At a special meeting of North Bay City Council this afternoon, George Maroosis will be sworn-in as a member of council, filling the vacant seat left by the sudden passing of Mike Anthony.
Maroosis says his decision to accept the appointment was made in his mind weeks ago, with a public announcement deferred out of respect to the family of his friend and former colleague, Anthony.
See related story: Council to declare late colleague's seat vacant
He tells a story going back more than two decades from Anthony's days as a radio news reporter. Maroosis was sitting on council and he says Anthony often contacted him for background information. Maroosis told Anthony if he ever saw or heard any of that information in the public domain, he would cut him off. Maroosis says, to Anthony's credit, he never spilled the beans, something he always admired him for.
"When he showed up on council, we were already good friends," explains Maroosis.
The business of the municipality must go on and Maroosis says one aspect of the position he's had to get up to speed on is the virtual nature of meetings — the nuances of voting and speaking in turn online.
He says he has already been in contact with City of North Bay CAO David Euler, who offered to help get Maroosis up to speed. Maroosis says he had needed little guidance in that regard as he has kept up closely on municipal affairs in his two-year absence from the council table.
What Maroosis has observed from a business standpoint is the City of North Bay — like many other centres around the world — is facing a fiscal crossroads.
"We know a couple of things. First of all, governments don't have any money, they're handing money out hand over fist," Maroosis tells BayToday while tending his downtown art supplies shop. "I'm not sure I would have acted any differently if I was at either the provincial or federal level, so it's not a criticism."
He continues, "But, the truth of the matter is governments don't have their own money, they have our money. So, if they've run up this huge debt, at some point there is going to be a day of reckoning. Because the United States and the rest of the world have been doing the same thing when that day of reckoning comes, it's not going to be a North Bay or a Canada situation —it's going to be a worldwide situation."
Maroosis, whose background is in economics, notes inflation plays heavily into the scenario and trickles down to the municipal level with an increased cost of living due to such factors as higher prices for food and building materials. He says this will invariably lead governments to increase taxes. This economic climate forces consumers to make decisions about taking on debt, shedding debt, and whether to make any major purchases.
"From a municipal perspective, you have to be concerned about spending," he says. "The province has said to residential and commercial landlords they don't want them increasing rents. So, they all pay taxes and if they're not getting any more money for their operations, what are we doing about their taxes? That's what's going to make this budget very interesting."
Maroosis also points to the City's reserves as a possible budgetary point of contention. Attempts to use reserves for various projects over the years, he says, have often been met with the "rainy day" way of thinking.
"If we're saving these reserves for a rainy day, well, it's raining," Maroosis adds. "Is this the year we give the taxpayer a break?"
As far as running for another term beyond this abridged one that came about under tragic circumstances, amid a global pandemic, Maroosis says he'll wait and see. He says if he had been successful in the 2018 election, his thinking then was it would be his last term. He says his health is good so he won't rule anything out.
For now, the Wrench is ready to roll up his sleeves and get back to work.
"I've always been my own man," he promises, with a grin.
