ELECTION 2018: Billings In, Van Hellemond Out

In the final hours of nominations for the 2018 Municipal Election, there was at least one surprise. While Christine Billings finally made official her intention to run for re-election, Andy Van Hellemond withdrew his name for consideration for one of the Ward 2 council seats. Continue reading “ELECTION 2018: Billings In, Van Hellemond Out”

Mlynarz Runs for Mayor, and Yes, She’s In It to Win It

With nominations for the municipal election closing on Friday, Mayor Cam Guthrie had just over four days left before being acclaimed as the head of Guelph’s city council for another four years. On Monday morning though, one candidate came forward to say “Not so fast”, and she made it clear that she’s not going to let you hold her youth and inexperience against her. Continue reading “Mlynarz Runs for Mayor, and Yes, She’s In It to Win It”

Xinyi, Police Cars and NAFTA Added to Monday’s Meeting Agenda

This Monday will be the last meeting of council before the traditional summer break, and while it looked to be mostly low key, with only the Plastic Free Guelph presentation being the main point of discussion, there are a couple of interesting additions on the amended agenda. Continue reading “Xinyi, Police Cars and NAFTA Added to Monday’s Meeting Agenda”

Mlynarz Decides to Try for Mayor Instead

She came within a quarter of a per cent of taking second place in Guelph’s provincial election race, but it sounds like she’s not prepared to settle for second this fall by running in the municipal election. Aggie Mlynarz has announced that she intends to run for Mayor of Guelph against the incumbent Cam Guthrie on October 22. Continue reading “Mlynarz Decides to Try for Mayor Instead”

GUELPH POLITICAST #130 – Reviewing the Service Review

Is our waste collection and processing the best it can possibly be? That was the simple question at the heart of the Service Review of the City of Guelph’s Solid Waste Department. Solid Waste was the first of three pilot Service Review projects approved by city council, an immense months long project that yielded 11 recommendations.This is the rest of the story. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #130 – Reviewing the Service Review”

Proposed South End Community Centre Needs 150 Square Feet and $59 Million

Progress on the South End Community Centre looks surprisingly speedy as city council was given an information report last Friday detailing the broad strokes, and some initial designs, for the City of Guelph’s next great recreational and community meeting place. It’s going to have a footprint of 150,000 square feet, and it will cost $59,130,204, but there’s still a lot of work to do before shovels are put in the ground. Continue reading “Proposed South End Community Centre Needs 150 Square Feet and $59 Million”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 14 Meeting?

If you’re one of the people that was upset with what the City of Guelph was cooking for the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan, then you may like what they’re cooking now. As we close Phase 2, it seems that public criticism has been taken in stride as we get ready to move to Phase 3. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 14 Meeting?”

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole for June 5, 2018

This month’s Committee of the Whole meeting will try and not break any kinds of records for length. 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 committee meeting, you can follow me on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole for June 5, 2018”

Guelph-Wellington’s a Smart City, as Pitch Passes First Round of Competition

In April, the City of Guelph and Wellington County revealed their submission for the Federal Government’s Smart City Challenge: the creation of the Canada’s first circular food economy. As luck would have it, the selection committee liked what Guelph and Wellington are offering, and now we’re off to round two. Continue reading “Guelph-Wellington’s a Smart City, as Pitch Passes First Round of Competition”

GUELPH POLITICAST #122 – Smart Cities Challenge

It sounds a bit like a reality show. Infrastructure Canada is challenging municipalities, regional governments and First Nations communities from coast to coast to coast to use innovation, data, and technology to address one of the pressing issues of the 21st century. Guelph chose food, and this is a podcast about it. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #122 – Smart Cities Challenge”