City Council – Page 54 – Guelph Politico

This Month at Council: Race to Zero, Hotel Redo, and Downtown Drama

Published on Dec 27, 2021Dec 21, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

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” →

Mayor Guthrie Talks to Open Sources About Another COVID Year

Published on Dec 20, 2021Dec 31, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

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” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #302 – A Heritage Moment

Published on Dec 15, 2021Dec 13, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

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” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 13, 2021

Published on Dec 13, 2021Dec 13, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

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” →

Gordon Tells Open Sources He Hopes Council Buys New Climate Action Plan

Published on Dec 6, 2021Dec 31, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

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” →

BUDGET MEETING RECAP: How The First Multiyear Budget Was Made

Published on Dec 5, 2021Dec 8, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

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” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 13 Meeting?

Published on Dec 3, 2021Dec 7, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

The last planning meeting of the year offers a veritable potpourri of planning matter for council consideration. There are a couple of decision reports ready for ratification, a new request to designate a heritage property, and a brand new statutory meeting on a transformative project in the south end. All that, plus council will deal with a referral from an earlier meeting. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 13 Meeting?” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 2, 2021

Published on Dec 2, 2021Dec 2, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It’s decision day for the 2022-2023 Guelph Budget! 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 2, 2021” →

This Month at Council – THE BUDGET: The Presentation and the Delegations.

Published on Nov 28, 2021Nov 23, 2021 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

November was always the month we handle the next year’s budget, except this time it’s the budget for the next two years. Once again, council sat down for a day-long budget presentation, and a few nights later, they heard from members of community about their own ideas about what should, or should not, go into the budget. So how did all that work out? Let’s recap this month’s action around the budget. Continue reading “This Month at Council – THE BUDGET: The Presentation and the Delegations.” →