http://www.ward11calgary.ca/ Website Blog Feed for City of Calgary Ward 11 Alderman Brian Pincott en-ca Copyright 2010 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/favicon.ico 2010-02-19 12:00:00.0 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 180 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=procurement--audit After spending 2 years as a member of the Audit Committee I now Chair the committee. This committee plays an important role in continually seeking ways to self-improve our governance, policy and performance targets at the City of Calgary. In the last week the Audit Committee has received quite a lot of attention due to a particular report currently being performed by the City Auditor's Office. The feedback I've been hearing from residents on this has led me to believe there is not a clear understanding about the report or the Audit function and I would like to shed some light on this issue. There has been a lot of politicizing of this audit by some of the media and some members of Council, and following Thursday's Audit Committee meeting, the confusion has escalated. This audit is of the City's procurement process, it is not an audit of any single contract, namely the Peace Bridge. This audit encompasses roughly 100 contracts covering a 4 year period. In other words, this is a big audit! It is an important audit! It needs to be completed so that we can move forward with improving our processes, for all our procurements, not just a particular one. So, with that background, why did I vote against the motion to bring the audit forward in April? We clearly heard from the City Auditor that her draft report would not be complete until the end of March/beginning of April. Following the procedures of internal auditing, an integral part of the audit process includes reporting on the management response to the findings of the audit. This is a key component of not only complete audits, but of successful audits. The City Auditor advised that to complete the audit in compliance with this industry standard would deliver the Procurement Audit to committee in May. What I heard at Audit Committee on Thursday was that forcing the Auditor to report in April would have meant an incomplete report coming before committee. Clearly the proposal would politically short-circuit the City Auditor from doing their work. Politicizing the Audit function of a public institution, such as a city government, is not an approach that is supportable. We cannot, on the one hand, have an independent audit function that we support, and then, on the other hand, force that same audit function to bring forward incomplete reports because some find it politically advantageous. We cannot let political hyperbole drive the agenda of the Auditor's Office. They are independent for a reason. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=procurement--audit Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:02:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=graffiti-and-hate This past weekend there was a shameful crime committed in Ward 11. The Calgary Jewish Centre, among other locations, was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. This was a horrific and thoughtless act of vandalism meant to cause harm far beyond the mere physical damage inflicted. The intent of this type of hate crime is to inflict damage not only to property but to the human psyche. Let us be frank, this action was an unsuccessful attempt to terrorize a strong and resilient community. This behaviour and attitude has no place in our society today. And yet, we must remain vigilant to intolerance and hate, wherever it appears. We must respond swiftly and strongly wherever it occurs. Intolerance, in all its forms, is something that we all must take seriously. I look forward to the day that I do not have to participate in anti-racism marches in protest to the Aryan Nation being present in our community. Until they are no longer a presence, I will be there, speaking against intolerance, speaking for inclusion and compassion. My heart goes out to the Jewish community in our City, and further abroad, for the pain that this senseless act has caused. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=graffiti-and-hate Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=mrf On June 4th, I and my staff had a chance to visit the new Materials Recycling Facility, or MRF (pronounced ?merf?). It?s located in SE Calgary and has been accepting the recyclables being collected by the Blue Cart program since it rolled out in April. The grand opening of the facility, complete with a ?throwing of the on switch? by the Mayor, was a big press-attended event, and a great celebration of Calgary finally getting a real recycling program! But? I wanted to see beyond that sanitized version of the MRF, clean and dressed up for all those guys in suits; I wanted to see and tour the MRF in full operation. I wanted to really get a sense of what is happening to all the ?stuff? that we are now dumping into our Blue Boxes. And, man, is there ever a lot of stuff that we are recycling! To see the MRF in full swing, sorting and recycling 40 tonnes an hour, 5-tonne truckload after 5-tonne truckload of recyclables being delivered, is an impressive sight. The sound and fury of environmental responsibility in action! The ?machine? that sorts the recyclables into its various components: cardboard, paper, plastic film, plastic bags, plastic containers, glass; fills the better part of the huge building! You climb up ladders to get above the various material streams and look down between the criss-crossing catwalks and conveyor belts whizzing in all directions, at all speeds. It can be quite disorienting, even giving you a touch of vertigo! What is all the more amazing is that the people working in tandem on the line, sorting the material, checking to make sure that nothing gets past that shouldn?t, are doing this at the most amazing speeds. The eye-hand coordination to do this is incredible. Yes, a lot of it is done by machine, but there are human eyes and hands along the entire line. 80 people currently work in the MRF and there are plans to expand that up to 100 jobs. At the end of it all, after the mounds and mounds of unsorted-recyclables are first unloaded and pushed onto the initial conveyor belt; after all the various materials are sorted whisked off on their own way, eventually ending up in bales of like materials; after what I am sure are miles travelled on conveyor belts throughout the ?machine;? at the very end, falling from a hopper, is a fine drizzle of detritus that cannot be recycled, that is destined for the landfill. Forty tons an hour, eight hours a day, five days a week: that?s 1600 tons of stuff a week that isn?t going to the landfill. And we still have one quadrant of the City to be brought on-stream! Just wait until we get even better at recycling! Wait until we are all on-board and figure out all the stuff that can be recycled from our homes! It is an amazing start to the Blue Box program! We should all be proud of what we have accomplished and what we can accomplish in the future. For photos of the MRF, check out the Gallery page. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=mrf Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:06:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=jane's-walk On May 3rd I had the pleasure of leading a Jane?s Walk through Windsor Park, Britannia and Elboya. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and about 30 people from across the city came out to discover some of the gems of Ward 11. I am incredibly proud of my communities and take any opportunity I can to show them off to Calgarians. The Walks are a celebration Jane Jacobs? life and her contribution to cities. The intent of a Jane?s Walk is first and foremost to talk about community. I wanted to show the great things that are going on in the area, the wonderful examples of good urban design how that affects how people live. I also wanted to talk about some of the local opportunities that Plan It Calgary presents for community renewal and improvement. We started at the Windsor Park Community Centre, an old building that is getting a significant facelift. The community association is revitalizing the building, putting a substantial addition on the front, creating a central hub for Windsor Park. The renewed building, combining the old Quonset structure, with a modern and open façade, will provide a wonderful central meeting place for Windsor Park. We then moved on to 50th Avenue, in Elboya, which currently is a wide, almost empty, stretch of roadway. Plan It Calgary has identified this stretch of roadway as a ?neighbourhood corridor?, which will allow for a mix of uses along the corridor. The streetscape will be pedestrian-oriented, meaning wide sidewalks, street furniture and any retail would be small in scale and geared towards people walking. This significant section is a prime opportunity for sensitively adding density, retail and jobs to established communities. Wandering over to Britannia Plaza, we had a look at an existing, wonderful small retail node. This shopping plaza offers is a great mix of small retail that is within walking distance of the surrounding communities. A great mix of stores here means that nearby residents can get most of their needs filled, without having to get into their cars! This is a great example of the start of an urban node. Continuing on through south Elboya and north Windsor Park we talked about how neighbourhoods and streetscapes could be made more pedestrian friendly, how transit could be better incorporated into our communities, how ? especially important in inner-city neighbourhoods it is important to ?find? opportunities for claiming greenspace, and how community-building projects such as Paint the Pavement can help foster resilient communities. A wonderful thing about Jane?s Walks is that being about community, the walk itself fosters discussion and triggers the exchange of ideas and vision. In walking, and talking, we become more engaged with our neighbourhoods, with the things that we value about where we live, and about how we can make it better. We see the great things that exist and we see the great opportunities to be seized. Jane Jacobs would be pleased. www.janeswalk.net Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=jane's-walk Tue, 05 May 2009 12:05:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=living-wage-op-ed On April 6th, Calgary City Council will debate whether to adopt a living wage policy. When this item came to committee last month, we heard over 30 submissions from the public. Social leaders, those who would directly benefit from the policy, local business and some of our city?s finest spiritual leaders made presentations to committee that overwhelmingly supported a Living Wage Policy for all City of Calgary employees. What is a Living Wage policy? A Living Wage Policy proposes to pay City employees sufficiently to allow them to live at the poverty line, through an hourly wage that is based upon a 35 hour work week. In Calgary, that amount is $12.00/hr with benefits or $13.25 without benefits. This pay will enable a worker to reach the Low Income Cut-off for Calgary, which is about $22,000 per year. The committee also heard that to include all City of Calgary workers, full and part-time, would cost The City of Calgary, in a worse case scenario, $400,000 a year. A Living Wage policy that was inclusive would directly impact over 600 employees. Why should we bother with a living wage for City of Calgary employees? What are the benefits of doing this? In a nutshell, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We know that investing in people pays a social dividend. That is why as a society we publicly invest in education and youth recreation programs; why we invest in programs such as critical hours; why we build affordable housing. Living Wage is about investing in people. John Rook of the Salvation Army described a Living Wage Policy as a low cost, high return investment. Estimates for a return on ?investment? in a Living Wage Policy suggest that for every dollar we invest in paying someone a living wage we get three dollars back. That return to society comes in the form of increased taxes being paid, increased consumer spending power and decreased reliance on social services. The Salvation Army began paying their staff a living wage when they realized some of their own staff were accessing the very services they were providing. Paying people a living wage makes economic sense on the social investment side, but it also makes good business sense. Private enterprise has, over the years, undertaken a myriad of employee benefits such as providing group health benefits coverage, teleworking arrangements, condensed work weeks, onsite recreation and gym facilities, to name a few. These incentives are made available to employees not for simply altruistic purposes, but because they pay off on the company bottom line. A happier, healthier staff leads to increased productivity, a decreased turnover rate, and fewer sick days, all of which in turn saves expenses and leads to more robust business. Paying employees a living wage works the same way, companies are paying a living wage because it is good for business. Employees who only have to work one job to make ends meet are far more productive at that one job. There is higher company loyalty which directly relates to improved customer service. Decreased staff turnover means less that must be spent on training. Across Calgary, businesses and organizations are making the decision to pay their employees living wages. Noted earlier, the Salvation Army has already made this change. Last year, First Calgary Savings was recognized for their own living wage policy. This year the Calgary Chamber of Commerce received an award for their living wage policy; they recognized a need to show leadership to the business community, and began with their own staff. Small business is getting on board, led by companies such as The Unique Blend, who, in a recession, is expanding their business in part because of the competitive advantage that their living wage policy gives them. Policies that put people first are sound both socially and economically. That only makes sense. A Living Wage Policy is an investment in our employees and through them in our future. Those employees who would stand to make a living wage by such a policy are single parents, whose children will better off; they are students who are investing in their education, becoming more productive citizens. Those who benefit are often the main income earner for their family, a living wage will allow for more opportunities to participate in their community, outside of work. We must adopt a Living Wage Policy that makes a real difference, one that can deliver positive benefits for everyone. We cannot take the substance out of a policy that has the power to affect real change, and then call it ?leadership.? To quote Tim Richter of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, quite simply ?it is a case of pay now or pay later.? Paying later will cost much more than the small investment that we can make in Calgarians now. Calgarians, all Calgarians, deserve to be put first. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=living-wage-op-ed Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:04:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=asian-malls There has been quite a furor over the "asian malls" referred to in a consultant's report commissioned by The City of Calgary. This report was background material for Plan It Calgary, which is developing our municipal plan for how we grow and build our city for the next 60 years. The report, entitled Recommendations for City-Wide Commercial/Retail Policy, was a 400 page document with many recommendations pertaining to the retail/commercial equation in the City's overall plan for growth. One of many recommendations the consultant made in the report was to pursue a dispersed model of ethnic retail development rather than a concentrated model. While this opinion could be argued, it is not racist. There were two lines within the report surrounding this recommendation that were poorly phrased, referring to ethnicity, and while the offensive phrasing has been expunged from the report, it is my feeling that Mr. Leung, the report's author, did not intend disparaging remarks against his own ethnic heritage, nor against the City where he was born and raised. It is also important to understand why the recommendations were not accepted by the City, and are not, and never were, part of the Plan It Calgary proposals and recommendations. The City has no legislative capacity to determine the nature of the retail that is developed on a site beyond permissible uses according to the land-use bylaw, nor does the City have any desire to manage retail at this level. Multi-culturalism is a key component and foundation of our City, not to mention our country. Diversity is something that benefits all of us; we are each enhanced by our exposure to other cultures and lifestyles. We should never do anything to limit that nor to cloister it. We must not lose sight of the incredible importance of Plan It Calgary. We must not let a misplaced furor over recommendations that were never even considered be allowed to sidetrack or hijack what has been a robust and engaged process. Our future, our sustainability, our quality of life, depends far too much on our building a city which will be liveable and viable for our children and their children when they grow up. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=asian-malls Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:03:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=cecil-hotel On March 11th, I had the opportunity to tour through The Cecil Hotel.  The City of Calgary assumed possession of the hotel on February 27th and has been undergoing cleanup of the building since then. In the near future, the building will be razed and the site redeveloped to fit in with the East Village redevelopment that is ongoing.   For as long as I have lived in Calgary the Cecil has had a 'bad' reputation. Yet a 1914 edition of "the Albertan" describes the Cecil as "a cosy resort permeated with fellowship."   How did a place so described evolve into the place we came to know it as? A place that generated 1700 Police and EMS calls per year (4-5 calls per day, every day of the year!)   I wanted a chance to see the inside of the Cecil before it came down. I wanted to see if there were any remnants of the cozy resort, any evidence of the fellowship that described the hotel's beginnings.   It was quite something to see the state the hotel had fallen into. It was an eye opening experience to see the conditions in which some Calgarians lived, for some, many years had been lived in the hotel. The rooms are meagre and spare, the shared washroom facilities are basic, to say the least. In a word, the experience was heart-wrenching.   There were some fun little discoveries, like old skates hanging in the basement and the old furniture scattered throughout the hotel. There was the faintest of echoes that reminded me of its roots as one of those old style rural hotels; with the bar on the groundfloor and the rooms above. I have posted some pictures on this website for people to have a look, check out our gallery page. The Cecil is a great part of our history as a city; it was one of the original old hotels in Calgary. And, to be blunt about it, little, if any, of that history has survived. With the exception of the handful of stories that those who lived or stayed there over the years, we, sadly, lost the historic Cecil Hotel many years ago. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=cecil-hotel Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:03:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=snow-clearing Well, almost two weeks of a Chinook, and we are still dealing with snow issues on our streets. My office is still getting calls and emails from people looking for answers to getting their streets cleared. And winter isn?t anywhere near finished with us yet! In response to the volume of calls that we have been getting, Andre Chabot and I crafted a notice of motion to get administration to have a look at our Snow Clearing policy and bring forward some updates and revisions. (to see that Notice of motion please visit the Issues page on this website). Our current policy is that we do not clear residential streets. This was set with the input from Calgarians through polling and surveys over the years, where they clearly indicated that residential snow clearing was not a priority. That said, it is time that we once again have a look, and consider whether we should change the policy and what would be the associated cost. Something else I saw throughout the ward was the lack of clearing of our bus stops. We seem to have a disconnect between some of our policies, and we need to ensure they are complementary. We work hard to encourage people to use transit and we are investing to make transit a primary transportation choice for you, no matter where you live. And yet, when it snows, bus stops are nearly the last thing that gets cleared, if they do at all. One other aspect this Notice of Motion addresses is dealing with unusual snow events, such as we had in December. Our snowfall and accumulation through the month was 5 times higher than average, with no Chinooks to help us out. How are we going to plan for these in the future? As I was quoted in the paper, we have a plan for the 50 year event when it comes in liquid form, but we have no plan in place when the precipitation is in a more solid form. Roads is still working on the backlog and working to get some of the more challenging side streets cleared. But, they are working within the parameters and budget that we have given them. I believe we need to look at those to ensure that we are meeting your expectations. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=snow-clearing Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:02:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=wage-increase There has been a lot of attention paid to the Council wage increase, and concern has been raised with me from some of my constituents about Council receiving a wage increase in these economic times. As this issue will be brought back to Council again this coming Monday, a little clarification is in order. Council does not vote itself raises or any other aspect of its wage. This was taken out of Council?s hands when they decided to have Council compensation reviewed and established by an external committee, made up of citizens and not by elected officials. This was done to ensure the process was open and transparent. In 2003, the 1st Council Compensation Review Committee recommended that annual salary adjustments be tied to the Average Weekly Earnings of Albertans as reported by Statistics Canada and; that a comprehensive salary review should be conducted by a Task Force every three years. In 2006, the 2nd Council Compensation Review Committee recommended that the salaries of Aldermen continue to be adjusted annually on the basis of the increase or decrease in the Average Weekly Earning of Albertans. There is a bit of a lag between when the data for the Average Weekly Earnings of Albertans is taken and when changes to the Aldermanic salaries come into effect. Thus the salary adjustment that occurred on Jan 1, 2009 is based on the change in Average Weekly Earnings of Albertans from Sept 2007-September 2008. Declining economic conditions, that largely began the last quarter of 2008, could cause a decrease to the statistical Average Weekly Earnings of Albertans. If there is a decrease, this will be reflected in a decrease to Council salaries January 1, 2010. I believe this is a fair and transparent process. It is one in which, we as politicians, are not involved. We do not set our own salaries, and nor should we. The proposal to change our salary is to have us set our own salaries. If the citizen determined system is discarded by Council now, then we revert to the old, and unacceptable, process of having Council members set their own salaries each year. The process was taken out of the elected officials hands in order to achieve fairness and openness, to throw that out now would be a mistake. Again, we should not be setting our own salaries, and that applies whether we are getting an increase, a freeze, or, as is likely next year, a decrease. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=wage-increase Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:02:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=the-invisible-project I had the pleasure of attending a performance of The Invisible Project last week. This is a unique and moving piece of theatre I believe all should see and experience. It creatively gives voice to those in our community who are invisible, either by choice or by force. Running during the High Performance Rodeo at One Yellow Rabbit, this piece of theatre was developed as part of ?This Is My City? project. My City is about raising awareness and understanding of those who are homeless and to giving them a voice. Our homeless community, and I emphasize ?community,? has exploded over the past few years. We, as a City, have realized that we must address the problems of homelessness and strive to get the over 4,000 people who don?t have a safe roof over their heads into proper housing. We have initiated the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness to address what is, frankly, a crisis. And yet, the homeless, as persons, remain invisible to us. To properly address and deal with the challenge of homelessness in our society we can no longer afford to allow this invisibility. We must begin to see the homeless as citizens, as fellow Calgarians. In order to see the solutions, we need to see the people. We must allow our homeless citizens to become visible. This play draws on a few of the true stories of the over 4,000 that are out there. A few of our fellow citizens have risked taking off their masks to show us a slice of their life. They have decided to no longer be invisible. They have taken the incredible chance to invite us to see their true selves. It is important that we accept the invitation and begin to share understanding, to share our City with everyone. We have a lot to learn from the homeless, and with this show, I believe they have begun our education. For more information, check out these two links: http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_726041_0_0_18/This+is+My+City.htm http://www.oyr.org/rodeo/09_rodeo/09_my_city_w3.html Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=the-invisible-project Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:01:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=assessments Property assessments were mailed out this week. By now, everyone should have received theirs. It is with some consternation that I saw that a handful of Ward 11 communities bucked the "trend" of decreasing assessed property values and actually increased in assessed value over the past year. I had a meeting with the Assessment department to understand what this all meant. First off, your assessment is not your tax bill. We have a revenue neutral system which adjusts our taxes so that across the City as a whole the amount of revenue to the City stays the same. There is a section on your assessment that describes that adjustment. Your tax bill will come out in the spring when Council sets the mill rate. Your assessment is based on your property value on July 1st of 2008. Since the date properties were assessed the real estate market has obviously changed. When comparing market value between July 2007 and July 2008, it is important to note that the value as of July 2007 was not at the peak of house values, and that July 2008 is not at the bottom of the curve. This means that in some cases, many cases in Ward 11, values as of July 2008 are higher than in 2007. This year, established inner city neighbourhoods in Calgary generally held their value better than newer communities, further out. Last year, suburban neighborhoods generally saw higher increases than established communities. This is consistent with a general pattern where new communities are the first to increase in value and the first to decrease in value with changing housing markets. Ward 11 communities have generally held their value longer than many other communities in Calgary. Preparing assessments for properties and businesses across the City does take some time, hence the lag between when market value is assessed and when you receive your assessments. Thus, if the market moves downward from the point in time when the valuation was done your Assessment is generally higher than today's market value, and vice versa; when the market moves upwards from the time value is evaluated then your Assessment is generally lower than today's market value. If people are concerned about their assessment I heartily encourage people to get in touch with the assessment office. Speak to your assessor; find out what parameters applied for your assessment. Ask how exactly your property value was assessed. If it is wrong, Assessment can fix it right then and there, without your having to go through an appeal process. As well, please check out all the information on the City of Calgary website. They have information there on how assessments are reached. This year, for the first time, they have sales data for each community in Calgary, so that you can see what homes sold for in your area. The City of Calgary website at www.calgary.ca/assessment or call the assessment office at 403-268-2888 Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=assessments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:01:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=new-directions It has become abundantly clear that the way we have been growing our city for the past several decades is no longer sustainable. Calgary has been nibbling away at increasing its sustainability with different projects over the last couple of years particularly around energy and water consumption. But, there is now a recognition that a large part of our challenge is our land use patterns, namely suburban sprawl. After two years of research and public consultation; a City team, whose expertise spans many disciplines, presented the Key Directions for Plan It Calgary to Council on Nov 3, 2008 - which Council subsequently approved. The Key Directions will inform the new Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and the new Calgary Transportation Plan (CTP) - both of which are due for review. The Key Directions ensure that for the first time - these two very important pieces of Municipal Policy will reference each other and work together, rather than act as stand alone documents. The Key Directions, in a nutshell, recommend that we need to find a new balance between municipal growth of the suburbs and in established communities. We must link Land Use planning to mobility and develop our city in a way that maximizes our existing infrastructure. We must increase the mobility choices available to Calgarians. That is to say - we need to grow up and not out so fast, and we must make owning a car a choice rather than a necessity. And, in order to accommodate the expected 1.3 million new people to our City over the next 50 years in a fiscally, socially and environmentally sustainable way, we must be strategic about creating complete, mixed-use communities. An example of how this change in planning/ transportation focus may look is a type of development referred to as Transit Oriented Development (TOD), which is moving forward in some locations around the city. The first one to have a completed plan is the Chinook Station Area Plan, along MacLeod Trail near the Chinook LRT station. The Chinook Station Area will become a key hub in mixed-use as we move forward over the years and decades ahead, adding residents and small shops in an environment which will be pedestrian friendly. Putting shops, people and jobs all together in one area, on a major transit hub is about maximizing existing infrastructure and building-in affordability to Calgarians from the get go. I am encouraged that we are moving forward with TOD nodes, that we are moving forward with the Key Directions to come up with a new MDP next year. I would encourage everyone to learn more about both Plan It and the Chinook Station Area Plan. Information on both initiatives can be found throughout this website on the Issues page and at the City of Calgary website. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=new-directions Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=printing A few people have asked if there is a way to print off any of the blog postings. Most other articles and posts on this website have a PDF version attached, but the blog does not. The best way to print off a blog is to click "copy post to clipboard" and then paste it into a text document, such as Word. Then, you will have a clean document without all the background that will allow for better printing. Hope that helps. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=printing Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=reflections-on-budget-deliberations Those who have read my previous posts will know that I was against sending the budget back to administration for further work. I am glad Council decided in the end to do our job and craft the final budget. The budget process is about finding ways to balance citizen demand for protective services, street cleaning, parks maintenance, better transit service, effective waste management and a host of other areas with what can be afforded. At the end of 50 hours of deliberation, I believe that we, as a Council, have achieved that with this budget. We significantly reduced the proposed tax increase for 2009 down to 5.3% from the 9.6% we were looking at when we began on Monday morning. The intricacies of municipal budgeting are probably not something that many people are very familiar with, and is a topic that gets simplified to an extreme in the media. One major area of confusion is between operating and capital spending and what items in the budget affect the property tax rate. Over the last week I often heard about reducing the proposed property tax increase by cutting finding for the pedestrian bridges across the Bow River. The money for these bridges comes from the Provincial MSI Funding, which is specifically for capital infrastructure projects, and has no direct effect on the property tax rate. However, the benefits from this project are numerous: they will encourage the absorption of new population growth into the core, maximizing existing infrastructure; they will decrease the need for additional roads on the periphery; they will help housing affordability by making owning a car a choice and not a necessity; they will enhance community vibrancy and safety by having more people on the streets - all of which has a net positive effect on the property tax rate. Any time a single piece of municipal infrastructure can multi-task with so many benefits, it is a cost effective and efficient expenditure. A second example of an item whose inclusion in the budget does not directly affect the property tax rate increase - but does have a positive impact in reducing future potential increases is the City investment in a fitness facility at the Municipal Building. Again, this is an investment that has no direct impact on the property tax rate. However, this expenditure in the now, will see a return on this investment that will positively impact the tax rate. Investing in employee well-being has been seen repeatedly the private sector as a cost-effective approach to increase employee retention and productivity while reducing sick leave; each of these 'soft' benefits lowers operating costs - which do rely on the property tax base. I am confident that we have a budget and business plan to move forward with building our city in a more affordable and sustainable way. I am confident that Council has examined the budget in detail and found the cuts and efficiencies that reduced the proposed tax increase by 4.3%. I will continue in my role as Alderman and in particular via my seat on the Audit Committee to work to maximize delivery of service to Calgarian's in a cost effective manner. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=reflections-on-budget-deliberations Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=sending-it-back There is a proposal by some of my colleagues to send the proposed budget back to administration for more work. I have clearly come out opposed to this as I do believe it is a shirking of our responsibilities as a Council. As a Council, all 15 of us, we have worked on this budget for nine months, giving Administration direction, approving proposals (approval means a majority of Council members voted to support), which commit us to items in the budget which we deemed necessary. All 15 of us brought our experience and our constituent's requests and concerns to each strategic planning meeting. We have, all 15 of us, worked hard to give direction to administration, based on this, as to what we wanted to see reflected in the budget. And, they have delivered to us what we asked for. We could not have this proposed budget before us if we, as a Council, had not given direction to Administration over the past nine months. Before us is the culmination of what all of those collaborative decisions over several months looks like. It is our turn, all 15 of us, to work on this proposed budget and get it to a final version that we can approve. That is our role. To send it back to administration is not doing our job, and it is not owning up to the direction we have gave. It is trying to get us off the hook of doing the actual hard work of finalizing the budget. And now, because we have a budget before us that needs work, that we don't like, that the public doesn't like - the proposal is to scrap it? What can we take from that? What are we, Calgarians, to think then of the work that we, all 15 Members of Council, did over the previous nine months? Do some of my colleagues feel they were not representing their priorities when they voted, repeatedly, in favour of the additions and directions for the budget? Do some of my colleagues feel they "didn't know what they were approving at the time?" How can scrapping the budget and demanding a 're-do' requiring many months more work from Administration and Council be a cost savings? This proposed budget is for us, all 15 of us, to deal with. Now. I have heard from you about this proposed budget. I am prepared to take your concerns and work on the budget so that we can craft it into a working plan that will be acceptable. Throwing it back is not about doing that work. It is about avoiding our responsibility to you, it is about political grandstanding. It certainly isn't about serving Calgarians. We are here to do a job, let's get on with it. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=sending-it-back Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=balance I am still working my way through the budget, and I am still getting a lot of emails and phone calls with your reaction to it. I am reading the document, line by line, looking to understand all the pieces that come together to form the budget with its proposed 25% tax increase over the next three years. And I realize that budgets are more than just expenditures and revenues. They are also about finding balance, hopefully the right balance, between expectations and realism. They are about finding a balance between all the different services that a city provides to its citizens. They are about finding a balance between dealing with the short term and the long term. They are about finding the balance between what constituents ask for throughout the year. And now, as we look for possible cuts, do I suggest we pull from Parks? I receive calls throughout the summer with residents unhappy with parks maintenance and wanting the grass mowed more often. Do we pull funds from recreation? Each winter, we hear regularly that we need more rinks. How about Bylaw services? At the same time as there is increased concern about graffiti and demand for greater enforcement. What about reducing transit? Again, another area where my office receives numerous calls about insufficient transit service. Roads? Most of the calls that we get in the office are around road maintenance, repair and upgrades. I listen to what my consituents tell me, not just the last two weeks, but the preceeding 12 months as well. And I am looking for the budget to somehow reflect the often opposing desires of constituents and find the right balance. That gives you an idea of the lens which I am using to look at the budget. That is the kind of thing that I talked about over a year ago when I was knocking on people's doors asking them to vote for me. And the right balance is not something that can be declared on the steps of City Hall, and it is not something that we will stop working towards once we pass the budget, in whatever form it finally takes. I will continue that work long after the budget debates are over. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=balance Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=budget-discussions A disheartening scene is unfolding before us. In the sphere of public "debate", the path to dialogue is closing, - actually, it is being slammed shut, by those who are simply not interested in having public discourse. I am appalled at the willingness of some, in the media and elsewhere, to obfuscate issues and mislead the public. In the media, it seems that overwhelmingly the budget is being presented as a one-shot deal that appeared out of nowhere and is to be forced onto taxpayers - end of discussion. The budget is not a yes or no choice. It is a detailed, multi-layered document (believe me - it's a huge document)! It reflects direction that all members of Council participated in defining - broken out over many areas of City service delivery. So how can we say "Yes budget" or "No budget?" We can say - "this is important keep it in the budget" or "this will have to wait for a bit until it can be more readily afforded" - that's the debate we're missing. That's the debate I want to have! Screw the taxpayer?! Wait a minute - I'm a taxpayer! I want a thoughtful, considered approach to the allocation of budget dollars - don't you? When framing the question about the budget as All-Or-Nothing, there is no discussion. Reducing the budget to a blanket yes or no only promotes division and entrenchment. And, a complete distraction from the heart of the issue; that is, the contents of the budget. A "you're either with us or against us" approach sets up a false dichotomy that serves only the very few who are promulgating it. Public decisions, such as budgets, are not just about black or white decisions. If we shut down discussion about what's contained in the budget then we lose the invaluable input required to really prioritize the multiple issues that budget allocation addresses. I, for one, am looking forward to budget discussions, with the public and with my colleagues. Everyday, all year long, I hear from residents - are we addressing those concerns that Calgarians bring to the table everyday (as well as the ones raised in the days immediately leading up to budget deliberations)? Are we addressing the public's input around Calgary's liveability and the concern for their quality of life? Does this budget meet that test? Those questions are the real questions we need to be asking - those are the discussions I want to be having. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=budget-discussions Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=budget Council received the detailed budget information yesterday afternoon, and I immediately got to work reviewing it. I have also been hearing from Calgarians over the past few days, and I expect that to continue. Residents have been contacting my office to let me know of their concerns around the proposed budget and the associated tax increase, as well as the increases in fees. As I sift through the documents (which are available on the City website www.calgary.ca) the calls and emails are continuing to come in. The volume of correspondence has been formidable - I want to assure you that your comments and concerns are reaching me directly. There will be a public open house being hosted in the Atrium of the Municipal Building on Saturday, November 15th from 10 until 3, a further chance for you to access details on this year's budget. And yes, I know, the Stamps are playing in the western final that afternoon! So, please, take advantage of the various opportunities to find out about the proposed budget. As I work my way through the budget documents, I will be looking for efficiencies and opportunities to reduce our expenditures in order to reduce the impact on you, the taxpayer. This is the kind of work that you have asked me to do, and one that I have been doing since I started and will continue to do long after this budget time has passed. In response to those of you that have been asking after the need for an Auditor General at the City - I wanted to say that The City of Calgary does indeed have a City Auditor's Office. The Audits done through the City Auditor are reported through Audit Committe - on which I sit. As a member of this Committee, I am committed to ensuring that we maximize our efficiency and the use of your tax dollars. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=budget Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:11:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=taxes Ah... Taxes... that catches everyone's attention! As everyone no doubt knows, we are heading into budget time at City Hall, there are a lot of numbers that are being thrown around right now and there is still a lot of work to do in preparation. As well, there is going to be a public information session on November 15th from 10 until 3 in the Municipal Building Atrium. We will be adding all the information to the ward 11 website as we get it. But, what is out there right now? So far, it is looking like just under 10% for 2009, and a total of 22% over the three years. To put that into real dollars, which I find more helpful to give a scale to the numbers we are talking about, in 2009 that will be an average increase of about $150 per household, or, just over $12 a month. I put it like this so that we have it in perspective. And yes, there are the new fees for waste and recycling on top of that. (see previous entry on garbage user fees). I am getting a lot of comments from people that we must do more to cut, that they are not seeing enough cutting. The challenge is that its difficult to show "cost cutting" in a budgetary process. The goal is to find the balance between efficiencies and investing soundly in the future. Let me assure you that I believe the answer is in two areas: 1) finding the efficiencies that can exist within such a large organization as the City of Calgary, and 2) making investments in our community that will serve all of us well into the future. In these two ways will we ensure that we are maximizing your tax dollars for the long term benefit of our City. It may be easy to look for those things to cut in the short term, we musn't rush to blindly cut, for we may end up cutting off our nose despite our face. I am determined to find the answers within these two areas. And that is a much longer and more thoughtful process than just hacking and cutting our way through a budget without consideration for the future. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=taxes Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:10:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=garbage-user-fees On Wednesday, Committee approved a $4 per month user fee for waste collection. While I expressed considerable hesitation about this, and challenged the administration report, I ended up voting in favour of this. I thought I would give a bit of clarfication as to my reasoning. Our waste collection system is broken. It is not sustainable either environmentally or fiscally. Environmentally, we know that we are lagging behind everyone else by not just years but decades. Cities, towns and rural areas across the country had recycling pickup start decades ago. We are only just starting ours in April 2009! What that means is that as we are moving forward with recycling, everyone else in the country is moving forward with the next phase which is true waste reduction. Other cities are implementing things like bag limits, extra charges for those who produce more garbage. We need to get to this point, but we still have to get the first step out of the way. When it comes to the financial side, currently, waste collection is covered by our taxes. Literally, only the equipment and labour to pick up our garbage is covered by our taxes. Leaving the costs of landfilling, our blue box program and any future costs associated with the landfills, to be covered by landfill tipping fees. In the end, about 50% of the cost of our residential waste system is actually paid for by the producers of that waste... namely, us! That means that we have been taking funds from areas that we shouldn't in order to keep residential costs lower and that is completely unsustainable. So, the "fix" to this broken system as brought forward by administration was a user fee, and supplemented by funds from the gas tax transfer. I think this is short sighted. We have a broken system, and the remedy is a bandaid that doesn't actually deal with the broken system. A user fee that is applied to everyone, whether you produce one bag of garbage a week or 10, is not moving us forward. I believe that we must have "usage fees" that encourage people to not produce as much waste. Then, those that are producing it, are actually paying their fair share. In the end, after much discussion with administration, I supported the changes because I was assured that it is an interm step and, we will move forward quickly to revamp the system and begin to get fairness into it. There is an overwhelming fiscal imbalance in the sytem that has to be addressed immediately, the user fee essentially buys us a bit of time to be to able to come up with the real solutions. Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=garbage-user-fees Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:10:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=waste-and-recycling The City is rolling out automated waste collection this week, starting with Cedarbrae. This is piloting a new way of collecting garbage from our homes. Rather than a truck coming along and tossing the bags in the back, this system has an arm that comes out the side and grabs the rolling bin and dumps it into the truck. Here's the link on how it will work: http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_0_ 780_237_0_43/http%3B/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City +Hall/Business+Units/Waste+and+Recycling+ Services/Garbage+ Collection+Information/Automated +Garbage+Collection+Pilot/Automated+ Garbage+Collection+Pilot+Coming+Fall+2008.htm . This new system will be way more effecient and most importantly, will result in less wear and tear on the guys on the trucks. You may not know this, but I think on average they will individually pick up something like 15 tons of garbage each day.. that is 15 tons that a person physically picks up and throws in the back of a truck! It is no wonder that there are so many injuries on these guys! This is an important step towards getting a more efficient waste collection service and recycling service. Essentially it will be the same equipment that will be collecting our recycling starting March 2009, and then, hopefully in the not too far distant future, our organics as well. Making everything work effeciently and easily will mean that we are well positioned to start down the road of recycling and eventually real waste reduction. The City has a goal of reducing our waste to the landfills by 80% by 2020, and ambitious target that will require not only that we recycle all paper, metal and plastics, but that we also get all the organics out of the landfill as well. (in the summer, grass clippings can make up to 40% of the residential waste!). We truly must look at these things as resources that we are throwing away, rather than garbage. We are finally moving in the right direction when it comes to recycling, and I can't wait for the curbside program to begin in March! Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=waste-and-recycling Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:09:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=pedestrian-gateway-bridges Council decided last week to fund two new pedestrian bridges across the Bow River into downtown and there has been a lot of consternation about that decision since we made it. I thought I would share a bit of what we actually decided and my thoughts behind it. (and, yes, I did vote in favour of the bridges). We agreed to spend $25 million on the design of two bridges and the construction of one. The second bridge will be paid for by CMLC rather than the City and taxpayers. These bridges are going across the Bow on either end of downtown, touching the west end of Prince's Island as it crosses on one end, and the other bridge touching St Patricks Island near the Zoo as it connects Bridgeland & the East Village. As you can see, the location of the two bridges is very prominent, framing downtown and crossing the river, and as such we agreed to allocate a design premium for these bridges. Contrary to some of the information that has been in the media, the basic cost for a pedestrian bridge at this location is in the neighbourhood of $15 million, rather than the $3-5 million as suggested. This is a river crossing, and a wide one at that, so the straight comparison with a pedestrian bridge over a roadway is simply not valid. The estimate of the "design premium" for these bridges is in the neighbourhood of 20 - 25%. That is the basis of what we voted for, not the outlandish over expenditures that have been decried widely. These bridges are important. As I said, they frame our downtown, they are important pieces of public infrastructure, and they should last for a very long time. We need these bridges from a pure mobility perspective as more and more people are moving into our downtown intent on walking to work every day. Getting people out of their cars is by far a cheaper approach than building more and more lanes of traffic, not to mention a much more sustainable choice for everyone. Cities need public infrastructure of which they can be proud. Pedestrian bridges are one such thing. Just this week, we have celebrated the 100 year anniversary of Old City Hall, a public building that has stood the test of time, is a beautiful building, and shown off to all. Centre Street Bridge is another example of the City giving extra care to a piece of public infrastructure that has stood the test of time and which we show off proudly. These pedestrian bridges are no different. And if you are going to create special architecture, there is no better way, and no more cost effective way, to do it than with pedestrian bridges. I think we made the right decision, and when I get a chance to explain the real numbers and the context of the decision, most people tend to agree. I look forward to the day that we have two beautiful (and functional) pedestrian connections in our downtown which will grace postcards and annual reports across Calgary! Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=pedestrian-gateway-bridges Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:09:00 http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=welcome-to-ward-11-website Welcome to the new Ward 11 website! We have been working on this long and hard for the past few months and I need to acknowledge the hard work of Ines Palombo and Kirsty Neill in the Ward office and in particular Cory Tomlinson of Server Side Studios. They have diligently worked to put together a website that is informative, functional... and really good-looking too! The intent here is not only to get information out on the goings on at City Hall, but also to serve as a sort of clearing house for ward information and events. We hope to be a place where residents of ward 11 can share information and events with each other. So... if you have an event or information that you wish to share, please send it in and we will see about getting it up for others to check out. And we intend to keep this site updated frequently... so keep checking back for news and information... hey... why don't you just make us your home page? Brian General http://www.ward11calgary.ca/?category=blog&path=welcome-to-ward-11-website Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:09:00