Bill Pratt running for mayor to be “unified voice” of Regina

After hearing from businesses and community members about how Regina is under-performing, Bill Pratt said he’s the guy to lead the city into a more unified future.

“Nobody likes to live in the quagmire of dysfunction,” Pratt said. “That’s not what we do as human beings.

“We want something better, and where we’ve ended up in the last four years has completely put the focus on what’s wrong with our city, and people have had enough.”

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Pratt put forward his platform at his campaign headquarters in downtown Regina on Friday. His campaign zeros in on growing the business community, creating accountable leadership, and revitalizing the downtown.

“People want our downtown to be vibrant, and we have to do it,” Pratt said. “Every city has got to have a vibrant, thriving economic-driving downtown.”

With goals of making council meetings smoother and more productive, Pratt said he would use his experience working as an executive board member and CEO to help end some of the division on council.

“We can have debates, we can have different views, you bet, 100 per cent,” he said. “Let’s not make it cheap and amateur, and embarrass this city.”

Pratt wants to shift from the “call someone out” to the “call someone in” approach for a more thorough and personal conversations with city council and city administration.

He is pushing an economic plan that works closely with local businesses and includes strategic intensives, he said. Pratt wants to cement Regina’s tax base to strengthen public services, and collaborate with other levels of government to secure funding.

“The mayor has got to be that unified voice, that the one who can unify voices and work with all levels of government,” he said.

Pratt acknowledged that the Regina Exhibition Associated Limited (REAL) District should be apart of the future of the city, but said it needs to undergo “radical changes” to become sustainable again.

“To continue as we are now, it’s not going to work,” he said. “We are simply going to run out of money, and the place will be done. We cannot do that.”

Pratt said “everything is on the table” when it comes to hearing about options that will help with fixing REAL.

Pratt is one of 11 candidates running for mayor. The municipal election day is on Nov. 13.

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