By Pepper Parr
June 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
A number of months ago we did a piece on what the city needs in the way of solid candidates for the six council seats. We said then that serving the public was good for ones career. Many corporations want people, who have served at the municipal level, because they have an understanding of the process.
Rob Narejko fits a large part of the bill we put forward. That does not mean Narejko will be a star candidate – the election process will tell the public, what this man is made of and if he can stay the course and undergo the kind of scrutiny every person who wants to serve the public should undergo.
Who is Robert Narejko? The latest candidate for ward 6, where there are now seven candidates seeking the seat currently held by Blair Lancaster.
Narejko has lived in Burlington, in the same house, for the past 26 years. He likes being close to the GO station and having access to the QEW, 403 and 407. Narejko adds that he likes being a short ride away from our unique rural areas and the green spaces that surround Burlington. His home is in ward six; something that cannot be said for all the nominated candidates.
Narejko met his wife in high school – they have two children – a boy 19 – a girl 16. He has worked in Information technology for the past 30 years both as an entrepreneur and in the large corporate sector.
He has worked with Royal Bank, IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers , always in the field of information technology, usually on large projects with multi-million dollar budgets and large teams of people assigned to a project, where he was responsible for creating and then managing both the strategic and tactical plans.
His citizen involvement has been mostly with the cycling world. Narejko is an ardent cyclist, who can be found frequently racing up Walkers Line. He also plays fast pitch baseball.
He was Chair of the City’s Cycling Committee, Chair of the inaugural Car Free Sunday events and Race Director of the 2011 Canadian Road Cycling Championships.
Narejko was nominated for Burlington’s Best – Community Service Award 2012.
What makes Narejko different?
He wants city hall to be more accountable. He was a key part of the team involved in bringing pre-Olympic trial bike racing to Burlington. The project failed – Narejko believes city hall just couldn’t make something that should have happened – actually happen.
He doesn’t understand why it took close to a year to complete a neighbourhood study.
Narejko wants to work to ensure Burlington has an increased presence at Regional Council.
Narejko wants people to feel they are getting value for their tax dollars; he adds to that – timely responses. When people go to the building permit counter, he wants them to leave with a document, that sets out every step that has to be taken and probable time lines as well as the name and telephone number of who to talk to if there are problems.
For Narejko – this is aligning words and deeds.
He also wants to see recorded votes for everything at council meetings. There is very simple technology that will let council members press a button to record a vote.
Why is he running for public office?
Narejko believes the City needs to be accountable for results to the people and there needs to be a sense of urgency, when city staff respond to people’s questions. The status quo of 12 month time lines is not acceptable in business and is not acceptable in the Public Sector.
“When the City is accountable to the people, it will attract business. Businesses will want to work with a City that wants to work with them, and when business moves in, it means economic activity, bringing in more job opportunities, which will reinvigorate Burlington”, said Narejko.
Narejko points out that he has worked with many people at city hall over the years and has the utmost respect for them as people and professionals. The problem is the system they are working within. They work within a system that stifles initiative and independent thought. There is no incentive to be a high performing, customer centered employee.
Creating a strategy is very important as it defines your direction and provides guidelines for making decisions. Creating a strategic plan would take up to 2 months in the private sector – Burlington needed 12 months to create its Strategic Plan. For Narejko that just isn’t acceptable.
“It has taken more than 12 months to re-organize the Burlington Economic Development Corporation. Economic development is key to the future of Burlington and we needed a year to re-organize the people who are going to make that happen” asks Narejko.
For Narejko it is all about community, streets where the road is shared
Narejko points out that if you want to hold a new event in Burlington that brings in tourist dollars and drives the local economy by creating jobs, filling hotel rooms and restaurants, you need to have it registered 18 months in advance – whether it is a simple street party or a major national event. In Calgary you only need three months to register an event
In Toronto they can register a street festival with an on line application.
Narejko says he has seen staff at city hall create amazing plans, that work in record time, when they are enabled.
What will Narejko do for you?
He says he will ensure you get value for your tax dollar from the City and Region; make City Hall easier to do business with and get the results you need faster. He says he will work to implement efficiencies and compare our expenses to bench marks with comparable cities.
Narejko wants to engage citizens in meaningful discussions where there are transparent communications – no smoke blowing.
While not yet elected, Narejko has already determined what he wants to get done in his first year: instill a sense of urgency in making decisions, create a plan to handle the intensification of ‘Places to Grow’ without alienating current home owners and represent Burlington better at the Regional level.
This sounds like a driven man. Narejko points to his role models as examples on how one can get things done. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State (USA) and Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff (US) is seen by Narejko as a thoughtful, inclusive, decisive, strong communicator . Sam Mercanti is another role model. The CEO CARSTAR Canada is a disciplined visionary and a lifelong learner. Narejko adds to these two – his parents who were caring , frugal and supportive.
Rob Narejko doesn’t walk on water – but he has an agenda. He likes the look of the chair the Mayor sits in and believes his skills, his experience and his focus will serve the city well. His plan is to get four years’ experience as a member of council, and then go for the brass ring.
This is a candidate that needs to be looked at very carefully. Does he have the right stuff? The pedigree looks pretty good, but the proof is always in the eating, isn’t it?
It will be interesting to see how Narejko goes up against Vanessa Warren, Jennifer Hlusko, two nominated candidates and incumbent Blair Lancaster.
Narejko’s web site: www.electrobn.com
Related article: Serving as a city Councillor
Do you think Blair Lancaster recognizes and understands that if there are this many blocking her road to re-election – and
each of those candidates has their own group of supporters – that her ‘work’ on City Council is neither respected nor wanted any more?