The exterior of Saint John City Hall is pictured in this file photo. (Staff photo)
A town hall isn’t expected to solve all the economic problems coming from the pandemic, but officials are hoping it’s a good start.
Phil Ouellette, the deputy commissioner of growth and community planning with the City of Saint John, said the idea is to stimulate the economy.
“We as a city, we really need to connect with those who’ll be impacted by it, most notably the businesses who are themselves in a recovery stage, and also the community, who may interact with some of our recovery programming better than others,” he said.
Ouellette said the city wants to discuss with businesses what can be done and how that will impact their volume of customers.
“So it’s a great opportunity to seek out input from those who know it best, and then to adapt or customize our recovery programming as a municipality accordingly,” he said.
Ouellette said it’s also important to know from residents and customers what they’re looking for in a recovery plan.
“And as we collect more and more ideas on what the city could do, we’ll evaluate every one. One of the things that we’re trying to do is not overcomplicate things and find those things that are relatively easy to implement,” he said.
Ouellette said these town halls are indicative that they think there’s more that can be done. He said they will discuss what they mean by talking about the recovery plan and what that might look like.
He said some of the ideas which will be brought to the town hall include open streets, a popup park in the uptown, and the ability to apply for street closure for events.
The town hall will be held virtually, one for businesses and one for consumers themselves.
Participants will include Ouellette, Saint John Mayor Don Darling, and another worker from growth and community planning.
