Kris Samraj Kris Samraj

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.

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Kris Samraj Kris Samraj

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.

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Kris Samraj Kris Samraj

My Approach

As mayor I'd bring a balanced perspective, reasoned communication, shared responsibility and strategic focus.

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Kris Samraj Kris Samraj

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. 

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Kris Samraj Kris Samraj

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.

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Kris Samraj Kris Samraj

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.

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Political reform Kris Samraj Political reform Kris Samraj

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.

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Political reform Kris Samraj Political reform Kris Samraj

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.

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