Pat Fiacco

Infobox Politician


name =Pat Fiacco
imagesize =
small| caption =
order =
office =Mayor of Regina, Saskatchewan
term_start =2000
term_end =
predecessor =Douglas R. Archer
successor =current
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =
party =
spouse =Angie
relations =
children =Melissa, Jordan and Matthew
occupation =Director of Strategic Business Development at Direct West.
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Pat Fiacco is the current Mayor of Regina, the capital city of Saskatchewan, Canada. As mayor, he is the chief executive of Regina City Council. Council consists of the mayor and ten councillors representing wards. Pat Fiacco was born and raised in Regina.

Political history

He has been mayor of Regina since 2000, and he is currently in his third term. As a relative newcomer, Fiacco received an endorsement from the Regina Police Association by then union president Troy Hagen after the number of police officers serving with the Regina Police Service decreased by 31 during the mayoralty of Doug Archer. Troy Hagen is now the Chief of Police in Regina. [cite news | title = Race for mayor heats up in Regina | work = CBC News | date = 2000-10-23 | url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/10/23/mayor001023.html | accessdate = 2007-07-24] Fiacco was elected by acclamation in 2003, and re-elected in October 25, 2006 with 85% of the popular vote with a 35% turn out from the electorate.

Priorities

* To instigate and promote the 'I Love Regina' campaign, developed by the previous mayor Doug Archer, the Mayor's Task Force brings together 20 different community organizations [including the Regina Regional Economic Development Authority and United Way Regina] to improve social, community and economic development.
* As Chair of the Regina Board of Police Commissioners, Pat Fiacco and its board members have been "targeting crime reduction" by introducing a greater police presence with more police officers in the communities. However, Regina's crime and murder rates are consistently placed in the Top 5 in Canada.
* Also as Chair of the Big City Mayor's Caucus, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), Pat Fiacco addresses Regina's infrastructure upgrades and improvements. Two initiatives he has been involved with are the Federal Gas Tax, the Highway #1 and Lewvan Drive Interchange. To date, no progress has been made on this project and the Ipsco Place infrastructure renewal.
* A new concept, the Regina Youth Advisory Council (RYAC), was introduced by Jim Elliot of the CCFR in 2006 civic election. It may help to reinforce and increase social and economic development, particularity focusing educating the youth of Regina on civic issues.
* A concern shared between the Regina City Council, Regina Inner City Community Partnership and corporate sponsors are to revitalize Regina's inner city and down town core area.Citation
last =
first =
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title =City of Regina - Information, Services, Attractions, Recreation
date =
year =
url =http://www.regina.ca/content/city_hall/ward_map/fiacco.shtml
accessdate = 2007-08-03 ] Though very little investment has been done by the City of Regina, itself.
*North Central Regina is undergoing revitalization with the support of two strong initiatives: new housing developments and "Regina North Central Community Vision and Action Plan Report"Citation
last =The University of Regina Faculty of Arts
first =
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Tips UNDERGRADUATE SEMESTER IN LEADERSHIP AND DIALOGUE "SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT" FALL 2005
date =
year =
url =http://www.uregina.ca/arts/lead/speakers_05-06/main.htm
accessdate = 2007-08-03 ] No concrete initiatives have come of this study to date and the people of North Central Regina continue to live in squalor.

Marriage and children

Pat Fiacco is married to Angie, and together they have three children, Melissa, Jordan and Matthew.

Previous history

Pat Fiacco served in the 2004 Athens Olympics as the Canadian referee and judge for the boxing event. Pat Fiacco 'Citation
last =Hon. Mr. Wartman
first =The Honourable P. Myron Kowalsky Speaker
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title =May 3, 2005 Hansard FIRST SESSION - TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
date =May 3, 2005
year =
url =http://www.legassembly.sk.ca/Hansard/25L1S/050503Hansard.pdf
accessdate = 2007-08-03 ] has held provincial and Canadian amateur boxing championships, such as the Canadas amateur bantam weight crown 1980. Citation
last = FORUM In Profile
first =Bob Weidman
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title =07.Profile 26-27 Regina's mayor spars with crime, knocks down economic decline
date =MARCH / APRIL 2006
year =
url =http://www.fcm.ca/english/publications/profile3.pdf
accessdate = 2007-08-03 ] He has also served as the Head Official of Boxing Canada. Ken Goff's son George Goff and Pat Fiacco have worked together to honour the memory of Ken Goff by implementing the Ken Goff Memorial Boxing Classic.Citation
last = BCG Canada Inc.
first =
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title =Welcome to the Regina Boxing Club - Ken Goff Memorial
date =
year =
url =http://www.reginaboxingclub.ca/pages/memorial.php3
accessdate = 2007-08-03 ]

Mayor Fiacco has contributed to the sports arena also on the Canadian Olympic Committee, Telemiracle 22, the Big Valley Jamboree, the Ken Goff Memorial Boxing Classic, Sask Sport and Hockey Regina.

Boards and Organisations

Pat Fiacco serves as a member on the following boards and organisations.
*Regina Regional Economic Development Authority (RREDA)
*Mayor’s Task Force on Regina’s Future
*Regina Board of Police Commissioners; Regina
*Crime Prevention Commission; Wascana Centre Authority
*Big City Mayors’ Caucus
*Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)
*Canadian Capital Cities Organization
*Saskatchewan City Mayor’s Caucus. [Citation
last =
first =
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title =Wednesday, June 6, 2007 - Building Your Economic Foundation Capacity Umbria
date =2007
year =
url =http://www.brei.org/conferences/2007/SpeakerBios.pdf
accessdate = 2007-08-03 ]

Criticism

In 2002, Fiacco launched the city's promotional campaign, "I Love Regina". Although he took credit for its implementation, previous mayor Doug Archer had postponed it while running in the 2000 election.

In 2003, Fiacco abandoned plans to close three inner-city libraries amid public opposition.

During a strike vote among the city's three major unions (CUPE 21 & 7, ATU 578) in 2005, Fiacco stated on radio station CJME (AM) that he hoped the employees would "sober up" and accept the city's offer. Reaction to the statement resulted in all three unions striking for a month.

Fiacco reacted to a 2006 article in "Maclean's" magazine, which labelled Regina's inner city as Canada's worst neighbourhood, by participating in a magazine burning and encouraging citizens to cancel their subscriptions to the magazine.

In February 2007, the "Leader-Post" reported Fiacco plagiarised nine quotes from a speech given by Premier Lorne Calvert a year earlier to a volunteer appreciation dinner. [cite news | last = Cootauco | first = Maria | title = Fiacco speech very similar to Calvert's | publisher = Regina Leader-Post | date = 2007-02-23 | url = http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=2d22dd4d-f22f-4e2e-bb3e-8a9d58934409 ]

Also in 2007, city council raised the average residential property tax bill by 5% and a further 3.9% [http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=20d60e4e-8596-41fd-aa0e-8587a3be2c93&k=59156] for 2008. All this despite a 2006 election promise not to raise taxes.

Notes