The Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce is pleased to congratulate the newly elected and re-elected members of our City Council as well as Mayor-elect Christian Provenzano on their successful election campaigns.
“We look forward to meeting and working closely with this Council,” notes Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce President Mark Barsanti.
He adds: “The Chamber hosted its 125th Annual General Meeting and Business Awards on October 23rd and we had in attendance several of the (now) re-elected members of Council as well as Mr. Provenzano, who has now become our Mayor-elect. At that time, I noted in my formal report to the membership that we need to establish a close working relationship with Council. Our elected representatives need to recognize the Chamber for the valuable asset that it is… a direct link to the members of the Sault’s business community.”
In the days leading up to Monday’s election, the Chamber issued an informal survey to its members asking them to select the one mayoral candidate and one candidate from each ward which, based on what they had seen, heard and read during the campaign, seemed to best represent the interests of their particular business.
Barsanti notes that the results of the survey were to be used to identify candidates who, in the eyes of Chamber members, had put forward a strong business-oriented case during their campaign.
“The results and feedback that we received prior to the election, very closely mirrored the actual outcomes,” suggests Barsanti. He notes that Christian Provenzano led in the mayoral results; incumbents Steve Butland, Paul Christian, Terry Sheehan, Susan Myers, Lou Turco, Rick Niro, Marchy Bruni, Frank Fata and Joe Krmpotich virtually all topped the feedback in their respective wards. New-comers Matthew Shoemaker, Judy Hupponen and Ross Romano also led survey results for their wards.
“Noting that our members gave all new and returning members of Council strong marks on the business-related portions of their campaigns, the expectations of our membership is pretty clear… We hope that they will commit to working with the Chamber to build strong ties and strengthen our economy,” concludes Barsanti.
Prior to the election the Chamber co-hosted a series of candidate forums with Algoma University, Shaw TV and Local2.ca. Barsanti notes that as part of its new advocacy strategy, the Chamber will more actively engage its members during political campaigns in order to ensure the voice of the business community is heard.
The Chamber wishes to congratulate all individuals who put their names forward to run in the election as well as campaign workers, volunteers and the voters of Sault Ste. Marie.
