May 2012 Newsletter

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Hello again! Victoria Day is almost here and whether you are going camping or just heading to the mall, you'll likely be taking a road to get there. Every spring, The City sweeps roughly 15,000 lane kilometers of paved roads and this year the Spring Clean-up Street Sweeping program runs from April 15 to June 29. Be sure to look for the signs on your street that will inform you when you should move your vehicles and garbage/recycling bins from the roadway. Check out The City's interactive street cleaning map to find community specific dates.

Clean street or not, you should make your way down to St. Sebastian School (65 Chaparral Dr. S.E.) on May 26 from noon to 2 p.m. because Aldertalk is gaining steam! Initially designed as a low cost alternative to annual open houses, these 2-3 hour Aldertalk sessions are a chance for me to sit down and have some face-to-face time with the people of Ward 14. I have been holding the sessions at a local community association each month because we all know that once a year is not nearly enough opportunity to access your elected officials. I am very proud of this idea, so share your opinions with me at the Aldertalk in May. I see more concerned individuals coming out to give their input at each event, and would love to see that trend continue.

By now, I hope you have the impression that I value your input. To show that I am "putting my money where my mouth is," I want to mention the latest notice of motion that I brought to Council. The Province has indicated it may be open to a review of its relationship structure with Alberta's major cities. Whatever a new relationship between the Province and The City of Calgary might be, I feel it is important that The City of Calgary be prepared for such a review and that Calgarians be involved in the discussion. That is why on March 19 I brought my "Creating Change in Municipal/Provincial Relations" motion, asking council to request the Mayor's office and Administration to develop a plan for a broad public consultation that would help determine what changes Calgarians might want to see. Unfortunately, my motion was defeated by Council, but I will continue to push for your input in crucial matters such as this.

Many North American cities are finding themselves unprepared when it comes to funding their pension plan liabilities. The Alberta Local Authorities Pension Plan's (LAPP) unfunded liability has grown significantly in the past decade, and is now reaching about $4.6 billion. We desperately need to know how The City will deal with these issues going forward, which is why I brought my "Pension Plan Funding Shortfalls" notice of motion to Council on March 12. The notice asks for Administration to prepare a report regarding any unfunded LAPP liabilities and any contingency plans that are in place. The notice was referred to the Pension Governance Committee for a report back to Council no later than June 2012. I will keep you informed on how this turns out and ensure that this issue is not forgotten because when the stakes are this high, we can't afford to be caught "with our pants down."

Until next time. If you have any questions or concerns please call me at 403-268-1653 contact my office.​