Kelleher says she’ll shape her priorities around residents’ concerns

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“I have a bank of information and comments and requests from residents, and I’m going to start working through those and start shaping and forming where my priorities will be.”

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As Saskatoon’s new city councillors get settled in at city hall, the StarPhoenix sat down with each of them to get an idea of what they hope to accomplish.

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While she is a newcomer to city council, Holly Kelleher has more than a decade of related experience to draw on.

Kelleher previously served for 11 years as a school board trustee before her successful bid to replace former Ward 7 councillor Mairin Loewen.

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She said she really enjoyed that work; helping establish several new elementary schools was one of the highlights.

“It’s also learning and training on board work and governance and committee structure, and working with school community councils and community associations,” she said.

A desire to continue that kind of work motivated her to run for city council. The first weeks on the job were hectic, with plenty to learn, she said.

“Administration has been so brilliant, really, at getting us up to speed and getting us the information that we need.”

Making budget adjustments, which was one of the first tasks the new council had to face, went well and councillors were able to work through the process collaboratively, she said.

A lot of history goes into budget decisions, which requires sifting through thousands of pages in a synthesized way, she noted.

“I think Mayor (Cynthia) Block is hitting it out of the park … I think it can be challenging having six new people coming in.”

During her election campaign, her priorities were formed based on feedback she heard from residents of her ward, Kelleher said.

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“I have a bank of information and comments and requests from residents, and I’m going to start working through those and start shaping and forming where my priorities will be.”

Many of those priorities mirror the main discussions around the city, including road maintenance and making sure parks and public spaces are orderly and accessible, she said.

“Are we building a city that is attractive for new residents to come into, is it attractive to new businesses, and are those pieces sustainable?”

Kelleher said it’s difficult to talk about homelessness — one of the biggest issues facing the city — without also talking about addictions, mental health challenges, the rising cost of housing, the increased cost of living and other topics that are woven into the problem.

“It’s going to require an intense, collaborative effort among groups of partners. The city is one of them.”

Other organizations — housing agencies, the provincial government, Indigenous groups and the federal involvement — also have a role to play, she noted.

Kelleher conceded that most people don’t want new shelters in their neighbourhoods. A system needs to be in place to help people move from emergency shelters into transitional housing, then affordable housing, offering services to them along the way, she said.

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“I think that’s the only way to decrease the demand for shelters, which is the only thing I’ve heard everyone agree on, that nobody wants them — and nobody wants to need them.”

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