Mayoral Responses
Responses are presented in alphabetical order by candidate last name and include all responses received as of Oct 5, 2010. We will continue to upload additional responses as time allows.
Burrows, Craig
1. Do you support a long-term lease for Race City as a track and advanced driving facility in Calgary?
Yes.
2. Does the city have a responsibility to play a role in preserving heritage sites? If so, what role?
Preserving heritage sites is a critical role for the city, one it has not taken seriously enough in the past. The fact is there are no sandstone buildings being built in Calgary anymore and it’s very important we keep all buildings of any historic value around as they give our city much-needed character and will remind our grandchildren how our grandparents lived. Council’s role should be to make sure no heritage building is ever demolished again, and while city ownership of those sites should be avoided if possible, the city should actively ensure new owners can be found and to make sure they are not hindered in setting up a business in them where they can sustain the business in them.
3. What strategies do you have to create more pedestrian and bicycle-oriented infrastructure?
Every new development should include ample space for people to ride bikes and walk. Existing communities should be encouraged through tax incentives to provide such spaces where there is a demand for them. (Take a look at our Green Plan on Modal Splits)
4. Do you support urban farming, including urban chickens?
Undecided. We need more information on both sides of the issue. This is an issue for Ward Alderman to investigate.
5. What have you done to address homelessness and urban poverty in Calgary? What will you do?
Please look at my Affordable Housing Plan on website. Building towers downtown could be very expensive. Better to support secondary suites around TODs before building new downtown units. Remember, we don’t have a housing problem in Calgary, we have an affordability problem.
6. Is urban sprawl a problem for Calgary. If so, what have you done? What will you do about it?
Urban sprawl is a problem, yes. I support the increasing densification of housing in Calgary through policies that encourage developers to put more homes on smaller lots, and to build more downtown highrise apartments to increase the supply of housing and to keep prices reasonable. We also need to expand density in TOD areas around LRTs
7. How will you make developers of new subdivisions pay the full, life-cycle costs of their projects?
Any levy on new homes or developers would immediately be passed onto consumers, ie new home buyers, which would increase costs of homes and condominiums, new and existing, throughout the city. That would make housing even less affordable than it already is. I support the existing tax structure as it keeps the prices of homes low.
8. Would you extend the city’s recycling plan to include apartment buildings and/or organics?
I would like to investigate the opportunity
9. What will you do to help the province and city work together on the current SE Ring Road plan?
The province and the city are already working very well together on the SE ring road. If you mean the SW ring road, I think there, too, the two sides are working well with each other. The issue has been the Tsuu T’ina Nation, which rejected a deal from the province to build a road through their reserve. We will work with the residents in Lakeview to ensure any transportation corridor does not destroy Lakeview.
10. Do you support legalization of secondary suites in all existing neighborhoods?
I believe slow and steady wins the race. Let’s start with a few communities around TODs and based on feedback, we can decide the appropriate locations for secondary suites.
Higgins, Barb
1. Do you support a long-term lease for Race City as a track and advanced driving facility in Calgary?
I support extending Race City’s lease to 2025.
Race City has been of benefit far beyond the rents it has paid. It has employed six full-time people plus over a hundred part-time and seasonal workers. It has also provided leisure pursuits for thousands of City residents. By charging audience and participant fees, and attracting sponsors, Race City has been able to maintain the facilities and operate without public subsidies. This is a feat managed by few recreational facilities.
Race City originally had a lease good until 2025, which the City chose to end in 2009 – largely in order to put a stormwater drainage pond in place for the nearby landfill. Recent politicized negotiations have extended this lease until the end of next year. Since the lease was scheduled to end prematurely, Race City has found it more difficult to attract sponsors and participants, which has resulted in it degrading.
On balance, I am persuaded that an extended lease for Race City is of more value than the drainage pond – a drainage pond which can potentially be located elsewhere. A council lead by me, therefore, can be expected to issue a long-term lease for Race City.
2. Does the City have a responsibility to play a role in preserving heritage sites? If so, what role?
Absolutely. Our heritage sites are key to our identity as a city.
However, Heritage Sites are a pain. Both Federal and Provincial levels of government have regulations and rules, and such sites are expensive to purchase and maintain.
Because of this, I see the City’s role as that of an advocate. We must identify the sites we want preserved, and then find both recognition and funding. Preferably, we would find those citizens or organizations who are interested in preserving any particular site, and help them navigate the maze of provincial and federal bureaucracy.
Therefore, while the City has a strong role in Heritage sites, no Council lead by me will hire staff to acquire and control such buildings. My legacy will be our civic heritage – not a bureaucracy.
3. What strategies do you have to create more pedestrian and bicycle oriented infrastructure?
We can get rid of LRT parking fees. We can get more of those BRT busses – add some commuter lanes, and they’ll get Calgarians where they’re going faster. We can even use a shared ride system – like ACCESS – to get industrial workers to late-night jobs in industrial districts.
I’d also like to expand the UPASS system. It should really cover the entire year for a full-time student. We need some convenience – and let`s face it, students aren`t richer in the summer than they are in the fall. We might also extend it some – SAIT students in apprenticeship programs should qualify, and so should Bow Valley College students.
My council will also do more for cyclists. We have bicycle racks on some busses, which is great. We need to take the guesswork out of it, though: every city bus should have these racks. We could also put in more bicycle lanes – I understand that we have 200 km of them, but I sure haven’t seen them. In fact, we need to think about these things in terms of commuting: think of bicycle highways, that will let you take paths and bike lanes all the way to work or school.
Calgary hasn’t done badly for pedestrian and cycling use. There’s more we can do, though – and believe me, my Council will get it done.
4. Do you support urban farming, including urban chickens?
In the first place, we’re talking about property rights. Does the City really have the right to tell you what to do on your own property? The right to private property includes the right to reasonable enjoyment of it. It can certainly be argued that if your chickens (or your Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs) or even your firepits aren’t disturbing your neighbours, the City has no business interfering.
5. What have you done to address homelessness and urban poverty in Calgary? What will you do?
I’ve volunteered with literally dozens of organizations and agencies dealing with these issues. I don’t plan to stop. These are real issues affecting real Calgarians.
6. Is urban sprawl a problem for Calgary? If so, what have you done? What will you do about it?
Urban sprawl does need to be addressed in Calgary.
We must adopt a balanced approach, increasing density in established communities where acceptable, and being a better and more collaborative neighbour with our rural municipal partners. Better relationships with them can make our growth more controlled, with less urban sprawl.
Because of this I recognize the benefits of Plan It, which attempts to embody this approach.
7. How will you make developers of new subdivisions pay the full, life-cycle costs of their projects?
We certainly need to pass these costs along. However, we must make sure that we are not simply adding to the cost of the house in a way that results in more taxes going to the federal government in GST.
8. Would you extend the city’s recycling plan to include apartment buildings and/or organics?
I support all forms of recycling. In addition to my commitment to bring the blue boxes to condominiums and apartments, I would certainly bring back organic recycling as part of the curbside program.
9. What will you do to help the province and city work together on the current SE Ring Road plan?
I have always been a leader and a team builder, and I would hope to use those skills in dealing with the Province. They are obviously an important partner in our plans to continue to build a great City, and I would seek early meetings with the Provincial Government to outline my priorities. The preferred route for the SE portion of the ring road is still the negotiated route through Tsuu Tina land. I will do all I can to bring the Province and the Band back to the table, because 37 Street is NOT the answer.
10. Do you support legalization of secondary suites in all existing neighbourhoods?
This proposal speaks to a number of concerns, from homelessness to traffic.
No reasonable person can possibly be opposed to legalizing secondary suites in all neighbourhoods. My Council will work to make this a reality.
Lord, Jon
1. Do you support a long-term lease for Race City as a track and advanced driving facility in Calgary?
YES
2. Does the City have a responsibility to play a role in preserving heritage sites? If so, what role?
YES.
As Alderman, I initiated one of the key City policies we now have to develop tax incentivisation to preserve Heritage Buildings, a motion which Council supported.
3. What strategies do you have to create more pedestrian and bicycle oriented infrastructure?
I was instrumental in creating the Marda Loop as a livable, walkable, resilient community – Founding Chairman. I just need to create more of those and obviously I have the best proven experience of any candidate for Mayor to actually do that.
4. Do you support urban farming, including urban chickens?
Urban farming : I support people who want to “return to the land”, and have a patch of land they can call their own, where they can raise chickens and/or gardens and other great things, and not try to do that in high-density inner-city communities. I was raised on a farm, which is why I know better than to try and raise chickens with the neighbors dogs close by, drawing coyotes into the city where they will eat peoples pet cats as well…etc. etc. And… there is that smell thing….
5. What have you done to address homelessness and urban poverty in Calgary? What will you do?
Poverty alleviation through micro-business/entrepreneur training, micro-credit, starting in 1985. Multi-faceted approach over many years, poverty alleviation through job creation, economic development and so on. I helped found the World Job and Food Bank, Chaired it during a particularly difficult stretch, it has now assisted in creating hundreds of food banks worldwide, done 57 job creation projects in 17 countries, built 2 new rural schools in China, delivered 4 million loaves of bread to Kosovo refugees, helped support 3000 orphans in Moscow during the terrible winters and hardships of the early ‘90’s, made 1 million “Brown Bag” lunches for hungry street kids in Downtown Calgary – I’d say that I have a little background in homelessness and poverty issues.
Poverty alleviation through lowering costs – I lead the one-man parade through the ‘90’s to legalize basements suites, ultimately Co-Chairing the Provincial MLA committee which DID legalize Basement/secondary suites Province-wide under the Provincial building codes. Nice to see so many others jumping on the bandwagon these past few years ( and months) but wish they had been helping me back then when I was the one taking all the flack almost by myself.
6. Is urban sprawl a problem for Calgary? If so, what have you done? What will you do about it?
Urban sprawl….challenge assumptions, challenge conclusions, challenge intentions, do not be brainwashed by Gov. Bureaucracy telling you what is right, nor peer pressure to jump on bandwagons. So-called “Urban sprawl” is a stage of life thing, a child safety thing, and a human longing and desire, to return to the land, as mankind lived happily for centuries before the Industrial Revolution required workers to live close enough to factories, to walk to work. Lots of people still think living close to factories and walking to work is the way to go and that we have no choice, if we want to be “sustainable” . Modern technology, teleworking, solar power, alternative energy, water use, etc. all lead me to believe we will all be “returning the land” of the “emptied out” countryside, in the future. It isn’t an “either or” it is and AND decision, and people need to recognize WE CAN DO BOTH if we are innovative, creative, and work to get the best of both instead of trying to force the other side to do our bidding.
7. How will you make developers of new subdivisions pay the full, life-cycle costs of their projects?
Making developers of new subdivisions paying full life-cycle costs etc? ….. actually, most City property taxes have been shifted onto businesses, (making them tax-collectors by proxy) giving us misleadingly low residential taxes overall (whether in established or in new communities) , and far too high small business and commercial property taxes ( killing them off at unacceptably high rates) ….and thus your conclusions about “residential life-cycle costs” are not correct unless you have taken this into account. The same story applies to inner-city residential properties as well as outer. Challenge assumptions, challenge intentions, challenge conclusions and take into account you might be pawns in a bigger agenda spouting off these statements as reasons to raise housing costs against the people making a bigger profit down at City Hall. ( Don’t’ you think developers just pass those higher costs along to you?)
8. Would you extend the city’s recycling plan to include apartment buildings and/or organics?
The City’s entire re-cycling plan, needs a complete overhaul and a complete new strategy. We need to recycle nearly 100%, as I said in 1998 when I brought my re-cycling motion forward to City Council – the one that got them into recycling eventually. They went the wrong direction from what I asked for and intended.
9. What will you do to help the province and city work together on the current SE Ring Road plan?
AS a former MLA, I have the best relationships and experience to work with the Province – these are people I worked with side by side already. I have a 4 part video on my web page at www.jonlord.ca as to my solution to the Ring Road, which is by far the best solution. I do have a history of being able to resolve 30 year old battles, by the way- see the testimonial page on my web site at www.jonlord.ca under “people say”.
10. Do you support legalization of secondary suites in all existing neighbourhoods?
Legalization of Secondary suites: As the guy who started and lead the crusade on this for nearly 15 years now, and who actually asked for, got and Co-Chaired the Provincial MLA committee which actually did legalize basement suites right across the Province under Provincial Building Codes, I guess you might know where I stand on this issue. I’m not just some recent band-wagon jumper on-er, who suddenly likes the idea of basements suites, nor am I one who spent millions studying all other options, before finally deciding there is no better options . Nice to see everyone else agreeing with me now – where were they 15 years ago?
