Fiscal
Responsibility
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Long-Term
Financial Planning
Many households plan out their long-term spending so that
money can be set aside and used when necessary rather than
borrowing every time. Governments should
be doing the same if they are serious about fiscal re-sponsibility.
Elected representatives have a duty to provide the essential
services such as police and fire coverage, snow removal,
public transit, road maintenance, etc. Another of our responsibilities
in our desire to improve
our city is to provide services that, although they may
not be considered priorities, do affect an individual’s
quality
of life. The issue is that the non-essential items should
be planned in advance with adequate money in place so we
minimize our short-term borrowing. The city currently has
a contingency fund for unexpected costs in the current year’s
budget but we should also have a short-term savings fund
that can be used for low to medium-cost non-essential expenditures.
I propose a renewed focus on saving money for future needs
instead of using every available dollar each year and I
intend to encourage other Councillors to recognize the benefit
of saving for the future.
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Introduce
an Independent Audit to Ensure Efficient Spending
Zero based budgeting is a method commonly used to ensure efficient
spending is occurring within the city by starting at zero
and determining exactly how much is needed to run a specific
department. Our city tried this with four departments last
year only to find that there was no benefit. The reason this
test did not work is because the city allowed the staff from
the specific departments to complete their own budget rather
than using independent auditors. Although I believe city workers
are dedicated to providing the best value, the city has a
responsibility to the taxpayers to have all departments audited
every 10 years as currently no regular audits are being completed.
It is always a good idea to have an independent review to
verify that taxpayer dollars are being spent in the best manner
possible.
If elected, I will put forward a motion in the 2011 City
Budget discussions to have a special independent audit every
10 years starting with the 2011 budget.
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Community-Focused and Smart Growth
Policies for a Better CitY |
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Increased Density Will Save Us
Money
The City of Edmonton is one of the least dense cities in
North America and has experienced significant tax increases
to cover the cost of new infrastructure needed to create
new communities. The trend of primarily building new neighbourhoods
is not financially sustainable and I believe the right way
to address this situation is to focus on increasing our
density which will minimize the need for large yearly tax
increases, allow our tax dollars to go much further in providing
the essential services and it will give us the ability to
save for future expenses. The Municipal Development Plan
was passed on May 26th, 2010 which will direct Edmonton’s
growth and development for the next ten years. This plan
made great strides in addressing some core issues that have
been affecting our city but one crucial section, while improved,
is not ideal. In the past, our ratio of new developments
to infill has been about 95% to 5% respectively. Within
the new Municipal Development Plan, part of the bylaw states,
“Encourage a minimum of 25 percent of city-wide housing
unit growth to locate in the Downtown and mature neighbourhoods.”
I believe, however, that we have to be committed as a Council
to approving an equal mix of new developments on the outskirts
and infill within our mature neighbourhoods while respecting
the Residential Infill Guidelines. The city has never provided
a balanced choice to people currently living in, or planning
to move to Edmonton which is why the cost to live on the
outskirts of our city is much less than elsewhere. If there
is a more balanced selection of homes to purchase, Edmontonians
will be able to choose where they want to live as an equal
supply will provide more affordable homes in and around
Edmonton.
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Increase Involvement with Community
Leagues to Create a Better City
I have enjoyed my time as the Vice-President of the Meadowlark
Community League and have seen the need to increase the
in-clusion of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues
(EFCL) when discussing major city policy. The Meadowlark
Community League has hosted Town Hall meetings so that we
can have a common voice when speaking to City Council. Encouraging
more communities to come together to discuss important issues
will provide Council with an even greater understanding
of their con-stituents' views and will increase the
quality of discourse as community residents would be given
greater opportunity to have a constructive dialogue with
others.
If elected, I will organize a monthly meeting in Ward 1
where residents can attend and bring forward any issues
or concerns they may have. I will also ask the EFCL to increase
their involvement through Town Hall meetings and community
newsletters. This will allow Council to hear from as many
Edmontonians as possible prior to making a decision.
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Work Together with Edmonton School
Boards and Alberta Government
School closures in our mature neighbourhoods directly contradict
the city's goal of increasing density. If new families
do not have
a nearby school for the children to attend, what motivation
will they have to live in an existing neighbourhood? Although
we have elected school trustees who represent the same people
as City Councillors, there needs to be increased communication
and planning with the Edmonton School Boards, Edmonton City
Council and Alberta Education. When a school is slated to
close, lack
of enrolment should never be the reason because it means
that all levels of government have not succeeded at executing
their long-term planning. Working together will not only
save our city money in the long-term, but will also strengthen
our communities and create a more sustainable city.
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Transit that Benefits People and
Business
The West LRT route was selected by City Council in December
2009 (Lewis Estates to Downtown via Stony Plain Road) and
it will be the new Council's responsibility to approve
the specifics of this route in December 2010. It is important
to recognize that although this route is meant to benefit
our city in the long-term, we cannot forget about those
who have spent years working to make our city better such
as the Jasper Place Revitalization team. One way to accomplish
this is to split the East and West lines between 149th Street
and 156th Street. By having the East-running portion of
the line travel along 100th Avenue and the West-running
portion proceed along Stony Plain Road, residents and businesses
will receive the greatest benefit in both the short and
long-term by enjoying the best mix of vehicles, transit,
cycling and pedestrian traffic. New development opportunities
would arise between 100th Avenue and Stony Plain Road. These
new developments will strengthen the communities near Stony
Plain Road by decreasing crime and creating new businesses
that will be community driven.
Therefore if elected, I would put forward a motion to create
a couplet from 156th Street to 149th Street in order to
encourage more redevelopment and minimize the impact on
those who will still need to drive.
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Provide Citizens with Multiple
Options for their Commute
Public Transportation should not be viewed as the only alternative
to driving. Cycling is a realistic option, assuming that
we provide safe routes to where people travel most. This
means that we need to create dedicated bike lanes on all
major roadways and properly maintain these lanes. The only
way people will consider cycling as a viable alternative
is if the option actually exists and it
is easy to make the switch. With a focus on increasing density,
the city can showcase the benefits of living close to where
you work.
If elected, I will work with the transportation department
to implement a plan that would see dedicated bike lanes
created on major commuter roads.
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Create New Opportunities for
Departments to Grow |
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Along with efficient spending, city departments should try
to create new opportunities to make their money go further.
For example, the library currently removes media from their
rotation when it reaches a point where it can no longer
be used or if it has not been borrowed in over two years
and receives very little money from the product. If the
library were to change their policy and reduce the quantity
of a title as interest begins to fade, they would be able
to recover a far greater amount of the original cost which
would allow them to bring in additional media or save the
money to fund the renovations that they would like to begin
on different branches. Although making money is not going
to be the primary reason for the city departments to operate,
it should be their objective to find as many ways possible
to provide funding in order to improve the level of service
which in turn will reduce the need to utilize tax dollars
to fund projects.
As part of the independent audit that I have suggested,
policies will be reviewed to ensure that all departments
are maximizing their potential.
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Civic Card for Edmontonians/
Edmonton Tourism |
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The
city is currently working on a plan that would provide Edmontonians
a smart card that could be used for transit, Edmonton Public
Library and recreation centres. We should expand on this idea
by having the same card used for city attractions and community
league memberships. By incorporating community league memberships
onto the same card, there should be increased usage
of our recreation centres and attractions as we would be able
to offer immediate discounts to those with a community membership.
We could apply the same principal to a card for visitors to
our city. When obtaining a card at any major centre, information
would be offered about the various attractions/festivals in
our city. Businesses could offer discounts to visitors who
show their travellers card which would bring in new business
as well as advertising revenue to the city. If elected, I
will prepare all city facilities at the same time for a single
card that provides access to all areas.
The majority of the tourists to Edmonton come from neighbouring
provinces but we have the potential to draw people from around
the world. While it is always important to advertise our arts
and cultural opportunities to our potential guests, we should
not be afraid to focus on the vast amount of shopping options
this city has to offer. West Edmonton Mall is generally one
of the main destinations for people to visit so we should
embrace that and showcase other exciting shopping environments
such as Whyte Ave, South Edmonton Common, Southgate, etc.
When we attract more tourism to our city using our strengths,
we then have the opportunity to showcase our festivals and
arts & culture which will ensure visitors receive a truly
unique experience.
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Now
that the Public Hearing for the arena zoning application has
been delayed until later in the fall, we should be provided
with greater information as to how this project will be funded.
I have seen the arena concept and although it looks fantastic,
I would like
to see a plan that includes private funding or the city looking
forward to receiving operating revenue from any potential
investment before making a final decision. Revitalizing our
downtown is important to achieving our long-term objectives
in the city, but decisions should not be made without extensive
consultation with the citizens and very detailed information
from the applicant.
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Creating an Environmentally
Sustainable City through Small Changes |
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Most
people recognize the need to act responsibly when interacting
with our environment and want to do their part to make things
better. We need to be reasonable when asking people to change
behaviours. Small changes that provide noticeable impact will
be how our city leads the way in bettering the environment.
Working together with businesses will make these small changes
easier as the business community also needs to support any
initiatives to create positive change. As a Block Captain
for Capital City Clean-up, I have witnessed firsthand the
difference that one hour a week makes in my neighbourhood.
This program should be expanded by offering new incentives
such as a free family pass to a city attraction or recreation
centre to create new volunteers as even an hour per month
from Edmontonians would go a long way to improving our image
and changing people's behaviour towards disposing
of garbage/recycling.
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