Municipal Politics

[Witty Nickname]

Looks like that quitter Hawkesworth is still angry.

A supporter of his forwarded this email to me.

Join Citizens Opposed to the Airport Tunnel

Dear Supporter,

I know it's been just over six weeks since I last sent an email to you, but recent actions by the new city council have prompted me to re-engage the thousands of people who supported me this fall.

At its Nov. 8 meeting, the new city council put public transit on hold and took steps to approve a tunnel under the new runway at the airport. They deferred a decision on the southeast leg of LRT but agreed to spend $250,000 on a study to determine preliminary engineering needs for the tunnel.

The airport tunnel is the priority driving Mayor Naheed Nenshi and council's agenda. Environmental sustainability and transit have been pushed into the back seat. Unless we do something about it now, these priorities are in danger of ending up as bodies in the trunk.

there is more to it, but I'm not gonna copy the entire email.

[Bigtime]

What an angry, angry man.

[freeweed]

Nenshi won't have any room in the trunk after he fills it up with smashed Park and Ride machines.

[You Need A Thneed]

I'm trying to find an article, but there was an anti tunnel rally during the election, and there were more aldermen there then other people.

EDIT: found the link

http://www.globaltvbc.com/world/More+politicians+than+voters+tunnel+rally/3585390/story.html

[Ramsayfarian]

Sounds like someone is a poor loser.


Spot the Bigger Tool by D-2-C, on Flickr

[Bigtime]

Council voted 10-5 in favour of scrapping the P&R fee this afternoon.

[Witty Nickname]

Great news!

[mersar]

Yep. They are going to go with a reserved stalls concept instead (something that had been successfully piloted at Fishcreek/Lacombe a couple years ago) to try to make up for the $6M the fee was bringing in (though that number does seem to be in question, supposedly it may have only been $3M)

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by mersar

Yep. They are going to go with a reserved stalls concept instead (something that had been successfully piloted at Fishcreek/Lacombe a couple years ago) to try to make up for the $6M the fee was bringing in (though that number does seem to be in question, supposedly it may have only been $3M)

You know, this is exactly what pisses me off about civic budgets. When the PnR fee was first announced, it was 100% presented as NOT a cash-grab on a captive audience. My thoughts at the time was that this was exactly what it was. I was rebutted with all sorts of reasons why it wasn't - extra money to help pay for new security measures, motivation to get people onto feeder buses, reducing road congestion, etc.

Yet when the chips are down and it's time to revisit this decision - it's entirely viewed as a "what do we do with the city budget now?".

This is why fees like this, and things like fines from CPS, gas taxes, etc should never EVER be allowed to flow into general revenues. Once that happens, cities can no longer make decisions based on what's actually good for citizens. It all comes down to a revenue decision.

I have some serious respect for Nenshi and Council for sticking with this decision, even if it means some more difficulty with the budget. It's nice to see something decided upon its own merits instead of just financial reasons. I've also heard that Council is trying to avoid using speed-on-green as a general revenue generator. It's almost like politicians are actually working for us for a change.

Note: I'm all for massive traffic fines when there's a legit safety need. I just don't think we should *ever ever* depend on that money for anything. Give it to charity or something. When it becomes an actual revenue source, you end up with stupid decisions like many municipalities have taken, like shortening yellow lights as drivers slowly become safer. When the revenue dries up, you have to somehow keep fining them - so you make up fraudulent offenses.

[MalcolmTucker]

I never heard of the shortening yellow lights before - was that in the states? I would have thought there is a standard for those sort of things up here.

[Bigtime]

Mar's whining on twitter about the end of the P&R fee's, of course a fence sitter like him wouldn't understand actually sticking to promises you've made.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Sir.Humphrey.Appleby

I never heard of the shortening yellow lights before - was that in the states? I would have thought there is a standard for those sort of things up here.

It's a huge issue in many US jurisdictions. Here's just one of many stories about it. There may well be standards here, but depending on who sets them it's a simple matter of changing them as revenue drops (at least, this is how it's done down south). If it's a provincial standard then I'd imagine the City can't just muck about like we see in the US.

The same behaviour happens with artificially low speed limits - a road is engineered for a certain speed limit, but police find that after they radar the hell out of it, people slow down. Fine revenue decreases, so what do you do? Lower the speed limit on some technicality.

I should note that I am anything but the guy who usually whines about speed traps, checkstops, etc. I'm a huge fan of most of it and I almost never get ticketed for anything (I'd like to pretend I'm a safe driver). But I do hate clear examples of when political or financial motivations take precedence over true safety issues. Calgary's construction zones sometimes verge into this territory, and it annoys the hell out of me. I drive the limit, but I'm being whipped around by dozens of vehicles who realize that there's no safety justification to drop the limit that far. This happens on Deerfoot at least once a year on various segments.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Mar's whining on twitter about the end of the P&R fee's, of course a fence sitter like him wouldn't understand actually sticking to promises you've made.

I have to say, he's rapidly becoming one of my least favourite Aldermen. Every time I see/read his comments lately, I'm in huge disagreement with him. And yeah, he just comes across as whiny.

[srperrycgy]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I have to say, he's rapidly becoming one of my least favourite Aldermen. Every time I see/read his comments lately, I'm in huge disagreement with him. And yeah, he just comes across as whiny.

I swear that Mar is turning into McIver.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by srperrycgy

I swear that Mar is turning into McIver.

What is up with him? He is making me more and more mad by the minute.

[Bigtime]

Dare I say that Mar is taking a run at the title of most useless alderman for this term.

Just leave for provincial/federal politics already.

[freeweed]

Wow, I thought I was the only one.

Pincott was interviewed today claiming that when people can't find a Park and Ride spot, they'll just drive all the way into downtown. Yeah, maybe once buddy.

[frinkprof]

So a couple of months removed from the election, I'm so glad to say that this man is a distant memory in terms of municipal politics in this city.

• Video Link

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Wow, I thought I was the only one.

Pincott was interviewed today claiming that when people can't find a Park and Ride spot, they'll just drive all the way into downtown. Yeah, maybe once buddy.

Or they'll get up earlier. Umm, doesn't parking lots at capacity mean more people riding the rails and less folks driving?

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

Or they'll get up earlier. Umm, doesn't parking lots at capacity mean more people riding the rails and less folks driving?

It might mean less people riding the feeder buses, same amount of people riding the train. Did we ever see before and after ridership numbers for the feeder buses, after the $3 fee went in?