Sonny Spina’s political ambitions have been a long time coming, but this week, the newly elected Ward 1 councilman will be officially sworn in at city hall. Finishing second in back-to-back federal elections, Spina made it count on last month’s municipal ballot by winning more than 30 percent of the vote, second only to his new running mate Sandra Hollingsworth. She joins Angela Caputo and Ron Zagordo from Ward 3 and Stephan Kinach from Ward 4 as the newest faces on the city council. In addition to his recent campaign, Spina believes residents have gotten to know him better in recent years through his past political bids and is grateful for the opportunity to represent his fellow citizens at city hall. “We’ve been able to engage with thousands of constituents in the Sault and get their concerns directly from them — there’s a lot of value in that,” he says. “I am truly excited to have the opportunity to represent these individuals across our city and find ways to make life better for people in our community.” Spina worked in Sault Ste. Marie Police Service for nearly two decades, working in various capacities, including frontline patrol, criminal investigations and the mental health unit. Now managing director of Norpro Security, Spina believes the expertise he can offer as a councilor will be invaluable. “You look at planning in terms of budgets and the needs of an organization – it reflects what you need to do in a city,” he says. “You have to manage your resources and budget them properly. With policing, I have that hands-on experience on the front lines, meeting challenges head-on in our community and finding creative solutions to those challenges.” Spina’s top priorities include addressing mental health and addictions, improving economic and tourism development and continuing to work with Indigenous communities, which will include re-establishing the Bawaating Advisory Committee. The idea of moving the Sault Police Department from its location on Second Line to the downtown core was brought up several times during the mayoral campaign, and Spina says he wouldn’t be opposed to the idea if the logistics were there. “There are a lot of things to consider if you’re going to put a police service building in a different part of town,” he says. “There are many infrastructure needs that are important, such as making sure the radio tower has uninterrupted transmissions everywhere in our community.” “There are ways you can have satellite services or satellite buildings across the city, and that’s something I would advocate looking at,” he adds. Spina would also be interested in partnering with Algoma University or Sault College to create a downtown campus. “It would be an important addition to help revitalize downtown and bring people there,” he says. “If people are there on a 24-hour basis, then shops can stay open and people can enjoy the city center in a more fulfilling way.” Speaking about the downtown square’s delays, Spina explains that the city council is not at a point where it can stop the project after the contracts have already been signed. Moving forward, however, he says the council needs to work together to ensure projects stay on budget and on target. “I know projects across the country are experiencing delays because of the constraints everyone has with the lack of product and labor,” he says. “This new council needs to ensure that approved projects meet the necessary schedules and budgets and that we don’t spend unnecessarily on it.” Spina says he has already met with most of the council members, incumbents and newbies, and looks forward to working with them. “We are all familiar with each other and we all share a vision for a better and more prosperous Sault Ste. Maria,” he says. “We’re all going to have a different take on what those projects might be, and we’re going to have some good conversations that can help our community move forward when these new ideas are presented.” “My message to the community is that the council you have elected shares a vision and is ready, willing and able to work collaboratively to make our community better,” he adds. The inaugural city council meeting, which will include the swearing in of Mayor-elect Matthew Shoemaker and ten councillors, will be broadcast live on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m. of Tuesday.
