Three of the top contenders for Calgary’s mayor’s chair have released their final pitches to Calgarians just days ahead of the election on Monday.
Ladies first:
Sonya Sharp
Sharp says city council should get back the influence over city administration, because it’s council that answers to Calgarians
In 2020, council’s oversight and authority over senior administration were diminished after an organizational restructuring, but since then, the intended improvements to customer service have yet to be seen through publicly available data or clear evidence of tangible outcomes, said Sharp.
“The internal changes included modifications to the council’s governance structure, which have significantly diminished its ability to maintain effective oversight,” she said.
“The previous council left us with a really hot mess in terms of governance. They essentially delegated many decision-making responsibilities to senior administration and put in place processes that stifle members of council from doing their jobs.”
Some of the changes included eliminating the finance committee, lumping it into the executive committee, she added.
“There’s a reason why council and the public have trouble seeing where tax dollars are being spent,” she said.
“Senior administration is controlling what and when things get seen. This is one of the reasons we’re calling for the creation of a Finance and Budget Committee, spending needs to be scrutinized and prioritized, and budgeting needs to be transparent and clear.”
Some of the more subtle changes to the relationship between senior administration and council have significant impacts, said Sharp.
“For example, administration often frustrates councillors from bringing forward Notices of Motion to council through ‘administrative review’, stacking the deck against anything they don’t like,” she said.
“We recently had the chief administration officer inform councillors that they are to use a ‘Council Information Flow Program, basically using 311 to address any constituent concerns, rather than reaching out directly to city departments.”
“Frontline city staff are doing a great job, but what’s lacking is strong leadership from the upper echelon,” added Sharp. “The fact is, the tail wags the dog at city hall today”.
Jeff Davison
Davison says the fact Calgarians have to pay to park in front pf their homes needs to end, saying it is an unfair tax.
“Residents shouldn’t have to pay to park in front of their own homes,” said Davison. “This is about fairness. Either everyone pays to park in front of their home, or no one does, and I don’t think anyone should.”
“This program targets inner-city Calgarians who already pay some of the highest property taxes in Calgary. It’s wrong to gouge people based on their postal code.”
Calgarians in Residential Parking Zones pay $30 for the first permit, $45 for the second, and $70 for the third, generating roughly $600,000 in annual revenue for the city.
Davison said if elected mayor, he will end the pay-to-park program immediately.
“Consideration will be given to having a residential permit system to protect resident parking, but to charge these residents is unfair,” he said. “We can manage parking without punishing residents. City hall needs to stop nickel-and-diming people and get back to serving them.”
The residential parking permit system was introduced four years ago to recover administration costs of about $1.5 million a year and has been criticized by community associations as an unnecessary burden that does little to improve parking access, said Davison.
“We shouldn’t be penalizing Calgarians for living closer to where they work or walk,” he said Davison. “Parking near your home isn’t a luxury, it’s a basic expectation. I want to end this unfair policy and make sure every Calgarian is treated fairly.”
Jeromy Farkas
Earlier this week, Farkas released his complete platform, called Our Path Forward that he said covers 10 policy briefs and 189 actions that support his vision of affordable housing, safer streets, and job security.
“Calgarians need to know that their candidates for mayor are prepared to get to work on day one,” he said. “My platform is a detailed path forward that includes safety, housing, transportation, and much more. There won’t be any surprises under my leadership at City Hall.”
“Whoever is elected mayor on October 20 will be the mayor who welcomes the two millionth Calgarian to our city. That leader needs to have both a vision and a plan to make the next decade of growth our city’s greatest opportunity.”
The Farkas plan addresses issues such as financial responsibility, housing, safety, mobility, arts and parks, among others.
“This plan is one of the most detailed and most comprehensive seen in municipal government,” he said.
“It is my commitment to Calgarians, my promise is to get to work immediately and deliver on their priorities and make Calgary the safest, most affordable city in Canada.”
He added, if elected, the first 100 days in office will see movement on the 189 actions outlined in his platform.
“On day one, I will begin with city council,” he said. “As an independent candidate with much experience building high performing teams, I will immediately get to work as both mentor and coach to pull together a relatively new group of councillors to start serving all Calgarians.”
“We’ve seen what happens when councils can’t work together; instead, we are going to show Calgarians everything we can accomplish as a group united in a common goal of pragmatic and responsible service.”
