Calgary Minute: Council Returns, Committees Appointed, and City Staff Turnover

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

This Week In Calgary:

• There’s only one meeting scheduled for this week, but it’s a big one. The new City Council’s first Organizational Meeting Of Council will start at 9:30 am today.
  
  
• The meeting agenda is pretty full, with thirteen items on the agenda already, including the official appointment of Councillors to City Boards, Commissions and Committees, the appointment of Councillors to other groups like wholly-owned subsidiaries of the City and a Climate Fund, and the appointment of members of the public to certain boards and groups.
  
  
• Council will also discuss a motion providing Authorization to Cover Meeting Costs of Council Representative to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The motion states that Council agrees to cover all reasonable costs of attendance at meetings of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Seems like a good idea.

Last Week In Calgary:

• Calgary’s first-ever female Mayor, Jyoti Gondek, was officially sworn into office on Monday in front of Justice John Rooke, the Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queens Bench. Gondek then administered the oath of office to all the newly elected and incumbent city council members, except one. Councillor Sean Chu was also sworn in by Justice John Rooke after Mayor Gondek had refused to do so.
  
  
• Mayor Gondek is wasting no time putting her stamp on City Hall either, with Calgary Police Commission chair, Bonita Croft, and integrity commissioner, Meryl Whittaker both announcing they are leaving their positions. Officials are claiming these departures were planned well in advance, but those of us who’ve been around City politics know how this works. If a new Mayor wants new personnel they tend to get what they want, and we suspect there will be a few more "planned-well-in-advance" departures in the coming weeks.
  
  
• The City’s snow-clearing crews saw their first snowfall of the season, clearing 20-30 cm that fell over the weekend. Road conditions were slick, but not unbearable. With winter just around the corner, it’s better late than never to get those winter tires on.

-----

Donate:

Common Sense Calgary doesn't accept any government funding and never will. We think you should be free to choose, for yourself, which organizations to support. If you're in a position to contribute financially, you can make a donation here.

-----

Share:

If you're not in a position to donate, we understand, but if you appreciate our work, you can help by spreading our message. Please email this post to your friends, share it on Facebook or Twitter, and help make sure every Calgarian knows what's really going on at City Hall.