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I think I won my first election campaign because of a photo. During my 2006 election campaign, we put a photo of me, Sarah and our 18-month-old son, Simon, on our flyers.

This image of a young family choosing to stay in Saskatoon went against the narrative widely held in our city at the time, when the majority of post-secondary graduates were moving to other cities to build their futures.

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NOW 18 years laterSimon graduated from high school. He and most of his friends stayed. The statistics show this too. Together, we overturned this old narrative. Today, more than 70 percent of graduates stay here and plan a future for themselves.

The biggest goal of a city is to become a place that people love and want to stay.

Since becoming mayor, I have often heard that a city should focus only on basic services: fixing potholes, picking up trash, hiring police officers and firefighters. Everything else is “marginal”.

Yes, we definitely need to do a good job with our core services. But I also know that people don’t choose to live in cities just because of smoother roads and competitive property taxes.

Cities and ambitions of a cityIt must be more than that. I think a city must do three things well:

1) provide services and programs that people trust;

2) create ambitious gathering places that residents are proud of;

3) build pathways that support diversity, so that everyone feels a sense of belonging and opportunity.

That’s what we do in Saskatoon. And now we’re seeing a growing dynamic that attracts and keeps people here.

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Saskatoon is not perfect. We have our challenges: addictions, homelessaffordability and safety being among the best. These same challenges are encountered in all major cities around the world.

But we are not one broken cityas some have said.

Our city is the main engine of the provincial economy. We are seeing record job and population growth, and people from all over the world want to be a part of our city.

We have completely renovated the streets and sidewalks. We improved our waste management and snow removal processes, and continued our investments in police and firefighters.

And while I know this latest 6% property tax increase has been difficult, since I’ve been mayor, we’ve imposed property tax increases that are on average lower than the previous three councils, while continuing to grow.

But this is not enough to explain the dynamism of our city.

A big city needs ambitious gathering places. Together we created them. From River Landing and Remai Modern to Optimist Hill and the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. And we also maintained our sense of community by improving neighborhood playgrounds and walking trails.

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Finally, a great city must find ways to welcome and support the diversity of its residents. We are stronger when everyone can contribute their talents and passions. We lean into the hard work of truth and reconciliation. We are working to be a safe and supportive city for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

We’ve built pathways to connect newcomers to our community to find opportunities. And we’ve improved how we make the city more accessible to people with disabilities.

As we begin an election that will determine the next leaders of our cityI encourage citizens and voters to ask candidates about their vision for maintaining the momentum of our city. Don’t let our city be dragged backward by defeatist thinking and politics of blame.

The next generation is counting on all of us to build on this momentum, come together, be bold and courageous in building a city that is well-run, but also a city that people love. .

This is a city where our children will stay. This is the true return on investment.

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark is stepping down after eight years in office.

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