The future of our electric utility.
This discussion on governance structures is about aligning the incentives of the decision makers with long term goals. Council members are naturally more responsive to the needs of right now—that’s how we get elected and re-elected. That short term thinking is not aligned with the long term thinking required to keep this publicly owned utility viable long term.
Campaign finance approach and disclosure
I’ve made campaigning harder on myself. I’m limiting donations to $20/person to keep contributions affordable and equal. I’m disclosing my donor list before election day.
Division Avenue—balancing efficiency of travel with safety
The easiest thing to do is pile on. I’m not going to do that. Some design elements at Division Ave could have been executed better. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good reasons behind the changes. That doesn’t mean we can’t find a balance between the needs of drivers and other ways of getting around. That’s different from saying the entire project is a boondoogle. There are endless ways to compromise. This doesn’t have to be such a fight.
Part 2: The Role of Administration—Advise Council
Right now municipal councils across Alberta ask their administrations to provide a recommendation for every ‘Request for Decision.’ This places staff in an unfair, impossible position. Instead of interpreting 'advise' to mean recommending a decision to council, we can alternatively interpret 'advise' to mean informing council of benefits, risks and tradeoffs, leaving the final decision to council.
Part 1: The Role of Administration— Service Delivery
The standard we should judge service delivery is not perfection, but our peers. Participating in municipal benchmarking is the best way to accomplish this.
My Approach
As mayor I'd bring a balanced perspective, reasoned communication, shared responsibility and strategic focus.
The Role of Citizens
Council needs high level teamwork skills. Citizens need better teamwork skills too. Democracy isn’t a spectator sport. The better teamwork skills we practice in our community—the better candidates we’ll see. It’ll take time and practice for our community to get better at participating effectively.
The Role of Councillor
Councillors are elected on individual platforms, then must immediately transition to working as a team. I didn’t appreciate the difficulty of working as a team until I sat down in one of the nine council chairs.
The Role of Mayor
Understanding the legislated powers of mayors and councillors in Alberta helps set expectations for how municipal councils are intended to function. Alberta’s municipal governance model prioritizes collective decision making. This model has benefits, but requires high level teamwork skills from mayors and councillors.
Parks and Rec: The Moose rink
Location, location, location. Let's look at these decisions as choices between which community spaces to invest in, then work backwards. The property the Moose rink sits on is a good example. We have been skating together here for almost a hundred years.
Parks and Rec: The shadow of Co-op Place
There is a fine line between living in the past and learning from it. But the conversation about some of our aging recreation facilities is strikingly similar to the Arena debate. Let's look at how our greatest public building, Co-op Place, is doing six years in.
Political reform #4: Stream city committee meetings
There is a straightforward way to increase transparency at city hall—stream city committee meetings to Facebook Live, YouTube, and Twitter. Transparency isn’t only about the number of agenda items in the open portion of committee meetings. It’s also about making attendance accessible.
Political reform #3: Rotate committee assignments
Rotating committee assignments would strengthen councillors by giving them a broader perspective of City Hall. It would also help develop better mayoral candidates, as those with broad council experience are in the best position to step in as new mayors. Leaders are created, not born.
Political reform #2: Pay police commission members
City council needs help. Paying library board and police commission members would strengthen those boards and acknowledge the power of these independent boards. Serving on these boards develops the same types of skills required for serving on city council. We need be intentional about developing strong council candidates. Leaders are created, not born.
Political reform #1: Neighbourhood decision making
City council needs help. The unresponsiveness of city council is due to the concentration of decision making power. This causes a bottleneck. Divesting some decisions to the neighbourhood level would alleviate some of this burden. It helps everyone and engages more people in politics. But we need a neighbourhood proof-of-concept first. This is a big thing I'll be working on off council, starting in my own backyard—the SE Hill.
1,000 miles to the Arctic Ocean
In 2001, three friends and I paddled the Mackenzie river to the Arctic Ocean. I've never written about the trip. Twenty years later seems like a good time to do so.
Economic development through municipal tax reform
You want to tackle climate change head on? You want to create a sustainable, competitive environment for small business? Say it with me—municipal tax reform!
Running for city council: A guide
Incumbents have a big advantage. I hope this helps level the playing field. Good competition makes everyone better. It's a great job and I hope people take the leap and decide to run for city council!