Ward 6 forum turns into Frank Manzo love-in

It would be easy to pick a winner in last night's Ward 6 Candidates' Awareness Forum at city council chambers.

That would be retiring Ward 6 warhorse Frank Manzo.

Although Manzo has decided to finally end his four decade run in city council politics and did not actually attend the forum last night, his presence was felt, perhaps even larger than life.

Incumbent candidate for Ward 6, Joe Krmpotich's voice was thick with emotion when he took his turn to answer the question, "How is your leadership style similar to or different from retiring Ward 6 Councillor Frank Manzo?"

"I have absolutely enjoyed working with Councillor Manzo for the past four years and it's been a very interesting experience. We did work as a team," he said. "He really has taught me a host of things - about history in our ward - about history in our community - and he advised me on many things."

"The knowledge he has, it's going to be missed," Krmpotich said. "To tell you the truth, I wish he was 20 years younger and we had another four years with him because that would be phenomenal... we worked together as a team and I'm going to really miss that man."

Ross Romano was the first to answer that question and he said that he knocked on a lot of doors in Ward 6.

"Every second or third door, someone would come with a story about Frank Manzo and the way he did things," Romano said.

Ozzie Grandinetti talked about the term he served on council with Manzo and explained that Manzo taught everyone a lot about how to respond to constituents, act on their concerns and follow up with them.

Wanda McQueen described Manzo as our local historian and said she would strive to, like Manzo, be there for the constituents of Ward 6 and respond to their concerns in a timely manner.

Bryan Dumanski said he appreciated Frank's resolve to respond to and get results for his constituents as quickly as possible, sometimes in less than 24 hours.

"Remember first and foremost, you are here to represent the constituents of a ward," Dumanski said, seemingly drawing on his inner Frank Manzo. "The buck stops between you and your constituent. Nothing else should be interfering with the decision-making process."

Another issue talked about nearly turned into another candidate love-fest but for one dissenting voice.

When asked the question of how candidates felt about the possibility of a port being built in the city in light of the increased traffic it could bring Krmpotich, Romano, Grandinetti and McQueen thought the addition of a port to the city's waterfront would be a boon to the local economy and that traffic problems could be ameliorated with some tweaks in the truck route and maybe some lower speed limits.

Bryan Dumanski, on the other hand, said the whole idea of a port in the Sault was a romantic idea that may not have much real potential.

"There's a lot of questions that I have about this project with one being the 26-and-a-half foot draft [minimum depth of water a ship can safely navigate] at Detroit-Sarnia. 26-and-a-half feet. That's all you got." Dumanski said. "We can have a 40 foot draft over here - what good is that?" 

"I think it's really premature for us to be sinking our teeth into this right now," he added. "Maybe that's not what people want to hear but that's reality."

Other issues candidates spoke to the Ward 6 Candidate's Awareness Forum last night included greening Sault Ste. Marie and the ward they want to look represent and providing the Sault's elderly with services and resources they need.

Questions for candidates came from the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce and its members, students and staff of Algoma University and the audience.

If you didn't catch Thursday's debate, a replay of our livestream is available on the Village Media 2014 Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Election page.

The Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce hosted the forums, in partnership with SooToday’s sister site LOCAL2.ca (which live streamed the forums), Shaw TV and Algoma University.

Check out Village Media’s 2014 Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Election page.

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