Happy New Year!

This past year has been amazing! Together we have accomplished so much and made Calgary a better city for all of us.

And the future of our great city continues to be so bright. From my family to yours, here's to a fantastic 2013!

- Mayor Naheed K. Nenshi

Year-end interviews with Mayor Nenshi

In mid-December, Mayor Nenshi sat down with CTV's Tara Nelson to conduct a long-form interview about the 2012 and the year ahead.

Click here to watch the video. 

UPDATE:

Here's the full Global TV year-end interview with Reid Fiest:

And here's the full QR77 year-end interview with Aurelio Perry.



- Posted by Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

Mayor Nenshi Reads "Llama Llama Holiday Drama"

In this special Christmas edition of "Mayor Nenshi Reads", we teamed up with CTV Calgary to film Mayor Nenshi reading Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney.

You can watch the video on CTV's website. 

From Mayor Nenshi and all of his team: Merry Christmas!

- Posted by Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

Our generosity is what makes us successful

For many years, I've written a column for the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund. Here is my 2012 story:

At this festive time of year, our thoughts turn to family and fun, to great food and forgetting our diets, but also to faith and values, community and giving back.

Calgarians are among the most blessed people on Earth - living in a community of peace, respect and relative prosperity. We are also a generous people - some 85 per cent of us give to charity every year and countless others volunteer their time and talent.

But the most important part of our generosity - indeed, the key to our success - is of another kind. We are remarkably generous in sharing opportunity. We understand that the success of any one of us is the success of all of us, and that every Calgarian deserves a chance to succeed regardless of background or circumstance.

In my time as your mayor, I have been touched by how deeply this ethic is ingrained in Calgarians - how we know we are all family. From the little girl selling her art on Facebook to raise money for the homeless to the corporate CEO spending her time working on creative solutions to poverty, we're all in this together.

This means that we each have the power to make change. Certainly, government must play its part.

This is why I launched, in partnership with the United Way, the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative. The only requirement to participate? You have to be smart, and you have to care. I am very excited about the ideas coming from the initiative, and I look forward to our colleagues in the federal and provincial governments continuing to join the city at the table.

But truly helping those in need takes much more than government.

As much as we hope to change the system so that people don't stumble, we must also be there to catch them when they fall.

Every one of us has the power to make change. No one is too small, no one is too weak, no one has a voice too quiet to make the world better. That's the philosophy behind 3 Things for Calgary - that each of us has not only the power but the responsibility to use our hands, our minds, our hearts and our souls to work for others.

It's also the philosophy behind the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund. Every year, the Herald carefully curates a list of some of the very best non-profits in the community and gives us all the amazing opportunity to help them.

The fund won a well-deserved Generosity of Spirit award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals this year for helping to not only give, but to give well.

This year's portfolio of charities is as impressive as ever. These organizations do amazing work for our neighbours in need, whether their issues include addiction, violence, illness or poverty.

I particularly like this year's focus on mental-health issues through organizations such as the Canadian Mental Health Association (Calgary region), Wood's Homes, Alpha House, EvenStart and Youville Residence. Mental health issues, sometimes accompanied by addiction, remain one of the most intractable problems in our community.

There are other great organizations on the list - from the Boys and Girls Clubs to the Kerby Centre. They are there for us and our neighbours at every point in our lives. And even at the end, Hospice Calgary is there providing care, compassion, and love.

We are incredibly fortunate to live in a community that cares so much, that sees the inherent worth and dignity of each human being. And I thank all those who donate their time and resources, and all of those who have chosen to make their careers in the non-profit sector. It's a great and noble thing to dedicate your life to making the world better for others, and I salute you for it.

I hope that you'll all take the time this season to learn more about these amazing organizations. And I hope you will give, and give generously. Thank you. And from my family to yours: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

- Mayor Naheed Nenshi

Mayor Nenshi Reads "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Back in Mayor Nenshi's first year on the job, CityTV's Breakfast Television pitched a novel idea: A video of the mayor reading a beloved children's book with the help of some of the show's favourite personalities.

That's definitely different than your usual mayoral video, but we figured we'd give it a try. The result... well, the result was this.

It was was enjoyed by so many people (including Mayor Nenshi, who enjoys reading to kids) that it was the very first of a series of "Mayor Nenshi Reads" videos. Since that first year, we've made a Mayor Nenshi Reads Christmas edition a tradition--one we'll keep doing as long as we can.

So, pull up a chair and grab some holiday baking and please enjoy this little treat!

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

Interview: Mayor Nenshi and Y! Canada News

In early December, Mayor Nenshi chatted with Yahoo! Canada about a variety of topics. The full interview is here, but here are a few of the questions and answers:

Y! Canada News: You just recently celebrated your second anniversary as Calgary's mayor. Since coming into office, what accomplishment are you most proud of?

Mayor Nenshi: Probably the biggest thing … is the engagement and excitement about the city.

There was a survey done earlier this summer in which they asked people in Canada’s largest cities to talk about how they felt about their cities. And Calgary came first in quality of life in six out of seven measures.

And, when Calgarians were asked [if] your city on the rise, an incredible 90 per cent of them were optimistic and said their city on the rise.

To me that’s the biggest thing. Calgarians are feeling great about their community. They're feeling great about the level of service their municipal government gives and [they believe] only better things are on the horizon.

Y! Canada News: Cities across the country have asked for a long-term funding commitment from the federal government. You have spoken out about become less reliant on property taxes. So is there another way to fund city infrastructure?

Mayor Nenshi: Property taxes are one of the worst forms of taxation imaginable. It’s regressive, it’s particularly unfair to seniors and you simply can’t use them to fund capital and infrastructure.

Calgarians send about $4 billion a year more to the province than we get back in all provincial services. The federal government of that number is $10 billion. And our entire operating budget is only $3 billion.

So when I talk about funding from other orders of government, I talk about tax rebates on what we already pay because in order for people to want to live here, to invest here and to pay taxes here, the city has to be a great place to live.

And in order for it to be a great place to live we have to invest in things like public transit, sports facilities, recreation and so on.

I think that’s what the federal government needs to start.

Y! Canada News: You were in eastern Canada last year to head-hunt for ‘workers.’ You have a long-term labour crunch in your city. What’s your pitch to Canadians in other provinces to get them to come to Calgary?

Mayor Nenshi: This is an amazing place to live. It’s a city where as our official mission says ‘It’s a great place to make living, it’s a great place to make a life.’

Yes it’s economically doing great right now. But don’t come here just for a job. Come here because this is a place where you can be at the top of your profession, where you can live an amazing life and raise your family and also be doing world-leading things at work.

If that’s the kind of person you are — if you are willing to work hard and you bring a lot to the table, come to Calgary. Because, as I always say, here in Calgary nobody cares what you look like or who your daddy was or what your last name is or where you come from. They care about what you bring to the table. And if you have that drive to succeed, this community will help you succeed.

Read the full interview here.

(Photo courtesy of Big Rock, available online on Flickr)

- Posted by Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

ENMAX and The City of Calgary making good progress on streetlight outages

The following release was shared with the media on December 19, 2012.

ENMAX and The City of Calgary making good progress on streetlight outages

Calgary, Alta. – Several months after implementing enhanced processes to address burned out streetlights, ENMAX and The City of Calgary are pleased to announce a significant reduction in the back-log of repairs. In close cooperation with The City of Calgary Roads, the number of outages was reduced from an all-time high of 1,933 in mid-March 2012 to 517 and counting.

“ENMAX has been working hard together with the City to ensure Calgarians have access to reliable lighting throughout the year,” says Gianna Manes, ENMAX President and CEO. “After adjusting our operational practices and achieving efficiency gains earlier this year, I’m pleased to report that fewer than 1 per cent of Calgary’s 90,000 street lights are out of service today, which is well below the performance threshold set by the City for the percentage of outages at any one time.”

ENMAX's enhanced processes took into account The City's existing budget, addressing the issue with productivity gains instead of increased dollars. ENMAX crews were scheduled predominantly in the evening hours to avoid street traffic so that bulbs needing replacement could be seen easily and immediately addressed. Crews were also concentrated in smaller geographical areas to minimize driving time between identified locations.

“After hearing the concerns of many Calgarians about this backlog, I'm very pleased that The City and ENMAX were able to work together to repair many streetlights without increasing the budget,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “Well-lit streets are important to the comfort and safety of Calgarians, and I'm glad that we could work smarter, together, to make things better.”

Background

• There are approximately 90,000 streetlights in Calgary.
• The City of Calgary owns the streetlights and contracts ENMAX to maintain them.
• The number of streetlight repairs has increased by approximately 10 per cent annually since 2009 due in part to aging infrastructure and the increase in the number of street lights as Calgary continues to grow. The City's budgeted dollars for this maintenance is $3.6 million which covers all material, labour and escalations. The budget has not increased since 2009.
• Targeted timelines for repair are:
• Many lights out on major roads – within 7 days
• Single light out on residential road – within 30 days
• Residents can report an outage by calling 311. This generates an immediate service request which ENMAX receives the following day.

About ENMAX Power Corporation
ENMAX Power Corporation, a subsidiary of ENMAX Corporation, and its predecessors have provided Albertans with safe and reliable electricity for more than 100 years. One of the most reliable urban utilities in Canada, ENMAX Power owns, operates and maintains the distribution and much of the transmission network in and around Calgary, which are activities regulated by the Alberta Utilities Commission. Non-regulated subsidiaries of ENMAX Power provide engineering, procurement, and construction services as well as maintenance for electrical servicing of residential and commercial developments and light rail transit systems. Visit our website at www.enmaxpower.com.

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- Posted by Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

A Better Calgary in Progress (2012)

Friends:

Over two years ago, Calgarians chose a new mayor and city council. We have been hard at work since then, and thought this would be a good time to share with you how we are doing and what work remains to be done.

So, how are we doing? Some changes were quick: removing the $3 park-and-ride fee, starting a pilot project on food trucks as an example of cutting red tape, halving the sprawl subsidy that was encouraging unsustainable growth, improving the system of snow removal. Some more systemic changes will take more time, but we have laid a strong groundwork that will make Calgary an even better place to live in the future. This document, A Better Calgary in Progress (view/download PDF), shares some of the changes we've made in the past two years based on Council’s Fiscal Plan for Calgary.

Here are some of the highlights:

Ensuring every Calgarian lives in a safe community and has the opportunity to succeed
Crime rates are the lowest in a generation, and Calgarians report that they feel that our city is safe. To ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to participate fully in their communities, we also launched the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative. I'm excited about the big ideas coming forth on how we can use existing community resources to help those most in need.

Investing in great communities and a vibrant urban fabric
I'm proud of the first investments from the new Community Investment Fund. We've been able to support parks, libraries, recreation and fire halls and equipment using these newly available funds. Soon, we will also see a new Central Library and four new recreation centres in parts of the city that are sorely lacking.

Moving people and goods throughout the city efficiently and sustainably
We have embarked on a major strategic, operational and customer service plan for Calgary Transit known as RouteAhead, and have dedicated major funds to reduce congestion on the existing LRT system and improve transit service to southeast Calgary. Major road projects like the airport trail tunnel remain on time and on budget, and the enhanced level of snow clearing has received rave reviews.

We are also making a modest, but important, investment in commuter cycling infrastructure. Improving safety and convenience for cyclists reduces congestion on our roads and on transit. Not only does it give people who would otherwise be in a car or on a train another transportation option, it also improves efficiency and safety for everyone by separating bike, vehicle, and pedestrian traffic.

City council continues to invest in public transit to make it a great transportation option for all Calgarians. This includes the addition of thousands of new hours of transit service (including the new West LRT), and, in the latest budget adjustments, increased access to transit for some 28,000 low-income Calgarians, including low-income senior citizens.

Making Calgary the best place in Canada for a business to start and flourish
The Cut Red Tape initiative is already yielding results, saving businesses who deal with The City many hours and thousands of dollars. Council also agreed to consolidate the business tax with the non-residential property tax, eliminating our stand-alone business tax and putting us on par with other Canadian cities.

Becoming a more effective and disciplined organization
We are undertaking a number of initiatives under the title of Transforming Government to create a culture of constant, relentless, citizen-focused improvements at The City. This includes the introduction of zero-based budget and operational reviews throughout the organization. We are also launching a major review of our city planning processes to streamline the system and make it easier to build great things.

Changing the rules of the game to ensure better financial capacity
As a city of well over a million people, we cannot rely on the whims of other levels of government to fund our capital needs. We require transparent, predictable funding for the long term. In transit alone, we will need up to $8 billion over the next 30 years to fund new capital projects, including new bus rapid transit and LRT lines. Planning for a project of this scope is challenging when we have no idea what funds will be available to finance its construction.That’s why we have signed a memorandum of understanding and are continuing conversations with the provincial government about getting a city charter for Calgary.

We will continue to work on all of these issues in the final year of our term. Three major examples of ongoing work include:

Calgary Transit’s RouteAhead
With RouteAhead, we are creating (for the first time), an integrated 30-year capital, operational, and customer service plan that will make transit better for all riders in the city.

Transforming Planning
Through imagineCALGARY and Plan It, Calgarians have told Council they want a more sustainable and vibrant city with more walkable communities where anyone can live. We have also heard that our planning system is too slow, too complex, and isn't producing the city we all want. The Transforming Planning initiative is focused on building a planning system that is effective, efficient, and that will deliver on the vision set out in imagineCALGARY.

City Charter
While this sounds dry, it is probably the most important thing your Council is working on. Getting this right will ensure that our city can continue to grow and be prosperous, free of bickering and buck passing between governments.

I'm proud of what your Council has accomplished, but much work remains. Long-term projects require vision and focus. We must be diligent in our stewardship.

The opportunity to be Mayor of Calgary is humbling. While I may have a few more grey hairs, I wake up every morning thrilled at this chance to make a difference and serve all the citizens of this city. Thank you for giving me that opportunity.

Sincerely,

Mayor Naheed K. Nenshi

Savvy budgeting improves life for Calgarians

I write a regular column in the Calgary Herald. Here is the full text of my December story: 

Towards the end of each year, your city council creates the budget for the next year. This is one of the most important things that we do, and I believe that we do so in a far more transparent and accessible way than any other government in Canada.

First, some background: the City of Calgary creates three-year business plans and budgets, but we approve our budget each year. At the beginning of the three-year cycle last year, we engaged in an unprecedented (and award-winning) citizen engagement program, and more than 23,000 Calgarians participated in helping us set priorities.

This year, we examined what had changed — did we still have faith in our economic forecasts, are we offering the right level of services at the right times, are citizens satisfied? — and then we looked at changes and adjustments that we needed to make.

The news is generally good: our forecasts have been prudent, our annual citizen survey shows incredibly high levels of satisfaction with city services, and our property taxes remain the lowest of any major city in Canada. Unlike other orders of government, we must (and do) live within our means. There is no budget deficit (and never has been).

But thanks to slightly higher than expected revenues and some efficiencies, we were able to reduce the planned tax increase slightly, while investing in important priorities for the community. These include more 911 operators, funding the new emergency operations centre and expanding transit service hours.

The biggest thing we did, though, was something I am particularly happy about, and very proud that my council colleagues, especially Ald. Brian Pincott, brought this forward. For a relatively modest investment, we were able to increase access to transit for some 28,000 people, including a large number of the working poor.

The largest subsidy is for low-income seniors, who still pay $1.25 a month ($15 per year) for unlimited transit. We also increased the income threshold for this pass, so about 6,000 more seniors will be eligible in 2013.

The second-biggest subsidy is for seniors earning above the poverty line, who will be paying under $8 per month ($95 per year) for their pass. This is a big increase — $3 per month — but it allows us to continue to offer better rates for low-income people.

Low-income people who are not seniors pay about half the regular rate for their passes — $44 per month in 2013. For a number of years, we have only been able to offer this discount to very poor people, missing out on a number of people with disability income as well as a lot of working poor people who were earning between 75 per cent and 100 per cent of the poverty line income. Council agreed that, by 2014, we should cover everyone living under the poverty line. I am convinced this was the right thing to do and that it will make a huge difference in the lives of many people.

The other big change was the assignment of $10.2 million per year to help us optimize our existing assets: we’re investing in increasing the reliability of Calgary Transit and making breakdowns less frequent, and in smart, targeted congestion solutions (think about the revised lights at Macleod Trail and Lake Fraser Gate during the morning rush hour).

We’re also creating a dedicated fund to maintain city-owned buildings. And, thanks to the leadership of Ald. Gian-Carlo Carra, we’re rebuilding sidewalks, curbs and gutters in older neighbourhoods, and no longer requiring homeowners to pay 50 per cent of the cost of these replacements.

All of this is done with a small increase to the property tax rate. In 2012, you paid $345.65 for every $100,000 your house is worth. In 2013, it will be $354.43. This remains one of the lowest property tax rates in Canada. (For interest sake, this number was $439.35 10 years ago in 2002).

It’s not all rosy, though. The city continues to rely on the regressive property tax to provide the services that Calgarians need, which is particularly unfair to seniors. As the city grows, we will find ourselves increasingly stretched.

Part of the answer to this is doing things better. There are many millions of dollars in efficiencies in the current three-year budget, and I am hopeful that our new zero-based review process will identify smarter ways of doing things.

The real answer, though, is fundamental tax reform. All five parties in the last provincial election promised this, and we have commenced conversations with the provincial government on a new city charter. This is going to take a lot of hard work on both sides, but I remain hopeful we will find a solution that will secure the future for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

For now, though, let’s all enjoy the holiday season. From my family to yours: all the very best. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

- Mayor Naheed K. Nenshi

Great work by my City of Calgary colleagues: Crowchild Trail water main repair

I am very impressed with so many of my colleagues at The City of Calgary.

On Saturday evening, we discovered one of the largest water main breaks ever experienced in Calgary underneath Crowchild Trail which caused the shutdown of that road.

We needed to fix the problem as quickly as possible, and Calgarians (including university students writing final exams) needed to know what was happening and what alternate travel plans they should make.

I’m proud that a number of City of Calgary departments and partners came together, under the direction of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, to solve this potentially disastrous situation. Water Services, Water Resources, Roads, Customer Service & Communications, Calgary Transit, Corporate Security, Infrastructure and Information Services, Information Technology, Calgary Fire Department, and the Calgary Police Service, as well as ATCO all worked around the clock to make sure the work was done well and quickly and that all Calgarians were well-informed. I'm proud of how well my City colleagues responded to this crisis and how well they got the job done.

It’s worth noting that citizens noticed. My office has been flooded, not with complaints, but with compliments for how well The City communicated and how quickly the road was re-opened.

Thank you to Calgarians for their patience during this situation.

Thank you especially to my colleagues at The City of Calgary. I'm proud of you today, and every day.

- Mayor Naheed K. Nenshi

Video: Live with Mayor Nenshi

On December 10, 2012, Mayor Nenshi participated in a live Q&A on Shaw TV. Questions came from a studio audience, callers, online, and the host. They ranged from funding non-profit organizations to snow ploughing to transit. It aired live on TV and online.

You can watch the whole thing here or go here to watch specific questions and answers.

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team

Mayor Nenshi's meetings: November 2012

Below is a list of external meetings hosted by the Mayor during the month of November 2012.

For an explanation of why this list exists and who is on it, please visit our post about highlighting accountability in the Mayor's Office.

November meetings included:

• Neil Schwartz, CCWE – November 1, 2012
• Terry Rock, Calgary Arts Development Authority – November 7, 2012
• Andrea Goertz, HR, Telus – November 8, 2012
• Ian Gillespie, Westbank Projects Corp. – November 8, 2012
• Wayne Barwise, Exec. VP, Cadillac Fairview Corp. – November 8, 2012
• Niall Collins, Sr. VP, Cadillac Fairview Corp. – November 8, 2012
• Lyle Edwards, CMLC – November 8, 2012
• Michael Brown, CMLC – November 8, 2012
• Mayor Peter Brown, Mayor of Airdrie – November 22, 2012
• Lorne Stevens, Dir. Community Infrastructure, Airdrie – November 22, 2012
• Mayor Patricia Matthews, Mayor of Chestermere – November 22, 2012
• Mayor Truper McBride, Mayor of Cochrane – November 22, 2012
• Mayor Steve Grajczyk, Mayor of Strathmore – November 22, 2012
• Wendelin Fraser, Airport Authority Board – November 27, 2012
• Police Commission - November 29, 2012

- Posted by Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team