I would like to share my opinions and reasons behind decisions that Council is making that affect both Ward 9 and the City overall. I hope to give a deeper insight into City matters and my position on issues – some that are controversial and may not always be reported accurately in the mainstream news. Send me an email joe.ceci@calgary.ca or phone 403-268-2430 with your comments or questions. I respond to all constituent emails or phone calls and look forward to discussing these City Hall issues with you. I also meet with your Community Presidents on a quarterly basis to keep informed on what’s happening in your neighbourhoods and to share information from City Hall.
A Great Run |Quality of Life, March 2010 |Leading by Example – The Greening of Calgary, February 2010 |The Year Ahead – October, 2009 |An Alderman’s On-going Apprenticeship – September, 2009 | What Makes Communities Strong – July 2009 | Plan It Calgary – June, 2009 | Stamping Out Crime…and Grime – May, 2009 | Gangs in Calgary – April, 2009| Pedestrian Bridges on the Bow – March 2009
A Great Run, April 2010
I want to communicate to all my constituents in Ward 9, that I have decided not to seek another term as Alderman. It has been a great run of 15 years together, and I am grateful to all of you for your support, energy and collaboration. Together, we accomplished a lot through community commitment, good faith and perseverance. I will certainly leave office with a lot of fond memories of the meaningful alliances forged in Ward 9.
During my time in municipal office, my priorities as Alderman have remained consistent. Throughout my tenure, I have proposed and supported municipal legislation that improves our city, promotes fairness, supports social infrastructure, combats racism and intolerance, builds cohesive communities and respects the environment.
Before I ran for Alderman in 1995, I was a Social Worker with the City of Calgary. I saw that people and issues were falling through the holes in our social safety net. I was motivated to run for office because I felt municipal politics represented a way of contributing to policy
that could help fill in those holes.
That history as a City employee has stood me in good stead. I have retained contacts and have kept abreast of issues relevant to City administration, and have always had a deep and abiding respect for City employees. This has made it natural for me to relate to City departments and build relations between City Council, administration and Ward 9 concerns. I have also tried to remain approachable to all constituents and to grassroots organizations. I know these are the people who elected me, and some of the initiatives they have brought to me have been terrific ideas which I was happy to get behind, and am happy to see realized today.
Despite my best efforts, some very sound ideas that I believe in and have presented notices of motion on, did not always make it into legislation right away. Initiatives to ban cosmetic pesticide use, to draft a food policy for the City of Calgary seeking to strengthen local food production, and an attempt to discontinue the use of bottled water by City Hall were all defeated or amended in Council Chambers. While it can be dispiriting to see what I think are great ideas defeated, it hasn’t stopped me from speaking and acting on issues I believe in. I’m happy to report that a great many of the notices of motion I have made to Council, have been adopted.
It is very gratifying to see projects I have supported and/or initiated as they are completed, and some of those include the $800,000 Forest Lawn Enhancement project, the completion of the 16th Ave. N. urban transportation corridor, and the progress on the 17th Ave. S.E. urban transportation corridor. Parts of Ward 9 are more attractive, and function better as a result of the foregoing projects, and that is a real pleasure to see.
I have had the honour of being Calgary’s representative to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for a number of years, and I have been involved with the Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination (CMARD) since the beginning of the Calgary Chapter. These roles have allowed me to share Calgary’s experience, and bring good ideas from elsewhere in Canada to Calgary. As the City of Calgary’s delegate to CMARD, it was very gratifying to moderate CMARD’s pan-Canadian meeting in Calgary last year and meet with representatives from the 30 municipalities from across Canada that have decided to publicly condemn racism and discrimination.
As both a Social Worker and an Alderman, I was pleased to represent the City on the Family and Community Support Services Association of Alberta (FCSSAA) for the entire 15. I served as President for five years and continue to participate in monthly and annual conferences. I met amazing people from around the province who are working to serve and support a social infrastructure for quality of life for all Albertans. I brought ideas, connections and further support for the residents of Ward 9 through my work on this Association and believe the strength of my tenure as an Alderman was more affective.
I am proud to have supported the Fair Fares campaign to make public transit accessible to all, the affordable housing developments of Crestwood in Millican-Ogden and the Alice Bissett development in Inglewood and the new Manchester Apartments and Seniors Residence in Manchester. In terms of the arts, I brought forward a notice of motion to increase funding for the City-funded W.O. Mitchell Book Prize in 1996, and I spearheaded an initiative to get live music played in Council Chambers while the Juno awards were being held in Calgary in 2008. Amid hard work and advocacy around the things I feel are important, I’ve had plenty of fun too.
Since October 2006, Joe’s Clean Team has been meeting regularly at the Drop-In Centre with community and Drop-In Centre volunteers to pick up litter. Together we spend 90 minutes making the walk from Bridgeland/Riverside cleaner, while also getting to know one another. My team of staff and volunteers has also been celebrating Earth Day over the last three years by meeting with community groups, schools, institutions and residents of Ward 9 to encourage participation in the 22-minute makeover. I spend the day with Ward 9 residents and our mascot Eartha, picking up garbage and raising awareness around Earth Day, and this April 22 will be no exception – watch for us in your neighbourhood!
I have been really gratified by the results of my efforts to bring together East Calgary politicians at all levels of government to address issues that are of real concern like prostitution and crime. I participated with many of those same politicians in the Forest Lawn Outdoor Pool (FLOP) fundraisers where we got up to all manner of poolside hijinx, which allowed us to get to know each other and the people of Forest Lawn a little better while raising funds for outdoor pools in Calgary.
I’ve witnessed and participated in lots of changes in Ward 9 communities over the last 15 years. From community hall changes in Bridgeland/Riverside and Fairview, to an expansive Area Redevelopment Plans in Winston Heights/MountView, Forest Lawn, Millican-Ogden and Manchester. And I must make mention the challenge of facing problematic environmental disasters of Ward 9 like Lynnview Ridge contamination, Hub Oil explosion and the Fairview fire and ongoing unresolved environmental concerns posed by industrial uses close to residents in Ramsay.
Frankly, there isn’t much I haven’t seen in my years as Alderman of this weird and wonderful Ward. It seems fitting to conclude with a brief (and by no means exhaustive) inventory of ‘Ward 9 by Numbers’:
•1 Executive Assistant who began work in Ward 9 in 1989
•1 Community Liaison who worked in Ward 7 before being joining Ward 9
•8 summer students who have gone on to very interesting jobs from here like the Court of Queens Bench and the American Consulate in Italy.
•4 practicum students who were supervised as part of their social work degrees.
•4 quadrants of the city (Ward 9 is the only Ward in Calgary with a NW, NE, SW, SE addresses)
•4 Calgary Police Districts (many wards deal with only one police district, but we’ve got 4!)
•4 Road zones (ditto)
•4 Parks districts (ditto)
•Both the Elbow and Bow Rivers plus the Western Irrigation Canal
•One water treatment plant
•13 residential communities and 75% of Calgary’s industrial land base
•1 community lost (Riverbend) and many gained (Erlton, Winston Heights / Mount View, Tuxedo Park, Renfrew, Bridgeland/Riverside) as a result of Ward boundary shuffles.
•2 business revitalization zones (International Avenue and Atlantic Avenue)
•1 ocean-going, steel-hulled yacht built in a residential backyard
•1 evicted miniature horse (this is too long a tale to go into, but details will no doubt emerge in my memoirs sometime in the future)
•Too many backyard chickens to count (not to mention llamas, sheep and goats)
•Many, many mosquitoes and caddis flies
•2 cat bylaws (City Hall staff still shudder at the recollection of these epic negotiations)
•1 mink farm (there’s a whole novel of material there, believe me).
•1 politician privileged and grateful to have been Alderman for Ward 9.
It has been a great run, and I thank you for the pleasure of being your Alderman. Lastly I want to thank my wonderful staff, Twila and Sharon, for keeping Ward 9 business moving forward. They’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with and judging by all the kudos that everyone shares with me about them, I know you agree. So long everyone.
Quality of Life, March 2010
Last month I wrote about the ways Calgary was building toward greater environmental sustainability and indicated some of the areas where I think we have work yet to do. 
This month I would like to focus on other issues which are important to Calgarians’ quality of life. Again, there are certainly areas where we are setting a standard for residents and for other municipalities and, inevitably, there are also areas where we could be doing better. I’d like to share my thoughts on these issues with you.
Financial well-being of Calgarians
The first matter I’d like to address is that of the financial well-being of Calgarians. While Calgary may not have been hit as hard as some cities as a result of the global economic downturn, there is no question that the last 16 months have been very hard on some Calgary individuals and families. Lots of Calgarians were struggling with financial well-being before the economic downturn, and as usual in a crisis like we have experienced, the most economically vulnerable suffered the most. I don’t believe you can have a healthy and sound community where some members of the community are chronically struggling with poverty.
Fortunately, there are some really good agencies in Calgary which are still working to help the most vulnerable. We know, for example, that the Calgary Food Bank experienced an 80% increase in demand over the last year, and the Food Bank and many other agencies have done a tremendous job of working in to a dire situation.
I really support the good work of excellent local agencies like Momentum runs many programs in Ward 9, and its vision is that every person in Calgary can have a sustainable livelihood and contribute to their community. The agency is concerned with financial literacy and small business support. I think Calgary needs agencies which serve people who need help to be self-supporting. Momentum is a classic example of a hand up instead of a hand out approach to giving people the right tools to enable them to improve their own lives.
I also think policies and laws at all levels of government should enable people to lead financially secure and stable lives. Two federal senators – Hugh Segal and Art Eggleton – have recently proposed that by establishing a guaranteed annual income for Canadians, we might actually be able to lift all Canadians out of poverty, and I would fully support an initiative like that. It would mean Canada was establishing an absolute floor below which Canadians couldn’t fall. I think a Bill like that should be understood and adopted. It would allow us to do away with the patchwork quilt of welfare laws across the country and have a national standard which would be every Canadian’s right.
A living wage
Another initiative I fully support is the living wage campaign. A living wage is defined as the amount of income an individual or family needs to earn in order to meet basic needs, maintain a safe standard of living and still be able to set a little aside for the unexpected. The Calgary agency Vibrant Communities http://www.vibrantcalgary.com puts a fair living wage today at $12.25 an hour with benefits or $13.50 per hour without benefits. Many Calgarians do not make a living wage, and women are disproportionately represented among those who don’t make a living wage.
Unfortunately, the City of Calgary missed an opportunity to lead by example in paying a living wage to City employees. Some recreation staff, for example, don’t make a living wage and Council recently decided not to change the pay scale to redress the issue of a living wage among our own employees. I regret that we missed an important opportunity to set that bar higher corporately in Calgary. Some companies in Calgary have set a standard of paying a living wage to all employees, and I would very much like to see the City do the same.
I am a big believer in progressive social policies and programs which address the financial and social needs of Calgarians. Some of my fellow members of council don’t think its City Council’s job to get involved in these matters, but I do. There are all sorts of practical ways the City can help Calgarians in terms of fighting poverty. Programs the City runs like Critical Hours – a program that keeps vulnerable youth engaged in meaningful activities between 3 and 6 pm when they might otherwise be getting into trouble – is just one example of ways the city can be proactive in terms of crime prevention and improving Calgarians’ quality of life.
Calgary Public Library
I am on the Board of the Calgary Public Library http://www.calgarypubliclibrary.com/, and that is something I am really proud of. I’m also a library user and probably visit the library about three times a week to get books, CDs and DVDs. Calgary’s library consistently ranks as one of the best library systems in North America, and I think it is a really important resource for all Calgarians. About half of all Calgarians have a library card, and each of those people on average borrows $1,750 worth of materials every year. That’s a pretty incredible return on a $12 a year investment.
I think much of the success of the Calgary Public Library is due to the fact that the collection is spread throughout the city in an equitable way amongst neighbourhood and district branches. Having locations easily accessible to all neighbourhoods makes it easy for people to use. I also think the Calgary Public Library is extremely well managed and well run. There is a huge corps of committed volunteers, and ambitious and an imaginative programming department which runs hundreds of programs for all kinds of library users. There are programs for new Canadians, for youth, for seniors. There truly is a program at the library for everyone.
Statistics like 1.4 million books borrowed in Calgary in 2008 reflect the heavy use our library system experiences and I think the success of the library system will require on-going investment to keep up on technologies like automated book handling and self check-out.
Calgarians with limited disposable incomes make tremendous use of the libraries, and Ward 9 libraries – the Forest Lawn library and the Glenmore Square Library in Ogden – see a huge amount of use. I am committed to seeing that our library system continues to set an international standard and I am supportive of all the ways that City Council can encourage the maintenance of that standard.
Safety in our Neighbourhoods
I was recently the City of Calgary’s delegate to the International Centre for Crime Prevention’s Annual Conference http://www.crime-prevention-intl.org/. I came away from that conference with the realization that we’re not lagging behind other cities in crime prevention initiatives. Many Canadian cities are struggling with this issue and reporting skyrocketing costs in combating crime and this is a real concern for Calgary as well.
In 2005 I initiated a crime prevention plan at the animal/bylaw services level, which Council adopted. It is community-driven and sets goals in terms of crime prevention, but has the benefit of building community relations as well, since the program requires that neighbours come together to protect their shared interests. I have long been a proponent of focusing on crime prevention, beyond pursuing perpetrators where crimes have already happened.
Prevention represents only a tiny proportion of the overall policing budget and tabulating what we’re actually spending on prevention would help us make some useful inroads in combating crime.
The City puts a lot of resources and money into crime prevention, but through many different channels and I would really like to see more coordination and a means of benchmarking expenses to keep track and to tackle crime prevention as efficiently and intelligently as possible. I firmly believe that whatever investments we make in crime prevention programs soften the expense of combating crime in the future. I think it’s a smart way to save costs and build community in the long term.
Social justice issues are not always easy to promote in Calgary, and sometimes it feels like swimming against the tide, but I am confident that those challenging efforts have yielded some excellent results and will continue to do so.
I am fortunate to represent a Ward I am deeply committed to in a city the potential of which I believe in. I believe we have to keep getting better together and that by sharing ideas and passionately endorsing the things that are important to us, positive change will result. I’d like to hear from you if you have thoughts to share with me. You can write to me at: joe.ceci@calgary.ca
Leading by Example – The Greening of Calgary, February 2010
I believe that as a local politician, one of my key responsibilities is to think about our civic future and to have a vision of where we are headed as a city. On a city-wide level, this is what City Council should be doing: acting in the present to move us into the future, and in many ways I am pleased with decisions made and action taken by City Council in terms of an environmentally sustainable future. I’d like to identify some of the many excellent initiatives going on in the city which I think are very constructive toward a future that will provide us a sustainable city with a high quality of life for all Calgarians into the future. There are also areas where we have lots of ground yet to cover in terms of building toward the kind of shared future, and I have some thoughts on those areas too.
– In December, 2009, the eyes of the world were on Copenhagen as international leaders came together to discuss climate change and to work toward shared targets in reducing the carbon emissions which are responsible for global warming. While Alberta gets a lot of critical attention as a fossil fuel producer, many Calgarians probably don’t realize how committed to sustainability the City of Calgary is and what kind of respect the city has earned around the world for showing green initiative. Mayor Bronconnier went to Copenhagen to participate in the by-invitation-only mayoral climate change talks which took place at the same time as the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change.
Calgary was recognized as a city which is showing leadership on green matters and was cited for its commitment to electricity from wind farms to power the C-Train system and all municipal operations. In 1990, Calgary set the target of reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by 2012, and we are already well ahead of schedule on reaching that target. I think it’s really important that the City demonstrate leadership on good green initiatives and I am certainly a member of the ‘green guard’ on Council.
I was very supportive of innovative initiatives like Enmax’s project to capture methane from city dumps to generate power; to make the switch to bio-diesel to power fire trucks in the city, and to look hard at dirty city properties and clean them up. About eight years ago the City instituted a triple bottom line policy which means that no matter what we are looking at implementing, we examine the economic, social and environmental implications and must be satisfied with the cost of the project on all three levels before it goes ahead.
As an alderman in this city, I’m proud that we set such a high environmental standard for ourselves long before many cities in North America were even thinking of the environmental cost of municipal decisions and projects. With respect to the daily lives of Calgarians, I think that momentum in making sustainable choices can only be maintained where green choices are available and convenient. Attitudes in Calgary are changing, but there is no question that we’re behind cities like Vancouver on this issue, where there’s a whole network of dedicated bike lanes and so on. Comparatively, we’re just beginning, and there are many improvements to be made – from transit routes to cycling and walking infrastructure – but I believe that more sustainable means of commuting is Calgary’s future and we’re on our way.
With 25% of Calgarians now commuting to work by sustainable means (bike, bus or by foot), it’s important that we encourage the growth of this trend by ensuring that sustainable options are available to all Calgarians. Calgary Transit is a big part of that equation. The future I would wish for public transit in Calgary is for us to commit the necessary resources to improving the service in every possible way. A city that wishes to affect climate change must show a commitment to public transit, so that is what we must do. There are additional benefits, obviously, insofar as an efficient public transit system improves the quality of life of residents by decreasing road congestion and air pollution. I certainly think the City has done enough and spent enough in terms of road improvements and we should be finding efficiencies and improving usage with existing road infrastructure, and focus our attention and future funding on public transit and sustainable means of transportation.
The City is continually thinking of ways to encourage Calgarians to think green on a neighbourhood level too, and the Community Footprint Program Action Plan, initiated a year ago and co-funded by the City and corporate sponsors, is one initiative that enables neighbourhoods to get greener together. The program was conceived to assist Calgarians in becoming more aware of the decisions they make which affect the environment. Community groups are encouraged to submit action plan proposals to help lessen our footprint. I heartily encourage communities to apply with any good eco footprint reducing ideas. Two examples of neigbourhood-driven projects in Ward 9 are the rainbarrel sale in Inglewood, which seeks to educate residents about using rainbarrels efficiently and obviously has a positive impact upon reducing the use of tap water for watering, and Bridgeland’s Harvest Festival and Green your Routine project which involved a community bike tune-up clinic followed by a neighbourhood-wide garbage pick-up and a harvest festival where organic, Calgary-sourced food was served. The Community Footprint Program Action Plan is an initiative which not only increases awareness on environmental issues, but builds community by getting residents from the same neighbourhoods to come together to learn, to think, to celebrate and to implement projects which make a positive impact locally.
On an organizational and individual level, I am always looking for ways to green my routine. While bottled water is provided in City Hall, in my office and among my staff we do not consume bottled water. We drink exclusively Calgary tap water. I take transit to work once or twice a week, take transit within Ward 9 and in summer I bike to work as much as possible. I run on the pathways near my house, and walk to my local swimming pool rather than driving somewhere to exercise. I compost and recycle at home, and City Hall has even implemented a composting program in the Aldermanic office kitchen. At work I have learned to use electronic agendas rather than wasting paper. I think it’s important that the City continue to lead innovatively toward an environmentally sustainable future for Calgary. I am proud to be an alderman in a city which is showing leadership internationally by actively seeking out environmentally progressive initiatives and finding ways to implement them.
There remain all kinds of things we can be doing on our own and in our communities to make Calgary greener. I will be Calgary’s delegate to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Sustainable Communities Conference this month, and I am looking forward to sharing some of Calgary’s winning ideas with other cities, and expect to come back from Ottawa full of ideas from other municipalities which Calgary could implement successfully.
And, of course Thursday April 22, 2010 is my third annual Earth Day 22-minute-cleanup with Joe’s Clean Team and Eartha our mascot. I encourage citizens to put a clean team together; with your neighbours, work colleagues, classmates or simply walking outside and picking up litter. We can help with supplies and I am visiting teams and schools who are participating. Email clward9@calgary.ca or call 403-268-5330 if you’d like to contribute.
The Year Ahead, October 2009
Most Calgarians have some notion of what City Council does, of course, but this month I wanted to give you my own thoughts on what we do, where we’re improving, and what we have yet to do. I also want to give you some idea of my responsibilities and goals as an Alderman.
The Day to Day
I work on City Council business from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, and usually attend and speak at related engagements at least two evenings a week, as well as two or three events on weekends. I meet weekly with my Executive Assistant and my Community Liaison Coordinator to discuss requests for participation in events that have come in. These can be everything from playground openings to visiting seniors’ housing. I try to support all the things which are relevant to the 13 communities of Ward 9.
Constituent work
Also on a daily basis, I advocate on behalf of constituents who are experiencing problems with the City and its related services. In a constructive way, I try to use these problems as opportunities to learn about the experiences of people in my ward, and also to better understand City departments. I work to remove obstacles where possible and seek solutions together. My goal is to build relationships and consensus with city officials and employees to help make things happen which are in the best interest of Ward 9 and the city as a whole.
Public Hearings and Committee Work
While the public takes a keen interest in some major decisions – and the recent ‘Plan It’ Council Public Hearings were a great example of public engagement in the future of our city – many of the matters Council attends to involve the details of running the city and are of limited interest to the public at large. That isn’t to say they’re not important, but the majority of Calgarians want to know how their taxes are being spent, and what things may be affecting their quality of life in their communities. So it is my responsibility to participate these meetings and represent Ward 9 within the context of the City as a whole. In addition to Council meetings, I sit on two Standing Policy Committees, two special committees and numerous other committees, boards and initiatives. A full list can be found at http://joececi.ca/blog/about/
Council and the Media
Often times, the media picks sides and profits from sensationalizing discord, so a lot of Council energy is spent on trying to set the record straight and combating misrepresentations or deliberate efforts by the media to pit members of Council against one another. Needless to say, this is anything but productive, and unfortunately the situation is likely to escalate as the next election approaches, and people are jockeying for media attention. I think it’s important to keep party issues out of civic affairs, and I hope that is what we are able to do this year in Council. It’s also important to note that despite very critical local press, Calgary has a very productive City Council by any standard. It is financially sound, consistently having a AA rating on an international scale of fiscal responsibility. Outside Calgary, the city is viewed as a very high-functioning city, where there is tremendous opportunity and a great quality of life. I would very much like to see Council come to some tacit agreement, without the competitive interaction of seeking media attention, to work together productively for the best interest of Calgary and Calgarians.
Great Things Going On
When all is said and done, that’s what interests me, and that’s what I perceive Council’s job to be: to make Calgary the best it can be. On that score, I think we have a great deal to be proud of, because lots of things are going on simultaneously which I think are incredibly positive. To name just a few: the movement into recycling, and embracing of arts infrastructure and culture, like the creation of the Cantos National Music Centre and the Mount Royal College Conservatory. Also, the East Village Redevelopment is finally happening under this Council after two generations of failure to do anything to improve it. The City has also embraced more green infrastructure (the Water Centre on Manchester Road being but one example), and has a very capable and professional city staff. The city’s utilities company, Enmax, is strong with good dividends that enable the city to do progressive and forward thinking projects like Legacy Parks.
Into the Future
I believe even greater things are in store for Calgary and Calgarians. I foresee the development towards a greater inter-dependence with our regional partners – that is the 19 or so other municipalities who are our neighbours. I expect regional services, which preserve everybody’s quality of life, will see us working together more cohesively. I anticipate water, waste water, transportation and protective services becoming more of a regional concern, and I am committed to a collective effort to manage these things well into the future. Peering into the future within the city of Calgary, I think major road corridors will act as local, mixed use (living, business, employment) centres and a greater diversity of services and amenities will be spread around, rather than being localized downtown. I think there will be more density, and more transit-oriented development. There will be more places where you can purchase the goods and services you need within walking or biking distance from your home.
The coming year
Shepherding in these changes will demand foresight and openness, constructive debate and public consultation. Anticipating and paving the way for those processes is what I perceive City Council’s responsibility to be, and it is my intention to be a positive force in that process.
An Alderman’s On-going Apprenticeship – September, 2009
Summer has drawn to a close, and I’m rolling up my sleeves to get back to work after a bit of a break. I also like to visit other cities to get inspired with ideas for how to manage our city better. Over the summer, my wife and I took our holidays in Iceland, which offered the rich experience of seeing one of the world’s oldest democracies in action, and allowed us to witness how the country is coping with their financial crisis. I also wanted to see how the country operates geothermally, without reliance on gas and oil for heating homes and institutions. On previous vacations, we have visited cities like Madrid, Washington and Lisbon, all of which inspired me to think differently about the benefits of density. In those great cities, people are living densely, happily and making good use of efficient and viable public transportation systems. Iceland inspired me with its great national focus on infrastructure, and all the public art to be seen all over the country. You can read more about it at http://www.secalgarynews.com/homepage/two-weeks-in-iceland-with-ward-9-alderman-joe-ceci/
Beyond my duties as Alderman of Ward 9 in the City of Calgary, I’m involved with formal organizations and informal groups which serve as part of my on-going education as an Alderman. I’m always interested to learn about initiatives that might inform my work as Alderman, and also to see what other cities and towns are doing well (or poorly) to learn from those experiences. That is why I am involved with the following organizations: The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is a national organization that represents the interests of member municipalities on policy and program matters that fall within federal jurisdiction. It’s a way that cities and towns can come together and deal collectively with the federal government on matters that affect us all. The FCM has over 1,775 member municipalities, which is a huge wealth of experience and knowledge to draw upon.
My colleagues on Council have voted for me as Calgary’s representative to the FCM nationally since 2005. On September 12th, I will be attending the meeting of the FCM’s Social Economic Development Committee in Collingwood, Ontario. I am Vice Chair of this Committee, which meets four times a year. At our November meeting, members of the committee go to Parliament Hill, where we have meetings scheduled with ministers whom we wish to lobby on certain issues. Mayor Bronconnier is a part of the Big City’s Mayors Caucus, and together the Mayor and I bring important local issues to the national stage. We also learn things from other municipalities, and try to bring worthwhile ideas to Calgary. Without concrete examples, this all sounds very abstract, so I will highlight a couple. One matter recently successfully lobbied on Parliament Hill by the FCM was the idea of a fairer distribution of federal resources designated for immigrants. Integrating new Canadians costs money, and historically federal monies were allocated to whichever Canadian city received the immigrant. Overwhelmingly, that city was Toronto, but much of the time those immigrants did not stay in Toronto, but moved on to somewhere else where they would still require resources, but where resources were not funded from federal coffers. The FCM successfully lobbied the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to address this issue and now we are closer than we have ever been to see those allocated monies follow the immigrant to wherever he or she settles. This issue was particularly relevant for Calgary, which has attracted a steady flow of new immigrants, owing to a more buoyant job market than many other parts of the country. My background in Social Work informs my understanding of the importance of offering good support and resources to new immigrants. Having worked with immigrant populations, I know the challenges they face, and I am interested in pursuing the avenues available to Calgary’s City Council to make their ride less bumpy and immigrant integration most comprehensive.
To be able to be a part of the FCM initiative to equitably spread around immigrant resource money was important to me in view of my past experience and knowledge of immigrant communities. Inspired by FCM members who banned plastic water bottles in civic buildings as a step toward eliminating waste and making their cities greener, we tried to get a motion passed by Calgary City Council to do the same here. That motion was not successful, but I believe its time is coming. Calgary has taken steps to effect a pesticide use bylaw, which was inspired by the cities of Hudson, Quebec, and Toronto, Ontario, where non-essential pesticide use had been successfully eliminated. By following other cities’ leads, we have a blueprint to follow and can plan realistically with respect to timeframe and cost.
Another issue successfully lobbied by the FCM was the gas tax as part of the New Deal for Cities. The gas tax requires that 1% of federal tax revenues on gas earned in every province be returned to the municipalities to be used on public transportation. This is a boon to Canadian cities, not least Calgary, and another example of an idea which never would have gotten off the ground without the collective lobbying strength of the FCM. I believe that membership in the FCM and my involvement with the Social Economic Development Committee is a really valuable way for the City of Calgary to pool knowledge with other cities and to share ideas and avoid re-inventing the wheel every time we address something new. The Family and Community Support Services Association of Alberta
(FCSSAA) is another organization I am involved with at the provincial level because I think the work the FCSSAA does is so incredibly valuable to Calgary and Calgarians. I got to know about the FCSSAA as a Social Worker, and was immediately impressed with how forward-looking and effective the organization’s approach to preventative social services was. Since 1995, I have been the City of Calgary’s representative to the FCSSAA. For 14 of those years, I have served on the FCSSAA’s executive, including a five-year stint as president. The FCSSAA is a volunteer-driven organization that supports the operations of social agencies not financed by federal, provincial or municipal monies. As a Social Worker, I can tell you that that is code for ‘the things that normally fall through the cracks.’ The FCSSAA funds 300 programs across the province, and is the only organization of its kind in Canada. Calgary’s FCSS Program annually gives out about $28 million to dozens of Calgary agencies to support a wide range of programs – everything from CUPS’ Outreach & Housing Program, to the Boys & Girls Clubs, to the Bridge Foundation for Immigrant Youth (called the Bridge Foundation for short).
These programs offer support that is necessary for people who are often the most desperate of our communities, as well as services – like counselling – which all kinds of people in Calgary need at various times in their lives. As an Alderman serving a ward with a lot of disenfranchised residents, I wholeheartedly support the FCSSAA’s work because it supports the ability of municipalities across Alberta to provide the many services people in my ward need. Beyond helping make sure so many worthy programs are funded, part of the FCSSAA’s role is also to lobby for more provincial dollars toward these programs. Last year the FCSSAA board went together to see MLAs to lobby them not to scale back their commitment to social services in view of the economic downturn. That’s the kind of lobbying work that social service agencies do not have the money, resources or time to do on their own, so it is wonderful that the FCSSAA exists as a collective voice for preventative social services in the province. The FCSSAA is deeply committed to social infrastructure: that system of social services, networks and facilities that support people and communities. Like any other kind of infrastructure, social infrastructure needs regular upkeep, and I am very engaged with the FCSSAA because I want to keep social infrastructure at the forefront of the Calgary City Council agenda.
Beyond the FCM and the FCSSAA, I also serve on the boards of the Calgary Public Library, and the Calgary Housing Company. I have taken on these commitments because I think it is absolutely critical that we have really good libraries, and I also think it is of utmost importance that we help to find housing for Calgarians who need that help. Ward 9 is a ward with a lot of social housing in it, and I am always pushing for better housing, housing maintenance and supports. The Calgary Housing Corp. is another forum where I can do that effectively. It is certainly my experience that ‘an Alderman’s work is never done.’ There is so much to be continually learning about how to build a better city, and how to integrate innovative ideas from other places to that end. Running a city well demands an understanding of the huge, inter-connected web of independent organizations operating at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, and becoming involved with them. I have identified the organizations I respect and admire, and which I think offer me the most scope to make a difference for Calgary and Ward 9 specifically. There is plenty of difference yet to be made, and I aim to continue to look for inspiration and opportunity to do just that.
What Makes Communities Strong – July, 2009
I’ve been privileged, this spring, to attend neighbourhood clean-ups in Ward 9; in Renfrew, Inglewood, Fairview, Dover, Southview, Millican-Ogden, Ramsay. In the coming months I’ll be playing my part in the Bridgeland/Riverside, Erin Woods and Forest Lawn clean-ups. On these occasions, I am always inspired by the community spirit demonstrated. While all these neighbourhoods are different, the thing that has struck me is how residents of all of these neighbourhoods demonstrate their commitment by coming out in impressive numbers, ready to work to make where they live better. Where people rouse themselves on a Saturday morning to go pick up garbage, help move out old appliances, navigate back alleys to pick up refuse… in brief get dirty and work hard for no pay toward the collective end of cleaning up their communities… it can’t be anything but inspiring to see. Beyond the tangible cleanliness benefit, I’ve also seen the social benefit neighbourhood clean-ups bring. In contemporary urban society, we don’t have barn-raisings or help one another harvest anymore, but that doesn’t mean that the appetite for collective, constructive projects is gone. I firmly believe that people actually want to be doing worthwhile things for their collective good, and these are what bring communities closer together. Another project I watched come to fruition in my own neighbourhood of Inglewood in the last month, was the renewal of the Nellie Breen Park. Again, a committed group of local residents put their heads and energies together and worked with the city to plan and build a state-of-the-art playground and gazebo to replace a dated playground. 
At the public party to celebrate the project’s completion, hundreds of neighbours came out to delight in the realization of their vision for the renewed park. My involvement with the project, and seeing the park filled with the people who had made it happen, made me feel very much a part of my own community. We did something worthwhile together, and lasting friendships and associations were forged, and those are the ties that bind a community.
Ward 9 Community Volunteers make it happen
I mentioned the Inglewood playground opening, and I have also been at playground openings recently in Renfrew, Winston Heights Mountview, and Dover, and soon there’ll be another one in Bridgeland Riverside. Ward 9 communities are also getting involved in community gardens, community environmental action projects and storm water rain garden projects with the City. Again, these projects are successful thanks to the dedication and efforts of residents and volunteers in those communities who get the ball rolling and see them through.
Ward 9 Summer Student
This summer Ward 9 was able to qualify for federal funding to hire a summer student to help advance Ward 9 community projects. As of June 15, Jessie Frilley will be part of the Ward 9 team, and will be out working in your communities between August 10 and August 24. If you have an idea or project that could use support, please call or email me at 403-268-2430 or joe.ceci@calgary.ca. And visit www.joececi.ca for regular updates, reports from City Hall and ways to get involved. Thank you. Mark your calendars for the annual Forest Lawn Outdoor Pool event, Thursday July 16 from 4 – 6 pm hosted by the East Calgary politicians – all welcome.
‘Plan It’ Calgary, June, 2009
As we know, Calgary has changed considerably since the mid 1990s, when the last City Transportation and Municipal Development Plans were developed. Unprecedented population growth, the need for better service provision and the new growth and added demands we know are coming all require a more enlightened planning vision for the future. In response, City Council called for a visionary plan which, for the first time, would connect the Transportation and the Municipal Development Plan so we could respond in better ways to growth and demands now and in the future. The resulting Plan is called ‘Plan It’ Calgary. It takes a long-range view of the next 60 to 70 years and recommends improvements that can be achieved in gradual increments.
In mid-June, ‘Plan It’ will come before Council for approval and I will be supporting it because I believe it is a blueprint for the best direction forward for our city. We know that many of Calgary’s current growth trends are unsustainable. We have a history of urban sprawl that we are under increasing pressure to redress for cost and environmental impact reasons. We know that new developments on the city’s outer edges eat up arable land and don’t currently pay their way in terms of the real costs of building the infrastructure they depend upon. ‘Plan It’ will address this imbalance and ensure efficient use of tax dollars for everyone. We know that energy costs will continue to increase, and we need to provide more transportation choices in order to keep people moving around the city efficiently in the coming century. The provision of convenient public transportation between the places we live, work and recreate are the essence of a liveable city, and one of the aims of ‘Plan It’. I believe that if we don’t look at our preferred future together and take steps to get there, we’re at risk of not getting anywhere. I think ‘Plan It’ will help us head in the right direction together. We stand to learn some vital lessons from other cities. While Calgary has a footprint about the size of New York City, it has one tenth of the population. The low density of people means we use more land and we use it inefficiently. If the current trend of turning the rich agriculture land of southern Alberta into residential development continues, we will end up with no farms and no open spaces in an area of urban sprawl that stretches from Canmore to Strathmore and from Airdrie to High River. We need to start planning now to make sure that doesn’t happen.
‘Plan It’ meshes nicely with the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), which looks 60-70 years into the future of Calgary and 19 surrounding municipalities. The CRP considers what we want for our region down the road, and how we will collectively manage things like development and, very importantly, water use. I believe that if the City of Calgary does not set standards for sustainability and hold to them, then we are sending a message to our CRP partners that this is not a priority. That would undermine the efforts of our neighbouring municipalities to curb their own sprawl. We are interdependent and it is absolutely vital that we work together to achieve the future that we all want.
Central Vancouver is an inspiration to me in terms of urban planning that targets intensification, but creates urban environments that are livable and beautiful. The False Creek development in Vancouver took unused industrial areas and built an attractive and richly diversified mix of residential, commercial and recreational spaces that will be showcased as Olympic Village during the 2010 games. At the other end of the spectrum is a city like Houston, where an absence of planning guidelines has resulted in a development situation where anything can be built in any way provided the money is in place. That is not the kind of city the imagine CALGARY public consultations indicated most Calgarians want. I believe that good guidelines fulfill a collective vision and show that we care about our city. They are crucial in making Calgary a better place to live.
Parts of Toronto are also very well conceived with regard to density of construction and location of public transportation nodes. In Toronto, there are places like Bloor and Lawrence where people can live, work, and have fun with ease of mobility thanks to good public transportation options. That’s what Calgary developments like the Bridges near the Bridgeland LRT station are achieving, and what future developments around Brentwood LRT, Northhill Mall, Heritage and Chinook LRT stations also aspire to. Calgary developments like Garrison Woods and Mackenzie Towne have won planning awards because they are so aesthetically pleasing while, at the same time, show the utmost respect for sustainability and for residents’ transportation priorities. Communities where people can live, work and shop in their own neighbourhoods without depending only upon a car to get around are the kinds of communities we should be building more of. While Calgary has long subscribed to the idea of the single-family dwelling as the housing of first choice, we are maturing as a city and maturing means that we value flexibility and can accommodate diverse living arrangements. We know that not all Calgarians aspire to the single-family suburban model and that people don’t want the same type of housing in every phase of their lives. A viable range of affordable options, from bachelor apartments, to townhouses, to housing cooperatives needs to be added to the housing mix to provide all Calgarians with choice. We cannot lag behind other municipalities. We need to take steps now to achieve the effective diversity we see in other cities.
‘Plan It’ has been lauded by urban planners elsewhere for its tandem vision for municipal development and transportation planning. By thinking ahead ‘Plan It’ allows the Transportation Plan to undergird development rather than forcing us to repeatedly play costly catch-up after the fact. I think this is a very positive and necessary shift over time away from the status quo. The success of ‘Plan It’ requires that we all be open-minded, flexible and most of all, optimistic about the city we are becoming. I, for one, foresee great things for Calgary.
In consultation with the public, City Council directed that ‘Plan It’ Calgary be based on the following sustainability principles for land use and mobility:
Principle 1: Create a range of housing opportunities and choices.
Principle 2: Create walkable environments.
Principle 3: Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place.
Principle 4: Provide a variety of transportation options.
Principle 5: Preserve open space, agricultural land, natural beauty and critical environmental areas.
Principle 6: Mixed-land uses.
Principle 7: Strategically direct and manage redevelopment opportunities within existing areas.
Principle 8: Support compact development.
Principle 9: Connect people, goods and services locally, regionally and globally.
Principle 10: Provide transportation services in a safe, effective, affordable and efficient manner that ensures reasonable accessibility to all areas of the city for all citizens.
Principle 11: Utilize green infrastructure and buildings.
Calgary’s Big Four Planning Priorities for the 21st Century: Environmental, Social, Economic and Fiscal benefits
The urban form and transportation systems of the city have a strong impact on Calgary’s social, environmental and economic wellbeing. A more compact, mixed-use urban form outlined in the Key Directions provides the following benefits: Environmental benefits: reducing Calgary’s ecological footprint, protecting the quality of Calgary’s water resources, reducing energy use and the rate of climate change and ensuring land stewardship and protection through more efficient use of land. Social benefits: creating a more inclusive city by providing a wider range of housing types in more communities, allowing citizens to find affordable housing choices within their communities throughout all stages of their lives and supplying more jobs and services closer to where people live to strengthen neighbourhoods and social connectivity. Economic benefits: creating greater housing choice and better transportation options to aid local businesses with employee attraction and retention, facilitating the movement of goods and services through roads planning and providing a greater variety of locations for commercial and retail land development serviced by a higher order of transit as well as roads. Fiscal benefits: greater optimization of infrastructure; density, location of development and mixed uses influence the cost of providing services; compact urban development results in lower infrastructure, capital and operating costs. You can learn more about Plan It by visiting www.calgary.ca/planit or by calling 3-1-1.
Stamping out Crime… and Grime May, 2009
From talking with residents of Ward 9, I know that there is a widespread perception that crime is on the increase in Calgary. The fact that our city is continually growing does, unfortunately, mean that crime is growing too. It is certainly the case that some communities of Ward 9 have experienced significant spikes in crime, and this is of great concern to me. I have always firmly believed that the police have an important role to play in pursuing criminals, but that community development and cohesion are at the core of all successful crime deterrence programs. Where there are many eyes on our streets, and neighbours are saying hello to one another, crime does not gain a foothold. I am participating in two community initiatives to address crime: 12 Communities Safety Initiative (12-CSI) which focuses on relevant approaches to making wards 9 and 10 safer, and the Tri-Ward Meeting, which involves Wards 7, 8 and 9 and focuses on cooperation with policing efforts in the downtown. Both groups are composed of community and block watch leaders, police and political leaders who are committed to the belief that by sharing information and building community networks, neighbourhoods become inhospitable to crime and actively deter it. Keeping our neighbourhoods clean and not tolerating garbage or bylaw violations is another important means of demonstrating that we care about our communities. Most Ward 9 neighbourhoods hold spring clean-ups, so watch for them and get involved. On Earth Day, April 22nd, I invite all of you to go out into your streets with your fellow residents, and spend 22 minutes picking up garbage. I’ll be roaming around Ward 9 neighbourhoods all day doing just that. I firmly believe that by taking pride in our communities and by being out and about in our streets, we make our communities safer.
Gangs in Calgary, April 2009
As Alderman for Ward 9, I am concerned about youth, and particularly those youth most susceptible to falling for the attractions of gang activity. We know that gangs are a growing problem which many Canadian cities are struggling to address right now, and unfortunately, Calgary is no exception. My views on this matter as an Alderman, are necessarily influenced by my background as a social worker. While I fully endorse law enforcement and think that it is crucial that the police continue to track, monitor, investigate and apprehend gang members involved in criminal activity, I also know that intervening before vulnerable youth get involved with gang life in the first place is the most effective long-term means of stopping gangs. While I understand and share the wish to see gangs disappear from our streets immediately, this is not something that can be legislated or enforced into place. We must continue to police, of course, but to actually prevent gangs from gaining a foothold among youth is where we can really have an impact. When vulnerable youth are helped to build positive self-images, gain skills, and envision a future full of promise for themselves, the empty promises of gang life hold no appeal. This, I firmly believe, is where we have to begin. City Council recently unanimously supported an initiative called ‘Critical Hours’ which seeks to keep vulnerable pre-adolescents and adolescents occupied with constructive activities between 3 & 6 pm when they might otherwise be unsupervised and inclined to get involved with activities and people better avoided. That’s just one thing the City is doing, but there are a lot of things we can all do. We can all get involved with young people. Even getting involved with one young person in your community makes a difference.
- Joe visits Langevin School at Centenary Park
It Takes A Whole Village To Raise A Teenager
Being involved in our communities, and interacting with our neighbours of all ages, is what makes communities strong. Where youth in our communities do not have a means of validating themselves constructively, they can become susceptible to seeking status and acceptance by negative means. We can all have very powerful, positive impacts on one another, and there are countless opportunities to develop connections with young people. Ward 9 is home to a host of agencies, clubs and organizations that work with youth. If you are able to make a volunteer commitment of a couple of hours a week, these are some available opportunities:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary: http://www.calgaryboysandgirlsclub.ca
Scouts, cubs and beavers for boys: http://www.scouts.ca
Guides, brownies and sprites for girls: http://www.girlguides.ca
Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Calgary: http://www.bbbscalgary.com
‘Read With Me’, Calgary Public Library: http://www.calgarypubliclibrary.com
Volunteering with immigrant youth: http://www.calgarybridgefoundation.com
Calgary Child and Youth Friendly: http://www.cyfc.ca/
General opportunities: http://www.volunteercalgary.ab.ca
What the Calgary Police Service is doing The Calgary Police Service’s Youth At Risk Development (Y.A.R.D.) Unit is dedicated to combatting gang activity. Y.A.R.D.’s website can tell you more about what the police are doing to stem gang activity in Calgary, and what you can do if you think a youth close to you is in danger of becoming involved with a gang. The website also offers individuals an opportunity to share any information about gangs operating in your neighbourhood with police. The website is: www.getalife.ca
What is ‘Critical Hours’?
‘Critical Hours’ is a program supported by the City of Calgary and implemented through the City’s Community & Neighbourhood Services along with local partners. The goal of the program is to constructively occupy youth during the after school hours, before their parents get home. The program will provide youth with structured activities that help them develop skills and confidence (activities ranging from bike repair to hip hop dancing, soccer, music, theatre, and visual arts) during hours when they would otherwise be unsupervised. To read the City’s briefing on ‘Critical Hours’ go to: http://www.calgary.ca/criticalhours I welcome your comments and feedback, email me at joe.ceci@calgary.ca
Pedestrian Bridges on the Bow River, March 2009
While many people have shared their delight about the project with me, others have been critical of this decision on the basis of cost and timing. I stand behind Council’s approval and this is why…
How Much?
The City of Calgary has approved a budget of $25 million for the plans for two pedestrian bridges and the construction of one. The bridge built by the City of Calgary will span the Bow River just west of Prince’s Island. The second bridge, near the Zoo, just west of St George’s Island, will be built at a later date, at the expense of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC).
Where is the money coming from?
As to the question of where the funding will come from, the provincial government’s ten-year funding initiative – the Municipal Sustainability Initiative – will cover the entire cost of the project. Planning will begin in 2009, and construction of the first bridge will be begun in 2010 and completed in 2011.
What does is really cost?
Some misinformation has circulated with respect to realistic costs of building a pedestrian bridge. While the City’s most recently constructed pedestrian road overpasses might have cost as little as $5 million to build, research conducted by City Administration indicates that building a basic pedestrian bridge over the Bow River would cost approximately $18 million. The expenditure of an additional $6 million will produce a bridge that will be beyond functional, and will make a beautiful, unique, lasting addition to the city.
London’s Millennium Bridge cost the equivalent of $42.8 million. That bridge has become a much-used and much-admired signature piece of architecture in Central London.
As a comparison, the Glenmore Trail/Elbow Drive interchange cost $110 million of the City’s budget to build.
Sustainable – more than a buzz word
Infrastructure decisions made by the City are considered carefully and strategically planned over a ten-year cycle, with biannual reviews. The City’s Transportation Infrastructure Investment Plan (TIIP) was carefully formulated on the basis of priorities established by Council, and reinforced by the City’s annual citizenship review??. Among those priorities was support for sustainable transportation options for Calgarians. The most sustainable forms of transportation are walking and cycling. With more people using their own power, we have fewer emissions, less pollution, and less congestion on our roads. By investing in the infrastructure to enable walking and cycling as both leisure activities and a means of commuting, we take Calgary one step closer to sustainability. And we know this is increasingly more important.
But in a recession?
Some constituents have phoned to tell me that because of current economic uncertainty, this is not the time to spend money beyond what is absolutely necessary. I believe that the pedestrian bridges are necessary. Approximately 17,000 people use downtown pedestrian bridges daily and that number is expected to increase significantly over the coming years. As well, recessions can be very good times to pursue capital projects because not only does the cost of materials often drop, but capital projects also create jobs.
Recessions can be very good times to pursue capital projects because the cost of materials often drops and in a climate of increasing unemployment, capital projects provide employment for many people. The construction of the Hoover Dam is an example of a massive capital project that was begun at the beginning of the Great Depression, and provided hundreds of jobs to people who would very probably been without work otherwise. For these reasons, I think the timing of this project is excellent.
For these reasons, I think the timing of this project is excellent. There is every likelihood that we will be facing a very different economic reality in 2011 and will be pleased to have a stunning new bridge over the Bow River.
And what about the Architect?
The Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava has been commissioned to design the bridges. City Council gave the administration the brief of identifying the architect who would give the city the best pedestrian bridge possible, and following exhaustive research, Calatrava’s name consistently came up as the top choice. Some people have taken exception to the fact that local architects weren’t considered as candidates for the contract, and this is no slight on local architects. We wanted to commission something beautiful from the very best pedestrian bridge architect we could find, and he happens to be Spanish. Calatrava will receive 10% of the total project budget for his services. Stantec, a local firm will work as technical consultants with Calatrava, all of which will provide very valuable experience and employment to local talent. The construction of the bridge will be put to tender later this year or early next year.
As to the question of a design competition, administering a design competition is a long and logistically challenging undertaking, which would have had a hefty price tag itself. The City Council entrusts City employees, who are experts in their field, to research and ultimately execute Council’s decisions, and I am confident of the knowledge and judgment of those experts who recommended Calatrava as the very best possible choice for this project.
See http://www.calatrava.com/ for more information
How does this benefit Ward 9?
As your Alderman, I represent 13 communities as far-reaching as Erin Woods to the east, Winston Heights/Mountview to the north, and Milligan/Ogden to the south and many industrial areas — all covering a vast amount of road networks. I must balance the need for effective roadways with the call for pedestrian and bicycle pathways. While many Calgarians might prefer to see this money not spent at all, or spent on road infrastructure, as political leaders we sometimes have to make unpopular decisions because they are in the long-term interest of our city.
