It’s that time of year for lists, a glorious time for ranking and evaluation people, places and things that happened in 2016, and Guelph Politico is no exception to the trend. So submitted for your approval below are the Top 10 Political Stories of the Year. Share. Discuss. Dissent. It’s all good. Continue reading “Top 10 Guelph Political Stories of 2016”
So you might have followed along last night with the Guelph Politico live-blog of the council meeting, or you may have watched it on Rogers, or read some of the articles online this morning. For me, I wanted clarity on a couple of issues, so I reached out to James Krauter, Acting City Treasurer and General Manager of Finance, for his expertise. Continue reading “#GuelphBudget Follow-Up: The State of Transit and Levy Timeline”
Despite the fact that the firing of Guelph Transit General Manager Phil Meagher has yet to be explained, the City of Guelph is proceeding into the future with the announcement today that they’ve hired a bran new general manager. Mike Spicer, fresh from being the Director of Burlington Transit, has come aboard Transit Services in the Royal City to lead our system through difficult times. Continue reading “Burlington Transit Director Spicer New Guelph Transit Manager”
It was about a week ago that the City of Guelph quietly fired Transit General Manager Phil Meagher. No reason was given to the public about why such a key person in senior staff was removed, especially before the annual budget process was about to begin, but does the agenda for the upcoming Committee-of-the-Whole meeting offer an insight into why? Continue reading “Is this Why Phil Meagher Was Fired?”
The post on the City website is brief, and to the point: “The City of Guelph has parted ways with Phil Meagher, general manager of Guelph Transit. We thank Phil for his contributions and wish him well in his future endeavours.” Somehow, the way this was buried on the City’s website, it’s doubtful that the City wishes Meagher well in the future. Continue reading “City Quietly Cuts Transit Manager Loose”
Since Guelph Politico first published an article on the sudden cancellation of the Free Ride Friday program there’s been a lot of confusion about who’s responsible and why. So as Storm fans are left by the side of the road without their usual ride downtown, the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Public Services at the City of Guelph admits that it was the City’s decision. Continue reading “It Was the City’s Choice to Cancel Free Ride “Perk” for Storm Fans, Says Clack”
he Guelph Storm celebrated their home opener this past Friday, and fans are hoping for a better season of hockey than they got last year. Some fans were also probably hoping to take advantage of Free Ride Fridays, a promotion by Guelph Transit to give free rides on game nights to ticket holders, but those fans likely got a rude surprise because Transit is no longer taking hockey tickets as currency when the Storm are in town. Continue reading “Loss of Ridership, Revenue During Summer Means No Free Rides for Storm Fans”
Oh what a year it’s been for those that take the bus in the city. First, the price of passes went up, then service was cut down to one-hour on statutory holidays, and then the loss of peak service for the summer seemed to throw a lot of things into chaos until city council conceded that they had created a problem in trying to save the city money and put on extra buses. That’s a lot to talk about and I’m tired of talking to myself about it. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #44 – Steven Petric, Transit Advocate”
The good news for transit users is that some relief will come next week with extra buses being added to routes that are routinely behind schedule. The bad news is consideration of the following question: Just what the heck has the City been doing so far as Transit’s management, and why did it end up taking two whole months to fix the problem created when council voted to cut peak service for the summer last December? Continue reading “Confusion Continues as Council Covers Misstep With Transit”
For four times in four weeks, I’ve been on the #10 Imperial bus going downtown only to have the bus idle at the West End Rec Centre for apparently no reason. The most recent time happened Monday evening, where despite being two minutes late, the bus stood at the Rec Centre for three minutes, and not even in the place where the bus is supposed to stop. Why is this happening? Is it a silent protest? An admission of defeat? Why are the dedicated people that use Guelph Transit, and stand by it through all the short-sighted cuts and fare increases, have to constantly wonder if they’ll make it to their destinations on time? Continue reading “Transit’s Long Stop. Why Does This Keep Happening?”
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