An Interview with Former Mayor Don Atchison

What does it truly take to lead a city for 13 years? 

In this episode of Rooted Here, we sit down with Don Atchison, the longest-serving mayor in Saskatoon’s history. From his early days selling newspapers door-to-door to managing his family’s iconic menswear store, Don shares how a lifetime in retail prepared him for the highest office in the city.

Don opens up about the "swagger" he wanted to bring to Saskatoon and the bold vision required to move a city from "drifting" to thriving. We dive deep into the stories behind the city's most significant landmarks—including the Circle Drive South Bridge and River Landing—and the leadership principles of honesty and accountability that guided his four terms in office.

Whether you are an aspiring leader, an entrepreneur, or a proud Saskatoon local, Don’s insights on civic unity and "historical" neighborhoods offer a masterclass in community building.

Don's book, "Building Bridges," is available now! 

This episode is presented by The Bamboo Podcast Network.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:03

Rooted Here Business and Leadership Podcast. This is the Rooted Here Podcast. I'm your host, Drad Chetty. And today's guest is Don Atcheson. Hi Don.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

It's great to be with you today. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Hey, thanks for having thanks for agreeing to come down. Absolutely. Well, let's get the uh question started here. Let's start with uh early life and entrepreneurial roots. Uh before uh politics, uh you were a businessman retail. Uh what first drew you to the world of uh entrepreneurship?

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Well, it started at a really young age, probably around the age of nine or ten. I used to start what was called the Star Weekly, and I got two cents for every paper I sold, and I would go door to door uh selling them, sold fuller brush after that, and then afterwards uh we got into the uh retail business of clothing. And so my whole life has been geared towards uh working with people and uh selling. Right. Uh the clothing store was you started with by your father, right? That's correct. Back in 1971, that was Mr. Ach and Sons uh menswear, and uh it was a play on words Acheson, Atch and Sons. And so people would come in and look for the children's clothing. We'd say, Well, we don't have clothes. Yeah, but it says sons up there. You have to explain to them what it was. Funny.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Uh so what did owning a men's clothing store teach you about customer relationships and leadership?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Well, really, what it taught you at the end of the day is first of all, you need to listen to people. You have to hear what their true needs are and where you're going. And what did what is the final outcome for everyone? And when you did that, it really worked out well. And one of the things that my dad always said all the time, and we had a sign up in the store, uh, if we don't look after the customer, someone else will.

unknown 1:44

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

And it's so true. And so we did our level best to make sure we looked after the needs of uh our our customers.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Absolutely. Um how did your experience in retail shape your approach to managing people and solving problems?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Well, first of all, people would could come back and they'd have a problem with something and uh they'd want it to be fixed. Well, the idea is to make sure that you look after them. And I think that's the biggest thing, looking after their concerns. And it doesn't matter if it's returning a product or buying a new product, whatever it is, sometimes just to come in to talk.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

As well, uh to get something off their chest and uh to hear have someone other than someone in the business or their family hear about it. And so uh it's was more than just selling clothing.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

Well, yeah, I think that's a great way to build long-term relationships with people too. Get to know you and feel like it it it truly is.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

We we that's what it was. It a clothier does the most intimate part of of everything. They they cover 90% of your body. And what happens is uh you get to find out what their likes are, what their wants are, and you you dress them appropriately. And it was so interesting. We would have people that needed different rises and pants and everything else, and uh to look after them and for them to come back later to say how satisfied they were. And our store was really quite unique. Uh people would come from New York, Los Angeles, and Europe, and they'd say, Really? I can't believe that there's a store like this right here in Saskatoon. But there was. And we used to shop the world and bring really unique product to our city to our city.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Uh best kept secret.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

It really was in a lot of ways. We tried not to, but it really was. Uh some of the things we did too on customer service side to show people we used to have what was called Sansabelt Days, where we would hem your pants in 30 minutes or they were free. Oh wow. Okay. So people would hear about that. They may not come in then, but they understood that they could get service at that particular point in time. We had another one that was called Puster's Days. And Pussers that was after a rum that was a clothing line. And so we would have Pussers in the store, and people would have a drink, whatever the case was as well. So it was uh a real free-flowing type store. Uh everyone in, I believe, enjoyed themselves, uh, that shopped with us and worked with us.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Oh, that's great. Uh, next question. Looking back, were uh were were the early lessons from business that prepared what were the early uh or what were the early lessons from business that prepared you for your public uh office?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Well, I think first of all, you have to listen to people. You have to hear what their needs are and what they truly need at the end of the day. And when you do those things, I think things fall into order a lot better, as opposed to you telling people this is what you want. Well, I don't think that really works that well at the end of the day. So we really focused on that particular end of it all the time. Uh servicing. For example, uh a friend of mine who was in politics his entire life, he said, it's the smallest things that kill you. He says, make sure you return every phone call. And we used to return approximately a thousand phone calls a year. Uh when I was in politics, uh people would come to the store uh to talk about their concerns as a counselor, later as a mayor in the mayor's office. So you have to be open and receptive to people all the time. It doesn't matter where you are.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

What motivated you to run for mayor of Saskatoon in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Well, before I ran for mayor, I was a city councilor for nine years. And we were sitting down one night watching the six o'clock news, and Mardell turned to me and said, I think you should run for city council. And there was only two days to go. I really wanted to. I said, I don't know. She says, Oh, I think you should. I just wanted to make sure that Mardell was had would buy into it. And I want you to know, she, Mardell, is phenomenal. She was a great supporter, great with everything as well. And so I did that for nine years, and as I was started, I had no idea. That's why I wrote the book. I had no idea what politicians do, what's involved at all. So consequently, uh, we did all of that, and it worked out uh quite well uh for us in the end. And what what happened was uh in my third term, I didn't like the direction the council was going. And I don't get to write a little asterisk at the end, Don Atcheson was opposed to this, Don Atcheson didn't like this. So there's only one thing to do either run for mayor or step off of council.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

And so I ran for mayor, and the citizens of Sassoon were very kind, and they allowed me to become their mayor.

SPEAKER_03 6:19

Did your business background influence you uh or your approach to city leadership and decision making?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Absolutely. In what way? Well, what happened was you first of all, you need to listen to the people. What are the again? It always goes back to what their concerns are, what their needs are, what do we have to do? You have to have a vision as well. Uh just to become the mayor and say, Well, I'm the mayor, uh, that's not good enough. What direction do you want the city to go? Prior to being the mayor, the city was drifting. I wanted us to have a vision. I want us to have an exciting city. People would have a swagger to themselves that they were really pumped about when they went to Toronto. People would ask them, where are you from? It wasn't well, I'm from Saskatoon. It was, I'm from Saskatoon. Oh, that's a great place. Right. And so those are things that need to happen along the way, and so that's what we did.

SPEAKER_03 7:10

Great. Um, what was your biggest surprise when you first stepped into the mayor's office? Uh maybe several surprises, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Well, surprises in the sense of uh direction again of where we're going to go. And uh the other part was the critical part about the words that the mayor spoke.

unknown 7:35

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

So I would have people from across Canada that were in business that would phone me, for example, are you really interested in having 10,000 people in downtown Sask 2? Absolutely. Okay, we want to come and see you. Uh the Roxy Theater, the fellow that bought the Roxy Theater came and saw me. He says, Is this a bunch of baloney about you wanting to revitalize Riversdale and that? And I said, I'm gonna do my level best with River Landing and that to make sure we revitalize Riversdale. He says, Great, I'm gonna go buy the theater then. And so he bought the theater and kept it going and was wonderful. Uh the Prime Minister's office would listen to our uh radio broadcasts every Tuesday. Uh the Premier's office would listen to it as well.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

And uh the one day we had a phone call from the Prime Minister's office, they weren't particularly thrilled with the comment I had made, so I had to explain that to them. Um, and I don't believe that you want to uh antagonize uh federal or provincial government. Uh I I call it the I call it the golden rule. Right. He who has the gold makes the rules. Yeah. And you want to make sure that you follow in line. I'll give you one example. I used to call uh the gas tax fuel tax. And I got a phone call one day saying if you continue to call it fuel tax, you'll get nothing. I said, I always knew I wanted to call it gas tax. And so gas tax is what it was, and gas tax is what it is.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

What was your your most challenging moments during your first terms as mayor?

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Well, I think there's always a lot of challenges all the time. Um it's getting people to come on board with the programs that you you wish to do. Um I think safety and security was uh was a major concern that we had. Um attainable housing was another one. Um bringing the city together is one. We used to have east side, west side. Now in sports, you have sides. You do one side always has to win and one side has to lose. In a community, that's not how it should work. So I used to call it the east uh uh end and the west end. And I can compare it to having a a shelf of books on it with all that knowledge in it that you can in fact go and just pull one of them out and be able to read it and get gather that much more knowledge. And that's what the city is all about. And it's it's about being a family. You love all your children, but sometimes one child deserves a little more attention than another one does. It's not that you don't love them all the same, but sometimes you just have to make decisions for the family as a whole. And that's how you looked at the city as a family.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

Wow, those are great uh great metaphors as well. Um Leadership Lessons from City Hall. You served four terms as mayor. Uh what leadership principles helped you maintain public trust over the years?

SPEAKER_01 10:30

I think telling the truth.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

And if you don't tell the truth, they'll just pick you apart. And I always just say I would tell you as much as I legally can tell you because sometimes things you can't talk about publicly. But we always did that all the time. The other part that we did that no one else has done since are have ward meetings where I would go to each ever and every one of the wards to talk to the constituents and hear what their concerns were. The administration was not very enthusiastic about doing that because I would take them with me. And I can still remember the one at Riversdale. And you have to understand Riversdale was going through some very difficult times. And we had where the farmers market used to be, the room was full, and people were quite excited about the meeting, and they'd say, Are you you're just like all the other politicians, you're gonna do things for us, but you never do anything. And I said, Well, I'm sorry, I believe I'm different. And afterwards, the administration came to me a year or so later and said that they were grateful that I took them out on these uh ward meetings because they actually got to hear from the citizens themselves and actually helped to change policies. And uh that I think that's one of the best things about leadership is dealing with people. I I find today that a lot of the politicians they don't return phone calls, they don't return emails, they don't do anything because they're elected. But I tell you what, it was six weeks ago before the election, they're your best friend. Yes, absolutely. And I just never believed in that.

SPEAKER_03 12:03

Okay, beautiful. Uh what's your most difficult decision that you had to make uh while leading the city?

SPEAKER_00 12:09

I would say to you, uh a good friend of mine was let go by the city for drinking on the job and said that uh he uh would get his job back as the mayor as his friend and look after him. The administration phoned and said, Do you want us to bring him back? And I said, If you wa if I didn't know him, would you rehire him? No. Said, Well, therein lies your answer. And so consequently, uh he went to the labor board and the labor board ruled in his favor. One day I'm walking up the stairwell. Uh there's a whole bunch of the story, we haven't got time for it all. Yeah, absolutely. But but anyway, we're I'm walking up the stairwells in the back of City Hall, and I run into my friend and I go, Oh boy. And he says to me, Your worship. I said, Yes. He says, I want you to know something. I said, Yes. Thank you for what you did. He says, You're the first person that has ever held me accountable for my actions. And he became an exemplary employee for us. Wow. And he was just absolutely fantastic at the end of the day. So it was a difficult decision. Lots of other ones that we've had to make along the way too.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

How do leaders balance long-term vision with the uh day-to-day realities of governance?

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Well, uh, first of all, you have to have a vision. Um, and if you don't have a vision, uh what happens is it becomes very expensive for the community in the long haul because politicians think in four-year cycles. Because they say if I if I don't get elected, I'm not a politician anymore. So what do I have to do to get re-elected again? I always thought of it as being a case of racing to the other end. So I tried to get as much done as I could in every term. And so consequently, we would start off with different projects and move ahead. And if you think of some of those things that we're able to do, uh Circle Drive South Bridge, a hundred years in the making. River Landing was 60 years, uh, the two bridges, uh, the Mistawasa and the traffic bridge, done as a P3 first of its type. Wow, police station, all those things like that. There's so many things that you're able to bring to the forefront and use your knowledge. The other part is communicating and explaining what's going to happen. When we did River Landing, I told the federal government there were a group of people that were going to oppose it. I said exactly what they were going to say, told the federal government, and they didn't disappoint me. They did they said exactly what I told them. I phoned the federal government the next day and I said, you know, they did this, and they said, don't worry about that. We we knew about that already. They didn't know they'd forgot I was the one that had told them. But you tell them in advance that the shortfalls, plus the positive. And you have to tell people both sides of the story, just not one side.

unknown 14:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

No, that's very right. Uh, what did you learn about working with diverse perspectives? Business leaders, community groups, and government partners.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Well, I I think that was one of the parts that is really enriching for for a mayor going out to all the different events and that. Uh one of the things we did was, for example, the mayor's prayer breakfast, uh, where we bring different religious groups together and have a Saturday morning prayer, uh, hear stories and that sort of thing, uh, was wonderful. I I think working with the business groups as well, that they need to understand that we can't do everything for everyone at once. And they're just one part of the pu the the puzzle that's there. And I think that that's so important, along with with seniors, people with special needs. Uh I look at Cosmo Industries, where we were able to with uh Minister Scouton at the time, get equipment brought in there uh for Cosmo Industries, uh all those things. It's just there's just so much to talk about.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

During your time in office, what accomplishments are you most proud of?

SPEAKER_00 15:57

I I think trying to bring the city back together is one. There's nothing worse than I was on knocking on doors, the first campaign, and people on the west end of the city said, I don't believe I'm part of the city, I just live here. Well, for me that was like a knife to the heart. And so consequently, I vowed that that's not what we're going to do. So bridges unite you, they don't divide you. And so that's why we got going with Circle Drive South. And today, you do think if we didn't have that bridge today. Think if we the traffic.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

Wherever you choose downtown and all around, I love that bridge now.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

I gotta tell you quickly, I have to tell you this. So I'm driving, I I I take a lot of cabs because I wanted to hear from the cab drivers. A lot of them were newcomers to our community, wanted to hear how their life experiences were and everything else. So I asked one, I said, So how's this new circle drive bridge working out for you? And I thought I would get a real blast. They said, It's fantastic. I said, It is. They said, Yeah, because it's the route's longer, but it's faster. So instead of just making one trip now, I can make two trips from the airport. And the quality of life changed for people as well. We've got the Mystawasa Bridge, the traffic bridge as well. Uh, a lot of those things were very, very important for us too. That's great.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

Uh, what do you think are the key ingredients to building a thriving city?

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Well, first of all, the the leadership needs to know what they're doing. They need to have a vision of what they're going to do, need to be able to go out and communicate it not only to the electorate, but to other levels of government and to business as well. Explain how it's all going to happen. We did attainable housing in Saskatoon, where we went to count. I'm sorry, these might take a little while, some of them, but I went to council and I said we needed more attainable housing. So I went in and they pleaded with me not to before. Actually, the city manager at the time literally tackled me before I went into the chambers because I had told them what we were going to do. And he said, We've never done that before. And I made the announcement that we were going to build 2,500 attainable housing units over the next five years, 500 every year. And we constantly did that all the way through, and we exceeded that. I worked with the private sector, I worked with the uh faith-based groups as well, and we were able to do all of that. And I think of some of the places today that we have that wouldn't be here today, and what a difference it's made to our community.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

That's great. Uh, how important is collaboration between government, business, and community leaders?

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Well, if you don't have that, you have nothing. Everyone needs to know what the concerns are of the other group along the way. They need to understand where the finances are as well. Some people think that there's a printing press down in the basement of City Hall. And I can tell you for over two decades, I kept looking for that printing press and I couldn't find it. There's only one person in this world, and that's the taxpayer, that has to foot the costs of everything that goes on all the time. And you've got to be conscientious of what the costs are and the spending that's going on as well. You can't have just everything you want as a politician. I always related to the one lady when I stopped at her home one day with three young girls and she's combing their hair. And she turned to me and she says, Uh, are you gonna raise my taxes? And I said, I'm I'm gonna do my best not to raise your taxes. She says, Well, that's great because I can't afford to pay anymore, and if I have to pay anymore, I won't be able to keep this home for my three girls. And I think of stories like that all the time, that people that are on the edge that can barely make ends meet right now, that we've got to look after them too. And spending money because I think it's a good idea is the wrong idea.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Absolutely, I fully agree with that. Uh, what advice would you give current leaders about strengthening civic unity?

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Well, first of all, tell the truth.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Tell people what things really cost. Don't give a fictitious number at the front end so you get people to ride along with it. Tell people what the real capital costs are going to be. Tell people what the operating costs are going to be, how much more it's going to cost you in the end, not how wonderful it's going to be for you. I think those are things that we definitely need more of. The other part is actually going out and meeting the public, having ward meetings again, going to every ward. And is it tough to do that? Well, let me tell you, there's some nights I would just rather have stayed at home, but that's just not the case. You need to go out and uh hear from the public, hear their concerns, hear how upset they are, the programs that they don't like, and I tell you what, it makes for a lot stronger and vibrant and healthy community at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Absolutely. Totally agree. Now, Don has a book he's written called Building Bridges.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

I got some questions about this book, Don. What inspired you to write Building Bridges?

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Well, the reason the book was written was first of all, if you're a carpenter or a doctor or a dentist, you can open a book and you can find out about that. Being uh a mayor or a politician, I don't think there's many books like that, especially for mayors.

SPEAKER_03 21:08

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

So I thought, why not write a book where people can actually read and find out more about that? It also tells a little bit about my my life and upbringing as well uh throughout it. Uh it was a great venture, thoroughly enjoyed doing it, and uh I certainly encourage people to to read it.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Okay. And this next question, I think you kind of uh answered it uh earlier on. Um, what does the phrase building bridges mean to you uh in regards to leadership and community uh community building?

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Well, building bridges really is building a community together. Um what you find is countries are divided up by waterways, natural barriers, mountains, whatever the case is. And you don't like to have bridges because if you have bridges, people can talk to each other on one side and the other. And the idea in Saskatoon is of building bridges is building uh for people to trav travel on. But also for uh people to understand the cultures of other people, that wherever you live in the city should be just as good as another area is. Nothing should be poorer than another area. And I have to tell you, I get quite upset when I hear people talking about inner city core neighborhoods. Uh we need to talk about them as historical neighborhoods. If you go to another city and you're asked the concierge, where should I go? And he said to you, Well, you should go to an inner city or you should go to a core neighborhood, or you can go to a historical neighborhood. Which one of the three do you think most people are going to choose? And I would say historical. And why wouldn't we talk about historical neighborhoods? Riversdale, Mutana, downtown Saskatoon, all coming together as one.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

Absolutely. I fully agree with that. Um, is there a story in the book that captures the essence of your leadership philosophy? There's quite a few stories. Well, great stories. I I've read uh most of the book. It's great.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

There's quite a few different ones there. Uh when you talk about the essence, whatever, I I like to think about uh Kinswell Park.

unknown 23:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Uh where if it hadn't been for Pod Ash Corp now, Nutrient, Campotex, uh building the train there, building the park at for the city of Sastu, $7.5 million from Nutrion, Campotex coming on, building the engine in that. And the reason I want to talk about this briefly is because I would see children in the old train in that, where it's supposed to be a happy occasion for the family. That's why they're there.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

And they're struggling to with a child trying to get into this train or take them out and they're crying and everything else, and parents are stressed. This train, you can wheel people on in a wheelchair. Uh they can be uh locked in on there. And I think it was absolutely wonderful that we're able to do that. And I was so grateful uh to Bill and to Steve for helping us out in that area uh to do that. And there's lots of other stories. Everybody's playground uh for children with special needs out in Arendale. The citizens themselves did that. I went to the to one of the homes, one of the parents one day, and they asked me that the city to build it. We have no special needs playgrounds in Saskatoon at the time.

unknown 24:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Bigger had one, but Saskatoon didn't. Well, Sandra Schmerler, out in Bigger. Saskatoon didn't have one. And so they said, you know, we need to have one here. And I said, You're absolutely correct. We need to have one, but it's not gonna get built. Why not? And I explained to them that Arendale is considered to be one of the wealthier areas of the city. Why would we build it there? I said, the only way this is going to happen is if you go out and fundraise yourself and get the money for it. And the people in the community went out and raised the funds, and everybody's playground is the first one in Saskatoon, and it was done by the citizens of the community themselves. Wow, that's a great story. Um what do you hope readers take away after finishing the book? I hope they take away, first of all, I guess uh about myself, first of all, is that uh politicians are real people. Politicians have feelings, and that they're there trying to do their level best. We may not agree with the direction they want to go, but they are they are trying their best. Sometimes they're just not suited for that position that they're in, and maybe they shouldn't be there either. But uh that's life. And uh I just want to talk about like Mardell, my wife, the kids as well. We uh I it difficult decisions are made sometimes. For example, um missing birthdays, miss missing special events. It's gonna be a tough one, yeah. Um, but we Mardell and I have never missed our anniversary to be together. Wow. Um sometimes we've had to do in other countries uh to do it when I was on business. Uh just so you know, uh Mardell's friends would say it must be nice to go on these trips with with Don. You know, taxpayers are paying for it. The taxpayers assassin never bought Mardell a cup of coffee. Wow. We paid for that her and the uh the expenses all the time ourselves because I never wanted someone to say that we were taking advantage of the situation. That's great. Um and and you can you can't always say that about most politicians. I don't know. I I can't speak for other politicians. I can only speak for I can only I can only speak for myself.

SPEAKER_03 26:23

What leadership lessons took you the longest to learn.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Well, first of all, leadership, you never stop learning. And if you think you've learned everything, you've learned nothing.

unknown 26:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

And so consequently, that is that's one area. The other the other the other area in leadership is never ask anyone to do anything you wouldn't do yourself. For example, uh sweeping the floors, cleaning the toilets, whatever the case might be. If you're not prepared to get in there and do the work too, uh forget it. I used to love going out with the employees in the city, for example, fixing potholes. And the first time the first time I did it, I couldn't believe how difficult it was and how heavy that blessed potash was or asphalt was that they were they were using there. And then, you know, going down to see the police officers as well, what a difficult role they they play in our society today, seeing the firefighters going out to wastewater, all the different things. Leadership's about not only uh being elected as a person to a position, but you have to deal with the your your employees and with the with the general public as well. And I always thought of them as an extension of the office because the more successful our employees could be, the more successful I could be as well.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

Well said. How does your definition of success change or or how has your definition of success changed throughout the years?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

I don't well, depending on what field you're in, okay? Right. Uh uh again as well, if playing hockey and coaching in hockey was winning. Uh being a mayor in Saskatoon, it was about unifying uh a community. And the other part is for businesses in that, I took great joy in businesses being able to expand, new businesses coming to our community, employees knowing that they had a job, that they didn't know if the door was going to be locked tomorrow because the there was no business, whatever the case was. Things like that. That's for me that was success and have a thriving community. And now that I'm not involved in politics at this particular time, uh for me it's with the family and that as well, that uh the grandchildren that uh are happy and pleased with the direction that they're going in.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

Who are some of the mentors or influences that shape your leadership style? Teachers. Okay. Coaches.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Uh, for example, uh with coaches, it was always about if the line was here, make sure you you go across the line, run through, don't coast to it. Uh things like that. Um, always re realizing that uh you depended on other people on your team uh to fulfill your obligation in football. The line all had to work together as one. As a goaltender, I desperately needed uh my defenseman to help stop some of the shots for me. Matter of fact, I couldn't believe that they'd actually stop some of them. It it blew me away uh as well. So think things along those lines, and success is uh about family, um, that ever all the children are successful in life, uh, that they have a good quality of life, along with the grandchildren too.

unknown 29:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

What roles does humility play in leaders leadership?

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Well, humility plays a great role. I I was often chastised for sharing too much of the positive with counselors and administration and that.

unknown 29:53

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

But I believe that it's uh a team effort and that we all needed to share together uh in exciting times. But I also found it very interesting when things didn't go quite the way right way. It's difficult to find other people to be there with you as well. But that didn't happen very often, and that's just part and parcel of the role. Wow, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 30:16

What advice would you give someone considering a career in public service?

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Well, first of all, sit down with your partner or your spouse and have a discussion about it. The problem is though, when you first get started, is you're really not sure what's involved. Uh I would tell you right now that your life is never your life after that, that you live in a fishbowl, and uh that you need to if you're not ready to accept that, uh that's not the place to be. I was very fortunate having played in hockey, uh, coaching, refereeing, being in retail, those things all help school you and teach you how to get into politics or be part of politics. For me, it was just an extension of my life. But I see so many people that when they get started and they get a phone call that there's a pothole in front of my house, or this isn't right, or that's not right, the sky's falling. And I would tell them all the time relax, relax. We can look after it. It's not the end of the world, and it's not. So it's very difficult for a lot of people entering politics to understand that.

SPEAKER_03 31:23

What qualities do great civic leaders need today more than ever?

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Well, the qualities you need today, first of all, is you need to be able to be a futurist.

unknown 31:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

And you need to have a vision, and you need to know where you need to be going at the end of the day. The problem you have is they take a lot of it in small bites. And the problem is when you get to the other end, you haven't accomplished everything you need to, so there's these huge expenses that go with it. So it's like a jigsaw puzzle putting it all together as one. The other part is that the taxpayers don't have a bottomless pit of money. That there's only a finite amount. And the day of reckoning is coming for municipalities where they're going to have to decide on what are the critical things that we need to do. And I believe that they are safety, security, attainable housing are two of the most critical things along with transportation. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:23

That's great. Uh how can young entrepreneurs and professionals get more involved in their communities?

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Well, there's quite a few ways. First of all, service clubs are struggling like crazy today. Get involved in a suit uh a service club, uh, a fraternity as well. Uh if you're going to be a couple of things.

SPEAKER_03 32:40

Now the service clubs are as far abieurs.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

Yeah, well, service clubs would be I hate to mention a few names because uh I'm sure I'll get a phone call from the others. But uh the Kinsman Club, okay?

unknown 32:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

Would be one. Optimus Club, Rotary. Yeah. Uh all great clubs. All great clubs. Uh then you have on the other side fraternities, you have like Knights of Columbus, yeah, uh, the the Shriners as well, uh, church organizations themselves, right within the church. Be a community volunteer. Be one of the people that go out to uh shovel the snow off the rink. Uh how about being a volunteer and that neighbor next door that's a senior and and helping them out, maybe even volunteering and saying, why don't you come over and have supper with us tonight with the family?

SPEAKER_03 33:30

Great. Well, we're uh almost uh done here, Don. Uh next other questions the rapid fire session of our uh podcast. I'm just gonna ask these very quickly and keep the answers short.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

First question Best leadership advice you've ever received. Tell the truth. Return phone calls, and uh make sure that you do all of those things. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 33:53

Okay. Next one. A book that influenced your thinking about leadership.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Uh it would be called World's Greatest Golfer. World's Greatest Golfer. Yes. And everybody thinks it's Bobby Jones. The fellow's name's Beauregard Steadman. Okay. And he was uh a felon. Uh lived his whole life in secrecy. Actually lived at Augusta on the golf course, was harbored by Bobby Jones. Oh wow. And uh was found out uh after Bobby Jones passed away. Uh they had all these papers in that there that showed that the fellow was not guilty of uh a murder. And uh they actually featured him one day on CBS after he passed away at that time. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Fascinating story. Yes. Uh what habit that helped you stay effective as mayor?

SPEAKER_00 34:39

My wife Mardell. Okay. And the reason being is when you come home at night, sometimes you'd have to have the pin out to pop my head so that bring you back to reality. And Mardell is is wonderful. I think everyone needs someone like that.

SPEAKER_03 34:55

Uh what makes Ashton such a special place to live and work?

SPEAKER_00 34:58

Well, naturally it it's the people, but there's so much that goes on here that uh people can have uh a choice of things to do. And so at the end of the day, it's all the volunteers that we have, um, the seniors in our community too. Just a great community as a whole.

SPEAKER_01 35:16

What legacy do you hope your work leaves behind? Never thought about legacies. That that's not what this was about.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

This was about building community. This is about building like three bridges, River Landing, Riversdale, Cosmo Industries helping them out, uh, everybody's playground, Kinsman Park, all all all those things. Uh this wasn't about like the farmers market, that this wasn't about Don Atcheson. This was always about what was best for the community. And you think about it with the Remy Modern Art Gallery that's there uh today, Persephone Theater downtown as well, Cineplex Galaxies that were downtown as well. There's so many different stories to tell. And so for me, it was never about a legacy. The the legacy is the city itself and what a wonderful place we can have and have.

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Well, thanks Don't for stopping by. Thank you. And uh we should read Building Bridges by Don Adson. Great book. Uh great stories in it too. Thank you. All right. Rooted Here, a business and leadership podcast.