Author: Adam A. Donaldson

When he’s not the main/only contributor to Guelph Politico, Adam A. Donaldson also contributes to GuelphToday.com as their city hall columnist and co-hosts a political and current affairs show on CFRU 93.3 fm called “Open Sources Guelph" as well as the movie review show "End Credits."

RECAP: Heritage Guelph Pushes Staff to Do More on OR Lands and U of G!

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It was rough going for the first Heritage Guelph meeting of 2025, and not just because of the content! It took the better part of an hour for City of Guelph staff to work out some technical difficulties, including a switch involving online platforms, and then they dug into the agenda, which leaned heavily on a lot of committee concerns about the future of the OR Lands, and the future of heritage buildings at the University of Guelph. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Pushes Staff to Do More on OR Lands and U of G!” →

POLICE NOTES: Massive Lipstick and Cigarette Heists, Plus Another Crypto Scam

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There are 145,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot going on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days. Continue reading “POLICE NOTES: Massive Lipstick and Cigarette Heists, Plus Another Crypto Scam” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 22, 2025 Meeting?

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Just when you thought it was safe to put your calculators away… The budget process for 2025 reaches its final phase with this meeting, the presentation and approval of the local boards and shared services budget. These are agencies that are important to Guelphites offering services and programs used everyday, but they are also the budgets that councillors have the least control over. So how much more will you have to pay? Let’s find out… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 22, 2025 Meeting?” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 21, 2025 Meeting?

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Let’s start planning! For this first planning meeting of 2025, there are three big items on the agenda, one decision and two new proposals including one new piece of planning policy. From a new way to streamline planning processes, to a big new development in the east end, and a heritage demolition that might be substantially less controversial than other recent events, let’s dig into what’s being planned for planning this January. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 21, 2025 Meeting?” →

RECAP: JSSLAC Takes a Closer Look at 2025 Social Services Budget

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It was a new year with a sort of new Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee with a definitely new chair. Ward 4 Guelph Councillor Linda Busuttil is now the captain of this joint City and County endeavour and they began with 2025 with an in-depth look at the 2025 budget for both the social services and the ambulance portions of the bill. For those details, and all the others, let’s dig into the first recap of 2025! Continue reading “RECAP: JSSLAC Takes a Closer Look at 2025 Social Services Budget” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #450 – The Year at Council (September – December)

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Last year was very busy for Guelph City Council, and the last four months of the year were perhaps the busiest. In fact, the business of council has gotten so busy to properly cover it all this “Year in Review” podcast now has to be done in three parts, splitting the year into three near equal sections for over two hours of combined content. So now, at the end, the final part of this trilogy. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #450 – The Year at Council (September – December)” →

POLICE NOTES: RIDE Results, Steel Stolen and Hitch Snatched!

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There are 145,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot going on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days. Continue reading “POLICE NOTES: RIDE Results, Steel Stolen and Hitch Snatched!” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee Meeting for January 8, 2025

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Wellington County gets the early bird worm with the first meeting of 2025 (at least from a Guelph point of interest). After skipping December, the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee gets together to calibrate for a new year with a look at the 2025 budget, changes to funding for childcare, and the latest updates about housing and social services. So let’s dig into the agenda of the first meeting of this new year! Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee Meeting for January 8, 2025” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for January 13, 2025

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Heritage Guelph gets back to work promising a busy 2025 after what was definitely a very busy 2024! No major heritage designations this week, or any complicated fights about demolitions at this meeting (we think). There will be a kind of demolition discussion at this month’s meeting though, and there will be some discussion about the workload ahead, and then we will head downtown for another big project! Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for January 13, 2025” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 14, 2025 Meeting?

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You will never really see the first Guelph city council meeting of the year… Before Committee of the Whole, there’s going to be a special meeting of council where the horseshoe will meet entirely in-camera on one single topic. Why this special post about a meeting no one will see? Well, there’s some fairly important background on the topic you should keep in mind, and there might be some news about its future needing some context. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 14, 2025 Meeting?” →