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."

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the February 6, 2024 Meeting?

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Hope everyone enjoyed the extra time off in January, because there’s a lot of serious business to take care of this February starting almost immediately with Committee of the Whole. For this first CoW of 2024, there’s some left over budget business to talk about, plus some construction business ahead for the downtown core. Also, there’s some staff recognitions, governance changes, and the return of downtown parking concerns. Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the February 6, 2024 Meeting?” →

Stewart Announces Retirement as Guelph CAO This Summer

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Some of us spend January making plans for the new year, but it seems like some of us were making plans for retirement. You may have noticed on the council calendar that the CAO Recruitment, Selection and Performance Sub-committee has met more this month than the whole of council, and maybe now there’s an understandable reason why: the City of Guelph is going to need a new Chief Administration Officer. The current one is retiring. Continue reading “Stewart Announces Retirement as Guelph CAO This Summer” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Public Library Board for January 29, 2024

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It’s been almost two months since we’ve gotten together for a Guelph Public Library Board of Directors meeting. As we end the first month of the new year, the board will spend their first meeting of 2024 catching up on what’s been happening with the new library and the fundraising for it, and they will also look ahead to what business the library will get up to this year, and what roles the board members are going to fill. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Public Library Board for January 29, 2024” →

This Week at Council: One and Done For January

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It’s a slow start for 2024, at least if your jam is the business of Guelph City Council. At the one and only meeting for January, your friends around the horseshoe handled some very particular business in closed session and then quickly dispatched three piece of business in the open session. There was some discussion about the new development charges bylaw, and whether growth pays for itself, so it may be a new year, but we’ve still got the same problems. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: One and Done For January” →

POLICE NOTES: Still Missing, Trading Card Theft, and Church Disruption

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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: Still Missing, Trading Card Theft, and Church Disruption” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for January 29, 2024

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Two Heritage Guelph meetings in the same month? What a treat! This one will focus on one of the two ongoing Heritage Conservation District studies happening now at the city, the one that’s focused on Downtown. Once again, the heritage committee will be asked to bring their discerning eye to the plan so far, including the proposed boundaries for the exact area of the district. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for January 29, 2024” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Grand River Conservation Membership Meeting for January 26, 2024

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There’s no January chill at the Grand River Conservation Authority, and this month there’s a lot of end of the year/beginning of the year business to get to including, perhaps most importantly, the budget. The board will take their second crack at the budget for 2024 before it goes on for final passage next month, and the municipalities they represent will find out how much it will cost. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg… Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Grand River Conservation Membership Meeting for January 26, 2024” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for January 18, 2024

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It’s the first Guelph Police Services Board meeting of the year, and that means that there’s some beginning of the year business to get through. As observant politicos know, there’s a checklist for the police board every January, and we will go through it for this initial gathering of 2024, plus there will be an update from the Chief, some successful granting news, and the way forward for future meetings. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for January 18, 2024” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for Januray 16, 2024

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We’re back! You can click here for the amended agendas 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 “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for Januray 16, 2024” →

Elections Ontario Moves to Take Over Voters List for Local Elections

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As promised, and over two years to go before the next provincial and municipal elections in 2026, Elections Ontario has made it’s move to take over the voters list for all elections in Ontario. In other words, 2022 was the last election where the list of voters is managed by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), who has managed that list for the last 15 years with varying degrees of success. But now, voting is a one-stop shop! Continue reading “Elections Ontario Moves to Take Over Voters List for Local Elections” →