Ross, Ian

The new mayor of Temiskaming Shores enters office with her fundraiser's resolve to keep taxes in check and tackle some pressing amalgamation problems.

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Judy Pace says the municipality of 10,000 is struggling with a "multitude of issues" stemming from the unfinished business of municipal amalgamation of New Liskeard, Haileybury and Dymond Township in 2004.

In her first month in office, Pace was immersed in meetings to find solutions to deliver local policing and garbage pickup for all three communities while preparing for an early municipal budget process in February.

"There hasn't been a lot done in three years to bring these three communities together."

Pace admits during her election campaign she didn't focus much on business and economic development.

But everyday issues like curbside pickup, which varies throughout the municipality, are the little things that can affect business.

As part of the city's "new direction," Pace and the new council made their mark very early with the dismissal of the CAO Ken Zur-by, replacing him with planner Brian Carre as acting city manager.

Further changes came about by combining the economic development and planning departments under one umbrella.

"People respond to strong leadership. We're working our butts off to do everything we can for this city You can just see how everybody's coming on board," says Pace. Money is tight and available bodies are short.

As a former separate school board chair, Pace announced her mayoral bid in June after her predecessor Jamie Hawken announced he would not run again.

Married to a local physician and a mom to two grown children attending university, Pace spearheaded the successful community fundraising efforts for Temiskaming Hospital's CAT Scan foundation before moving on to municipal politics.

Pace recognizes access to start-up capital remains a major hurdle for small business and entrepreneurs.

The community also has a shortage of qualified tradespeople and can't always compete against more lucrative opportunities in western Canada. So partnerships with colleges and upper levels of government to train a local workforce is a must, she says.

To gain insight into what small and medium sized businesses require to survive and prosper, the city commissioned their own business retention and expansion program.

A "critical" red flag raised was to keep taxes at a sustainable level for business.

Last fall, the City of Temiskaming Shores was cited by the...