Video: Mayor Nenshi on the need to legalize secondary suites in Calgary

A brief video from Mayor Nenshi presenting some of the many reasons to legalize secondary suites throughout Calgary.

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

City needs courage on secondary suites

I write a monthly column for the Calgary Sun. Here is an excerpt from my February article:

Over the next few weeks, you will hear a lot of discussion and debate around secondary suites in Calgary.

It’s no secret that I strongly believe we need a change.

Currently, there are somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 suites in Calgary.

No one knows the real number, because the vast majority of them are illegal.

What we do know is that they are in every neighbourhood in the city, and that most of the tenants are good neighbours.

But we also know that these people — our neighbours — live in a world without the protections that the rest of us enjoy.

If their landlord is abusing them, if the smoke detectors don’t work, if there’s no heat, if there is mould or a mouse infestation, they have nowhere to turn.

The city only has one option, which is to rip out the stove and kick them out of their homes.

Furthermore, if the city were to crack down on these illegal suites and somehow close them all down, we would have an affordable housing crisis like none we have ever seen.

In a world where we are proud to create a few hundred new units of affordable housing per year, how would we ever replace tens of thousands of units?

So, we’ve created a “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation that treats thousands of our fellow citizens in a way we would not want to be treated ourselves.

There are many who argue that allowing any homeowner to apply for a suite would irrevocably change neighbourhoods, would lead to a parking nightmare, and would have the “wrong kind” of people move in.

While I disagree that having renters is bad for a community, it’s important to note that these arguments have nothing to do with secondary suites in particular.

If an owner wants to rent a house to members of a university fraternity, or if a family has four teenage kids and nine cars on the street, they are completely within their rights to do so and normal bylaws apply.

If they are bad neighbours, people can call 311 and complain about noise, waste, unkempt yards, and so on.

It’s only by adding a stove that suddenly a whole new set of rules apply.

Recall the woman with MS who wanted to put a suite in so that she could have a tenant help with yard work.

It cost her thousands of dollars and many months, culminating in her having to come before city council and plead her case in front of 15 strangers, live on TV, explaining the intimate details of her life and begging for the right to do with as she needed with her own property.

This isn’t right.

My proposal to council is that we allow homeowners across the city to apply for a permit for a secondary suite if they desire, subject to three criteria...

Read the full article at the Calgary Sun.

- Mayor Nenshi

Video: Mayor Nenshi on The Agenda with Steve Paikin

While visiting Toronto, Mayor Nenshi did a half-hour interview on The Agenda covering topics of citizen engagement, building great cities, and hockey. Here's how they describe it:

Cowtown no more. Calgary is Canada's fastest-growing city. They've also just elected Canada's first Muslim mayor. Naheed Nenshi joins The Agenda to tell us how Calgary is changing, and how he intends to make Alberta's largest city, a city of the future.

Welcome to Calgary 3.0!

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

Media Release: Mayor Nenshi and Chairman Fryers report on City Council meeting with ENMAX Board of Directors

Today, Calgary City Council met with the ENMAX Board of Directors for a special shareholder meeting. Due to recent media reports and events related to ENMAX, the shareholder (the citizens of Calgary represented by City Council), requested the special meeting to discuss issues of governance and strategy.

"I appreciate that the Board of Directors could accommodate my Council colleagues and me at this special meeting," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. "We had a great discussion and will be working together over the next several months to ensure that ENMAX remains a great company for its employees, customers, and owners."

"In the meantime, ENMAX will continue to execute on the strategy approved by this council. ENMAX is a strong company and will continue to serve the people of Calgary well as one of the best, most progressive energy providers in the world."

"We look forward to Council's continued work with the ENMAX Board of Directors in the best interests of Calgarians."

Mr. Cliff Fryers, Chairman of the ENMAX Board of Directors, added: "Mayor and Council had some very legitimate questions and we had a good discussion around these matters. We collectively agreed that there is real value in an ongoing dialogue between the shareholder and the board. We value our shareholder’s support and look forward to working with them closely as we move forward with the ENMAX vision to create value for Calgarians and sustainable energy for all Albertans."

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

Media Release: Mayor Nenshi responds to question about Toronto visit

Mayor Nenshi while in Toronto. Photo by Brent Gundlock, Postmedia News

The following is a statement from Mayor Nenshi regarding recent questions about his trip to Toronto:

I am currently in Toronto speaking to many people and meeting with the local and national media. This is an excellent opportunity for me to tell the story of Calgary, reinforce our important role in the country, and even encourage more business to come to our city. After one day, I’ve received much positive feedback from many of Toronto's business and community leaders.

My schedule in Toronto is very busy and includes speaking at three events with over 1,000 decision-makers and community members attending. During these three days, I have at least six interviews with local and national media, with exposure for Calgary in the millions.

A tour like this is part of the role of Mayor. A mayor must be a champion for the city at home and abroad.

Of course, such travel has costs. The majority of this trip is paid for by my office’s budget. But, to offset expenses for the benefit of the taxpayer, my flight there and back was paid for by Kasian, who invited me to speak at their Healthy Cities Symposium. The total cost was $721.51 for an economy seat. It is normal for the host of such an event to reimburse a speaker for their travel expenses so the cost does not fall on the taxpayer.

Indeed, I am speaking at an event next week in Vancouver, hosted by the Local Government Leadership Academy, which is also paying for my flight so that the cost ($659.14) does not fall to the taxpayer.

I am not aware of any direct financial activities or relationships between Kasian and the City of Calgary, and would not be engaged in any such activities or decisions if I were.

These are not gifts—they are ways to offset costs that would otherwise be shouldered by the taxpayer.

I disclosed to the media before the trip that Kasian had paid for the flight because it is important that elected officials be transparent. This is my commitment to Calgarians. Another commitment to Calgarians is to provide value for money, and if I can save taxpayer dollars, I will.

I am surprised by the criticism that I have received from a few Aldermen given that they themselves did not disclose their donors during the election, including potential contributions from developers who may well have active projects in their wards and before Council.

Given their comments I expect that they will support the campaign finance reform and transparency for which I have advocated for years.

Media Release: Mayor Nenshi on ENMAX CEO's severance package

Below is a statement from Mayor Nenshi on the severance package paid to ENMAX's outgoing CEO:

Today, we learned of the $4.6 million severance paid to ENMAX’s outgoing CEO.

The decision regarding the amount of severance was made by the ENMAX board of directors in accordance with its contractual obligations under the CEO’s Employment Agreement.
The issue in this situation is whether the negotiated contract was appropriate in the first place. City Council will be meeting with the ENMAX board of directors this month. Executive and board compensation, along with ENMAX’s governance practices, will be at the top of the agenda.

Your City Council sees fixing the governance of ENMAX as a major priority, and we are working to do so in the best interests of Calgarians.
We remain committed to the customers of ENMAX who will continue to receive safe, reliable, and cost-competitive energy just as they always have. We strongly support ENMAX’s employees who work hard every day to serve their fellow citizens.

It's cheaper to build the airport underpass than not to

I write a monthly column in the Calgary Herald. Below is the full February story:

As I wrote last month, we have a number of key issues facing Calgarians in 2011. But two of those issues are heating up, with some good progress made.

First, we finally have true cost estimates for the Airport Trail underpass. While I still think it is ridiculous that this one piece of infrastructure is subject to so much more scrutiny than anything else of similar scope that we build, I welcome the chance to make the case for this project.

The most important piece of new information is that the cost of not building the underpass vastly exceeds the cost of building it -- even in today's dollars. Not building means massively expanding Country Hills Boulevard, which is currently supposed to be more like a retail, transit-oriented high street for the new neighbourhoods in that part of the city. Think Kensington or 17th Avenue S.W. It would require building seven interchanges that we would not otherwise need. And it would cost $325 million to $425 million, not including interest and financing expenses.

Building the tunnel instead of those interchanges will cost $222 million in construction costs -- $166 million for the tunnel itself (about the same as any complex interchange) and the remainder to connect it eastward all the way to Stoney Trail. This would finally make an east-west connector across the top of the city, all the way from the eastern city limits to Centre Street. Adding in financing charges (since we don't have all the money today), insurance and some compensation to the airport for additional costs they incur takes the total to almost $295 million, which includes a generous contingency to prevent future surprises to the taxpayer.

The good news is that we can fund this without any impact on your property tax.

Don't get me wrong, we're not creating money out of thin air. Administration has identified a number of pots of money that have, by and large, not yet been allocated to specific projects to build this. The drawback to this approach is that it restricts our ability to take on new, as-yet-unidentified projects in the next few years.

I think this is a risk worth taking. I would rather spend money on something we know is a priority today than on vague, unspecified projects that may crop up tomorrow.

I trust that my council colleagues, once they see that it costs more not to build the tunnel than to build it, will do the right thing for Calgarians and agree with me to build the underpass now.

The other issue that you'll be hearing a lot about over the next month is secondary suites. We need significant reform in this area, and I will continue to advocate for the change that citizens asked for every single day during the election.

We'll have more time to discuss details on this, but here are the broad strokes: There are a huge number of illegal suites in Calgary. No one knows exactly how many, but estimates have ranged from 10,000 to 40,000. These are in every neighbourhood in Calgary, and the vast majority of them are not a problem. They are safe, and the people who live in them are good neighbours.

But they are illegal, which leads to two problems. First, if the city were to shut them down, we would have an affordable housing crisis of unmitigated proportions. Keep in mind that governments, including this one, get really excited when we are able to announce that we created 200 or 300 new affordable housing units in a year. It's unimaginable how we could house all tenants of currently illegal suites.

Even more important, the people who live in these illegal suites have no protections. If the smoke detector doesn't work, or if there is mould, they have no one to complain to. The only thing the city can do is rip out the stove and kick them out of their homes. This is unconscionable.

Our current system is also ridiculous. Secondary suites are allowed in many neighbourhoods, but not all. If you have a really narrow lot (zoned R-1N), you can apply for one. But if you have a larger lot, you can't. If you want to try, you have to spend thousands of dollars and appear before city council. You have to stand before 15 strangers, live on TV, and reveal the intimate details of your life.

We must do what every other large city in Canada has already done and allow people in every neighbourhood to apply to have a suite. They'll have to meet three criteria: The suite must meet all safety codes, there must be off-street parking (waived where the suite is very close to rapid transit) and the owner has to live there.

We will continue to have good discussions on both of these issues as a community. What is clear is that we need action, and your council will act to secure Calgary's future.

- Mayor Nenshi

News Release: Mayor Nenshi committed to building Airport Underpass for Calgarians

From Airport Trail Underpass Considerations by The City of Calgary

Today, the City of Calgary’s Transportation Department released its report on the options for constructing the Airport Underpass. Within the report are details about the costs for building the Airport Underpass now, later, or not at all.

“This report confirms that we must build this underpass now,” said Mayor Nenshi. “It’s the right thing to do financially, it secures a vital east-west network, and it lays the ground for future LRT connection to the airport. Building it later at an astronomical cost would be a huge mistake.”

The estimated construction cost of the Airport Underpass project is $222.6 million which includes the construction of Airport Trail from Barlow Trail to 60 Street NE. The construction estimate also includes a 30 per cent contingency for cost overruns.

Construction of Airport Trail from 60 Street NE to Stoney Trail will be underway this spring and was previously approved by City Council.

Total project costs are estimated to be $294.8 million. This includes financing costs, insurance, and a provision for additional costs imposed by the Airport Authority which are still under negotiation.

The estimated cost of not building the Airport Underpass will be $325-$425 million (not including financing) for improvements to the surrounding road network. Constructing the Airport Underpass later, which would require boring a tunnel under a live runway, would cost $1.5-$1.6 billion.

“I trust that my Council colleagues will make the right decision for all Calgarians to build this Airport Underpass now,” said Mayor Nenshi.

[For more information about the Airport Underpass, please visit The City of Calgary website for the project.]

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team