fee on Greater Sudbury's TransCab service, which offers transportation to residents of remote areas not served by Greater Sudbury Transit; this fee was eliminated in the 2007 municipal budget. Near the beginning of his term, Rodriguez announced that stores in the Greater Sudbury would not be permitted to open on Boxing Day. He introduced a 3-1-1 telephone service in early 2007, making it easier for residents to get information from city hall. Later in the same year, he successfully lobbied for the elimination of some local long-distance telephone charges. He signed on to the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board's Community Workplace Health and Safety Charter and played a major role in helping Theatre Cambrian find a new location. Rodriguez also resolved a long-standing cultural debate in the community by authorizing the Franco-Ontarian flag to be flown at Tom Davies Square. The latter decision was controversial: some praised the mayor for taking decisive action on the matter, while others accused him of isolating other cultural groups in the community. In all, the Sudbury Star described him as having had a good first year as mayor. He later introduced a fair wage policy and converted many part-time municipal jobs into full-time positions. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Rodriguez promoted two major legacy projects for Greater Sudbury: a 1,800-seat performing arts centre and a large multi-use recreation complex. Member of Provincial Parliament Rick Bartolucci expressed skepticism about the viability of these initiatives, however, and council voted 7-6 against Rodriguez's funding formula in October 2008. Rodriguez acknowledged that the projects would need to be shelved for a while, but indicated that he planned to revisit them in the future. In May 2009, Rodriguez announced the hiring of Greater Sudbury's first independent auditor. In the same month, he indicated that he would oppose any effort to dump nuclear waste in the area. During a discussion on public-private partnerships, Rodriguez said that he favoured continuing Greater Sudbury's policy of hiring contractors for construction and design but having the municipality own and operate its public assets. As Mayor of Greater Sudbury, Rodriguez lobbied for more of the city's wealth to be put toward fields such as research in mining and environmental sciences, saying, "We have to seize the moment. We don't ever want to go back and be beholden to the big mining companies again." Following a global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009, he announced