A Word from Gian-Carlo
Dear Ward 9 Neighbours,
I am overjoyed to be heading into the Holiday Season after a period of significant toil that began with helping Ward 9 dig out from the flood, extending through a campaign that was fraught with big questions regarding the path we want our City to take into the future and staying focused on that on track as this new Council has begun the task of working together. I feel really good about how everything has turned out and is evolving Through it all I’ve been humbled at the amazingness of Team Ward 9, my awesome volunteers, and by the citizenship of many people we’ve had the opportunity to interact with. On behalf of myself, Team Ward 9, and our families, we wish you and your family the very best of the Holiday Season, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year flush with all the opportunity, excitement, and deserved optimism that we have the great fortune, as Calgarians, of enjoying.
On the Team Ward 9 front, the last three years taught us that effectively looking after the needs of well over 90,000 constituents, the incredible diversity of Ward 9’s neighbourhoods, and Calgary’s second largest economic engine (the SE Industrial Area) requires more resources than we have at our disposal. In response to this challenge, I’m extremely pleased to be trying something new this year: we are going extremely lean on our office budget so we can bring a third team member on board. In addition, I feel like we have assembled exactly the right team and between myself, Alax Carey, Lindsay Luhnau, and Lauren Trevitt, we look forward to providing you top-notch constituency service and advancing my Great Neighbourhoods vision.
As for the start of our four year term, I’m really pleased with how things have begun. Council appointed me to every committee I wanted, so I am now in exactly the position I want to be in to influence our shift towards Great Neighbourhoods. The Budget we passed at the end of November was another major win with the following highlights:
- $520 Million dedicated to a fund to build the “Green Line” (the name The Route Ahead has given to the combined North Central and South East LRT lines once they’re connected through the downtown);
- funding dedicated to begin construction immediately on the Glenmore Interchange at Ogden Road and 24th Street SE (a key piece of transportation infrastructure for the Green Line, Ward 9, and the City);
- funding for executing the Poverty Reduction Strategy;
- funding for community storm water upgrading;
- increased support of existing transit service; and,
- key support for our civic partners, and specifically flood resiliency for the Zoo and funding for Heritage Park’s 2014 centennial.
I’m extremely pleased to have these significant capital project funds to support the pursuit of Great Neighbourhoods and I’m super excited to begin the next four years with funding in place to envision a better future for our community through transit and infrastructure improvements, and integrated neighbourhood revitalization. Finally, now that Team Ward 9 is adequately staffed, we will be recommitting to these semi-annual updates.
Thank you,
Gian-Carlo Carra
Your Ward 9 City Councillor
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Notices of Motion
(Since last Newsletter in May 2013)
Blank Walls – NM2013-26 (Sept 9/13)
Council Tax Cancellation for Bridge Attainable Housing Society– NM2013-21 (July 29/13)
Restaurant Licensed and Food Service Only – Neighbourhood– NM2013-22 (July 29/13)
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Meet the new members of Team Ward 9
Lauren Trevitt joined Team Ward 9 in November of 2013. In the three years before that, she had filled in at the office to cover leaves. Lauren comes from a background of Communications. She has a Bachelor of Communications from the U of C as well as a Diploma in Broadcast News from SAIT. Lauren also has had her own Event Planning Company for the past 6 years and works on many charity events, golf tournaments and fundraisers outside of the office. She is extremely organized and keeps the office on track. Lauren was born and raised in Calgary and loves the city (especially Stampede week!). In her spare time, Lauren enjoys spending time with her two Yorkshire Terriers, being creative and volunteering.
Alaxandra (Alax) Carey came from a small fishing community called Witless Bay, located on the southern shore of Newfoundland. She moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland in 2008 to complete an Honours degree in Political Science from Memorial University of Newfoundland. While attending university, Alax volunteered with a variety of organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, John Howard Society, and the Political Science Student Executive Board. Her focus in Political Science was primarily on Public Policy and incorporating Local Ecological Knowledge in existing renewable resource policy. Upon graduation, Alax began working for the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural Development in Newfoundland. This summer Alax moved to Calgary for new education and employment opportunities. She started working with the Legislative Assembly of Alberta until joining Team Ward 9 in November. Alax’s passion and knowledge with smaller communities make her a strong advocate for community unity and engagement within the greater Calgary. She is very excited to work with the people of Ward 9 on an interactive, municipal level.
Neighbourhood Feature – Dover
Our team is very excited to have Dover as the featured neighbourhood in this edition. Dover is one of Ward 9’s unique neighbourhoods yet, sadly, it is not geographically connected to our other neighbourhoods as major roads and/or rail cut it off from Inglewood and Ogden. Dover is a gem in Calgary and we expect to see a lot of interesting things happening in Dover over the next four years.
Dover is neat because it has many committed volunteers; some community association board members have been giving their time and energy to the community for over 20 years! In 2012, they celebrated their 40th Anniversary and, among other things, had the Dover Photo Initiative. During the Dover Photo Initiative, Grade 6 students were given cameras to take pictures of the neighbourhood and put together an exhibition with their photos. Check out the Ward 9 TV on the project for details.
Dover also has one of the nicest regional parks in the Central SE part of the city. Valleyview Park boasts baseball diamonds, a great playground and seasonal spray park, beach volleyball courts and an artificial pond.
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Featured Issue Update – 18th Street
Team Ward 9 shares some exciting budget developments that we hope will help alleviate some traffic on 18th Street SE. Check out our website.
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Featured Ward 9 TV – Episode 34 – Dover CATwalk
In this episode, Gian-Carlo learns about the Dover CATwalks.
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Calgary Road’s 7 Day Snow and Ice Control Plan
See calgary.ca for information. (Written by City Administration)
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Calgary Newsroom – City seeks opinions on commercial activity in Calgary parks
The City of Calgary Parks is gathering public feedback through an online survey on how parks are used and should be used for commercial activities. The survey will be open for one month and can be accessed at www.calgary.ca/parks.
Currently, The City has a limited framework for permitting commercial activity within parks. Permits are granted on a case-by-case basis, and research is needed to develop a policy that improves the permitting process and reflects citizens’ values.
“Commercial activities can contribute to the vibrancy of our open spaces, and help improve people’s experience in our parks,” said Catherine Stotschek, Parks Commercial Business Services Lead. “Buying a cup of hot chocolate at an outdoor skating rink or attending a concert are good examples.”
Stotschek says the goal of the survey is to understand how to balance the needs of park users with appropriate commercial activities in the right locations.
Parks is consulting with key stakeholders, and would like to hear what citizens think through the online survey. Feedback from the survey will help Parks develop a policy framework for permitting commercial activities. The framework will identify consistent principles and processes to ensure where permitting is appropriate, that the permitting process is fair, priced appropriately and reflects citizen values.
Parks is working with a Canadian-based retail and commercial development company to conduct stakeholder and public engagement. The company will also research best practices and innovative ideas carried out by other municipalities.
The framework will be presented to Council in 2014.
Parks values input from citizens. Please take the survey at www.calgary.ca/parks. The survey will remain open until December 27, 2013 at 4:00 p.m.
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Contact us
Ward09@calgary.ca
403.268.5330
www.calgary.ca
Mailing Address
Cllr. Gian-Carlo Carra
c/o Office of the Councillor
PO Box 2100, Stn ‘M’
Mail Code # 8001A
Calgary, AB T2P 2M5
Links
Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra’s Website
http://www.gccarra.ca
City website
http://www.calgary.ca
City Council Agenda and Minutes
http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/