This week was budget delegation night, and while that’s always a busy occasion, this one was even busier. Blame the Strong Mayor Powered budget and some of the things cut or delayed, which got a great many community members very concerned about potentially lost opportunities, but before all that stuff, some unfinished business! A very special meeting of council was convened to take care of some labour matters. Here’s the recap!
Special Meeting of Council – November 19, 2024
This was a fairly short diversion before the main event. Council met in closed to talk about the tentative deal between the City of Guelph and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 representing Guelph Transit workers, and in what must be one of the briefest in-camera sessions ever, council directed staff to make it a done deal. The ATU workers approved the contract last week.
After that, council approved the bylaws stemming from items approved at last week’s council planning meeting, which was recessed before its completion. On Wednesday, a change was made to the council website indicating that the remainder of planning business from that meeting will be completed this coming Tuesday at 2 pm.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Budget Meeting of Council – November 19, 2024
This was the delegation night for the 2025 budget confirmation, a chance for members of the public to formally log their commentary about how the City of Guelph will spend money next year, five minutes at a time. About 37 people signed up, and about 30 came out to delegate.
Before getting started, Mayor Cam Guthrie listed some of the changes made in the final budget he approved last week: A $305,000 increase to the affordable housing reserve, $300,000 more for the Basic Needs Table, $62,000 for the Guelph Tool Library, $202,000 to continue Welcoming Streets, expanded frequency on Transit route #5, a review of Community Benefit Agreements, $100,000 in seed money for the bicentennial, and more.
As for the people, there were definitely some common points of interest.
Several people came out to talk about the need to increase support for arts and culture, among them were representatives of Art Not Shame, the Guelph Jazz Festival, and the City’s own Public Art Advisory Committee. They all wanted to make the point that investment in arts and culture is investment in community, and that organizations like Art Not Shame are offering barrier-free spaces to marginalized communities, so it’s also a social good. You can probably also add Susan Ratcliffe into this category as she pushed for council to spend more on the bicentennial and not to lollygag any further on the planning.
Skateboarding was a big category. Several people, including a member of the Guelph Skateboarding Committee spoke to their concerns about delaying the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, specifically the development of more skateboarding facilities. Two of the delegations included young people who enjoy using the current skate parks at Silvercreek Park and Norm Jary Park and they noted that they’re so busy right now that it’s hard for new people to take up the sport. A delegate from Guelph Girls Hockey Association also raised sport as a budget issue saying that cost of renting City facilities is an impediment to some young people getting involved in sports, especially young women who already face many barriers.
There were many people worried about transportation issues, people who wanted more investment in transit expansion, and others who wanted to proceed with planned trail network expansions. Some cited safety on the roads as a primary concern, and the need to make it easier to encourage people to make the modal shift. There was also some crossover here with people who are worried about the budget’s move to slowdown investments in climate change adaptation and 100 per cent Renewable Energy.
Casey MacMillan and Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy from the Guelph Food Bank delegate to ask for City support to assist their move to a new satellite distribution model. The exact details are still unknown, but they are working with the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition for potential locations. McLeod-McCarthy noted that, until now, Guelph Food Bank has mostly operated without government funding, but are being stretched to their practical limits now due to increased demand. Kristen Cairney from Wyndham House also petitioned for added funds, not for themselves, but for the affordable housing reserve.
Some delegates expressed concerns about the use of Strong Mayor Powers to develop this budget update and how they didn’t exactly appreciate the arm twisting to get staff to chop the budget down below four per cent using, what they called, undemocratic powers. One delegate explicitly tagged council generally, and Mayor Guthrie specifically, with the potentially negative fallout – both human and economical – from the Safe Consumption Site’s closure. There was also concern about the loss of development fees and that economic impact on the City’s bottom line.
There was one delegate who came out to praise the mayor and his decision to cut the budget. Ryan Meunier said that while it’s amazing how all the people there were fighting for all these programs, council needs to prioritize household budgets and affordability first.
That just left Intentions for next week’s meeting where council will have an opportunity to amend the mayor’s budget. Some want to add more money to the affordable housing reserve and restore funding to 100 RE and active transportation initiatives, while others had more individual concerns whether it’s the design of Beaumont community park, the bicentennial, public art, or parking fees.
Guthrie warned that with all the approved changes so far, the City’s tax levy increase for 2025 is now sitting at 3.21 per cent. Once outside boards and the hospital levy are added they could be looking at something closer to 5.2 to 5.5 per cent and that’s before anything on the council wish list is added and/or if Wellington County Social Services and the Guelph Police Service come in at a high budget.
Tune in next Wednesday morning to see what happens next…
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 