Ozzie Grandinetti throws his hat in the ring for mayor

Former city councillor Ozzie Grandinetti is officially throwing his hat in the ring for Mayor in the upcoming municipal election. 

"For the past four years, I’ve been a blue-collared citizen and am as angry as you are," Grandinetti said in a statement issued today. 

Grandinetti's full statement is as follows: 

My name is Ozzie Grandinetti and I want to be your Mayor.

Yes, I was at one point in time a councillor in this city, but for the past four years, I’ve been a blue-collared citizen and am as angry as you are.

I’m angry I can’t drive my truck down any street without worrying about a pothole. I’m angry this current council doesn’t seem to care about what citizens want and I’m angry about where my tax dollars go.

When I was on council, I was vocal against nepotism, high taxes, high building permit fees and the rising cost of user fees. These are still high on my list, but I have so much more to add.

You see, I want you, the hard-working men and women of our community, the ones that don’t believe their vote matters on election day to know it does. I have a list of things I want to change in this community but the number one thing I am committed to doing is putting a freeze on your city taxes. 

• I believe by doing a forensic audit of each department we can find the money to make this happen. 
• I believe that selling all our surplus property on the open market during this boom can help make this happen. 
• I believe in not spending money on projects that continuously go over budget even if that means cancelling them. 
• I believe in not spending money on projects that are not needed (such as new roads and buildings), etc. Together we can help make this happen.

I envision a thriving downtown and have a few ways I think we can accomplish that. I want to look into a Private/Public partnership to bring much-needed affordable housing to the downtown core. I promise to work with local agencies to address the cause of the downtown issues, not just put band-aid solutions in place.

With all that said, I want to hear from you. I want to know what you want to see done with our city, beyond my visions. I will be listening to your ideas, putting together my plan, and sharing with you the many reasons why I should be your next Mayor. In the next few weeks, I will be launching a website, in the meantime, you can reach me on Facebook or by emailing me at [email protected]