City council gets back to business next week, but before we open the book on 2022 we need to sign off on what happened in 2021. Picking up where we left off in episode #286 of the Guelph Politicast, and the last meeting of council before summer break, we start in September and follow the blow-by-blow of every fight around the horseshoe. There were even some non-fights. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #305 – …The Rest of the Year at Council”
It’s a new year at city council, and the last year for this current term. To kick-off 2022, Committee of the Whole will have a laid back meeting with two items before the horseshoe, a presentation from the administrative head of the City, and a presentation about the city’s short-term economic future. Let’s enjoy the lack of controversy (presumably) while it lasts… Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 10 Meeting?”
This is the last episode of the podcast for 2021, and in the spirit of the season we’re going to access our memories from the last 12 months. This was a long hard year, nothing went the way it was supposed to, and it threw a lot of roadblocks in our way, but now, at the end of the year, we will take stock of all that’s happened, and how it might affect us in the new year. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #304 – Guelph Stuff (2021 Year in Review)”
The year at city council ended with what actually might be some of their most intense debates. In December, there was a pretty fiery discussion about accelerating the City’s response to climate change, a new debate about whether a governance review is needed for the downtown business improvement area, and there was even some time for a public meeting on a rezoning and a brand new heritage designation. Let’s recap this last month of 2021 at council. Continue reading “This Month at Council: Race to Zero, Hotel Redo, and Downtown Drama”
It’s almost the end to 2021, so it seems like a good time to talk with the mayor about what kind of year it’s been. The story of the year was COVID-19, again, and there was a lot of action at the City of Guelph from lockdowns to re-open strategies to vaccine rollouts, and a lot of information about all that stuff passed through the office of Cam Guthrie. Guelph’s Mayor appeared on the most recent edition of Open Sources Guelph to talk about it all. Continue reading “Mayor Guthrie Talks to Open Sources About Another COVID Year”
One of the first episodes of the Politicast this year was a conversation with Councillor Leanne Caron about heritage issues in the City. It would kick- off a year with a lot of heritage issues on making the front page, from discussion about inadequate communications to the controversy around the demolition of 797 Victoria Road North. So the year ends how it began, with a discussion about Guelph’s heritage issues. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #302 – A Heritage Moment”
It’s the last planning meeting of the year, and it should be a bit laid 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 December 13, 2021”
If it’s December, then it’s time for end of the year lists, and what a year it was in the Royal City! We had a not-surprising surprise election, and we had to get ready for two more. Housing was a major issue, but so was the environment, and the year saw a lot of people get back into the habit of protesting. Transit made some news, so did downtown disgruntlement, and the Dolime Quarry, but what ended up number one? Let’s find out. Continue reading “Top 10 Guelph News Stories of 2021”
Last week, most political concerns locally were about the council decision on the 2022-2023 budget. While council was debating, Ward 2 Councillor James Gordon was appearing on CFRU’s Open Sources Guelph through the power of pre-recording an interview in advance, and while he did talk about the budget, he was just as interested in talking about a personal political initiative of his own: the Race to Zero action on climate change. Continue reading “Gordon Tells Open Sources He Hopes Council Buys New Climate Action Plan”
Eight-and-a-half hours comes out to a 4.21 per cent increase in 2022 and then a 5.17 per cent levy increase for 2023. Those are top level results from this year’s budget deliberations, the first time that council tackled a multiyear budget. The City of Guelph seems satisfied with the results, but reading between the lines, there were some deep divides on council as some members feel that the City lost the fight for affordability. Continue reading “BUDGET MEETING RECAP: How The First Multiyear Budget Was Made”
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