City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 11, 2024 Meeting?

So this is going to be the last Guelph City Council meeting of 2024, and it’s going to be a little loose. Driving the agenda for this one are three different motions from three different members of council, but all around the central topic of dealing with homelessness, mental health and addictions. Put the coffee on though because this last meeting of the year is getting started on the early side! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 11, 2024 Meeting?”

GUELPH POLITICAST #444 – The Ongoing Struggle at Community Living (feat. Cindy Kinnon)

Community Living Guelph Wellington has been around since 1955 providing support and services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families in the communities in which they live, and for the last few years they’ve faced some serious financial issues. 2024 is no exception, but might the important services of Community Living get lost in the shuffle of all the crushing need out there. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #444 – The Ongoing Struggle at Community Living (feat. Cindy Kinnon)”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 27, 2024

The 2025 budget will reach its finale today! Or not… You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 27, 2024”

RECAP: Second City Council Meeting for November 26, 2024

Just some regular council business. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: Second City Council Meeting for November 26, 2024”

RECAP: First City Council Meeting for November 26, 2024

The epic conclusion of the planning meeting from two weeks ago! You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: First City Council Meeting for November 26, 2024”

RECAP: Library Board Approves Strat Plan Then Goes In-Camera for Last ’24 Meet

The last meeting of the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors for 2024 (sadly), was a mostly straightforward affair. First, the board looked at the completed strategic plan for the next four years and then they spent 90 minutes in-camera talking about two different matters involving personnel, one brief and one kind of long. We can’t talk about what happens in-camera, but we can talk about the rest. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “RECAP: Library Board Approves Strat Plan Then Goes In-Camera for Last ’24 Meet”

This Week at Council: The People Have Budget Thoughts Too

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! Continue reading “This Week at Council: The People Have Budget Thoughts Too”

POLICE NOTES: Downtown Update, Cutter Caught, and New Senior Scam

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: Downtown Update, Cutter Caught, and New Senior Scam”

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 4, 2024 Meeting?

The last Committee of the Whole meeting for 2024 is unlikely to generate much controversy with an agenda that’s largely administrative. Two big items on this agenda are essentially money management matters, the quarterly financials and the plan to tackle all those receipts once the year’s over, but for that human touch you will have to enjoy the accomplishments of this month’s staff recognitions. Here’s the preview… Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 4, 2024 Meeting?”

GUELPH POLITICAST #443 – The Aftermath Downtown

Last week, the reality of the Public Space Use Bylaw came into effect with the formal eviction of everyone in tents from St. George’s Square. The square is clear now of tents, but the people who lived in those tents have not disappeared or found permanent homes. In fact, they’re more vulnerable than ever, and even before the eviction last week, they were hurting. This is a story about the human toll of the Public Space Use Bylaw. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #443 – The Aftermath Downtown”