Beny Masella on strengthening Montreal West, demerged towns and small, consistent wins

Beny Masella is the mayor of Montreal West and the president of the Association of Suburban Municipalities.

In his role, he works tirelessly on behalf of his citizens and their best interests.

Masella spoke with Global News about the last decade in his community, small consistent wins and demerged towns.

What were you doing in 2010?

I was a newly elected mayor for our town (elected November 2009) so I was still on the steep portion of the learning curve. As well, I was still running my pharmacy.

How were you hoping things might shape up in your community over the decade?

Honestly, similar to how they have progressed. I wanted the tax burden to stabilize (decreasing it was a non-starter) while continuing on the huge backlog of infrastructure work that needed to be addressed. I also hoped to have in place the financing for a new arena/recreation centre.

Were you right or wrong? If you were wrong, how so?

We’ve been able to continue the work to renew the infrastructure while managing to keep the tax increases at or below the cost of living. Furthermore, our long-term debt to finance this infrastructure work is also under control. As well, we’ve built a reasonable surplus to help deal with any big fluctuations. Unfortunately, funding for our recreation centre has not materialized yet, but we will continue that fight.

READ MORE: Montreal’s suburban mayors want more say on how tax revenues are spent

What is the single biggest change that has happened in your business over the past 10 years has been a game changer?

The impact that the agglomeration expenses have had on the demerged towns has been game-changing. With the ever-increasing budgets at the agglomeration for shared services, it puts a strain on our efforts internally to keep things reasonable for our citizens.

What has been your biggest win?

Not sure there was any big win. I appreciate small, consistent wins more.

What has been your biggest disappointment or miss? What did you learn from it?

We have been trying for years to revise the agglomeration cost-sharing formulas to allow us to pay a more equitable and fairer share. But, regardless of the nice words spoken by the Ville de Montréal, they are not even seated at a negotiation table with us. We have not made any substantial progress on that front.

What was the biggest story of the last decade in your town and in Montreal’s suburbs? Why?

See the answer to the question above.

1:16 ‘Hopes crushed’ by Montreal 2018 budget for demerged cities

How has the makeup of your town and Montreal’s suburbs changed over the last decade? How does this drive your decisions?

I can’t speak for the other demerged towns, but in Montreal West, we have noticed a great shift in demographics. Where in the past, the town was mainly an older, anglophone population, we see the new residents are young families coming from a variety of backgrounds. And that bodes well for the renewal of our town. It forces us to look at facilities and recreational offerings and ensure they are in tune with new demands from our residents. But at the same time, we need to encourage development/redevelopment in our mature town so that different housing options can be built to address the needs our seniors have who want to downsize.

What’s your biggest hope for the town for the next 10 years (between 2020 and 2030)?

Ten years from now, I hope people will be sitting in the new recreation centre, waiting for their kids on the arena ice or taking a seniors’ exercise class and reflect on the past 20 years and think, “Mayor Masella and his council did a pretty good job.” We have a new centre to enjoy, there are kids in town, there are new housing options for our seniors to downsize to and remain in town, the work on our infrastructure is continuing, we have a fair cost-sharing formula in place with Montreal, and things are good. Our community will continue to strengthen.

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What is the biggest challenge facing your community over the next decade?

See the answer to question: “What has been your biggest disappointment or miss? What did you learn from it?”

And because we couldn’t resist…do you think the Habs will win a Stanley Cup in the next decade?

That’s a tough one. I think it’s a question of the return on investment in our young players. If they become the great players they should become, all goals are attainable.