Tag: Strong Mayor Powers

This Week at Council: Renoviction Bylaw Go and the Budget Conclusion!

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It was a busy week for city council business with two big meetings. Nay! Make that huge meetings!! At the regular meeting, council decided (again) to pursue a renoviction bylaw and a vacant home tax with immediate effect. The real money matters though was the budget decision meeting (although technically the budget was already decided and this was just adding amendments) and there was definitely some friction to talk about there. Let’s get into the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Renoviction Bylaw Go and the Budget Conclusion!” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 26, 2025

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It’s the epic conclusion to the 2026 budget confirmation process! 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 council meeting, you can follow along during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 26, 2025” →

This Week at Council: The 2026 Budget So Far…

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

The time has come to catch up on the 2026 budget process so far. Once again the mayor has re-written the budget (or had staff re-write it to be more accurate) in the name of affordability, but there remains little in the way of relief and there are still struggles between all things the City needs to do and all the other things that people want it to do. Presented here are the recaps of the budget presentation, and the budget delegation night… Continue reading “This Week at Council: The 2026 Budget So Far…” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 18, 2025

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

This meeting is all about you and your thoughts about the 2026 budget! 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 council meeting, you can follow along during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for November 18, 2025” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the November 26, 2025 Meeting?

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

The time has come for some budget decisions. The final countdown is underway and zero hour is this particular Wednesday morning when council sits to confirm the 2026 municipal budget! At stake is the difficult balancing act between affordability, maintaining service levels, and coping with the growth of the city, and there will be no easy answers for the ones voting in the council chambers. Let’s look at the long odds in this preview… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the November 26, 2025 Meeting?” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the November 18, 2025 Meeting?

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Do you have thoughts about the 2026 budget? Have you been eager to share them in a public setting in front of all of city council? Can you condense all your thoughts in five minutes or less and maybe use some PowerPoint to sell your points to the city’s decision makers? Well sign up now to delegate to city council on this special night for delegations because you may not be the only one with certain thoughts about how city hall spends your money!! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the November 18, 2025 Meeting?” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for October 29, 2025

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

The 2026 budget confirmation process finally begins with the presentation from City of Guelph senior staff! 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 council meeting, you can follow along with the thread below, or you can watch the whole meeting for yourself by watching it on the City’s website here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for October 29, 2025” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #492 – A Broken Political Scene (feat. Doug Craig)

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It was about this time two years ago that former Guelph CAO Scott Stewart told city council in an open meeting that there needed to be a new deal for Ontario municipalities; that they were trying to solve 21st century problems with 19th century rules. As Guelph tackles another difficult budget season, one regional councillor is putting this issue in stark terms: Ontario’s councils are “on the verge of life support”! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #492 – A Broken Political Scene (feat. Doug Craig)” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 29, 2025 Meeting?

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Budget seasons is finally here! Now’s your chance to warm up those calculators and start formatting the spreadsheets because at this meeting we’re going to start crunching the numbers for the confirmation of the 2026 Guelph budget (the City of Guelph edition)! This promises to be another tough budget with affordability front of mind with the city staff continually try to find new efficiencies, but for now, here’s the opening proposal… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 29, 2025 Meeting?” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #487 – Inside the Mind of a CAO (feat. Stacy Hushion)

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StrategyCorp puts out a report every year called the Ontario Municipal Chief Administrative Officer Survey. The CAOs profiled have some strong feelings about Strong Mayor Powers, intergovernmental relations, housing, growth, financing, and and more, but what’s interesting is not what the CAOs had to say, it’s the fact that they said it. What are CAOs thinking when they’re given the cloak of anonymity? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #487 – Inside the Mind of a CAO (feat. Stacy Hushion)” →