Just after closing out the last council’s multi-year budget, Calgary’s new city council is getting the ball rolling on setting their priorities for the next four years.
Calgarian Jordan Brown uses transit to get around the city. It’s why she hopes Calgary’s new council will focus on building up the system in its four-year plan.
“I think just being a younger person and having not as much access to different paths of travel so cars trucks all the other stuff,” she said. “Just being able to move within the city is something important to younger people.”
Others like Susanne Bechtold, hope this council focuses more on addressing homelessness.
“We should not have homelessness, it’s that simple,” she said. “Everybody should have enough money to be able to have a job and to look after themselves and their families.”
And she’s not alone; city administration says safety and infrastructure remain top priorities among Calgarians, but homelessness and growth and planning are becoming pressing issues among residents this year compared to 2021.
This information came to council as it looked over the previous council priorities and was provided information to help inform their direction for the next four years.
“It’s kind of like a high school group project,” said Ward 8 Coun. Nathaniel Schmidt.
VO: As they gear up to start that process, some councillors already have an idea of some changes they’d like to see.
“$40 million for downtown office conversions I think we should wind that down and I think the private sector should be doing more of that,” said Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean. “There’s a lot of money embedded in our climate change initiatives that I think should be wound down.”
The mayor says there are shared priorities on this new council including affordability, safety and housing that can help guide them into a new four-year plan.
Administration says it will be touching base with members of council early next year to get a sense of their priorities.
“It’s very clear that the direction of the previous mayor and council wasn’t exactly on point when it came to the priorities of Calgarians,” said Mayor Jeromy Farkas.