The mayor of Sarnia, Ont. is for the first time exercising his so-called ‘strong mayor’ powers to put the kibosh on building a new police station. Mike Bradley has vetoed a council budget decision to borrow $5.1 million for the engineering site work on a proposed new $91 million headquarters that he says would balloon to $120 million. Bradley previously called it a “vanity project” that taxpayers can’t afford. “What a waste of money. Look at your options. Maybe look at precincts. Keeping the existing station, upgrading it. Get rid of the administration in that building, put it elsewhere. There’s all sorts of solutions there, but they’re going for the Cadillac, and the Cadillac is $120 million that the people of Sarnia cannot afford,” Bradley said. The Sarnia Police Services Board had initially sought the full $91 million commitment from Sarnia taxpayers. Last month it revised its request, seeking instead a staged building approach with an ask of $25 million for the first phase. On Nov. 25, Sarnia Council approved $5.1 million to get the work started. Police Services Board Chair Paul Wiersma says he’s disappointed but not surprised by the mayor’s veto. “By not proceeding, it actually is going to be more costly because we’re going to have to put money into the facility that’s not going to serve the service in the long run. And by delaying the project, we’re simply going to be spending more in the long run,” said Wiersma. Council budget deliberations on funding the police headquarters followed an aggressive social media campaign by the Sarnia Police Service, which highlighted shortcomings of the existing station. Police Chief Derek Davis says those issues haven’t changed. “We have a custody facility that needs work. We have insecure on-load off-load outside the parking lot. We have space constraints. We have IT infrastructure issues. This building was built in 1987. It was built before computers were commonplace,” he said. Bradley also vetoed a decision to borrow $4.1 million for a proposed sports complex. The changes bring Sarnia’s projected tax hike to 3.1 per cent, down from 4.3 per cent. Council can still override the vetoes, but it needs two-thirds majority. “My hope is that the veto will not be overridden by the majority. They need six. The vote was relatively close. And I need them to understand, the people of Sarnia right now cannot afford this,” the mayor said. The next council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 15.
