Survey Responses:

Question 1.1:

Do you think municipal taxes should:

a) Reduce in absolute terms
b) Reduce in real terms (grow, but slower than inflation)
c) Reduce in relative terms (grow, but slower than inflation plus population growth)
d) Stay the same (grow, but only in line with inflation plus population growth)
e) Increase a bit (grow in line with the city’s Municipal Price Index)
f) Increase more (grow faster than the city’s Municipal Price Index)

Answer 1.1 [Choose One]:

a) Reduce in absolute terms

Question 1.2:

Comments?

Answer/Comments 1.2:

Taxes are much too high. Period.

Question 2.1:

Would you vote in favour of allocating any tax dollars or giving any subsidy towards a new stadium/arena?

Answer 2.1 [Yes/No Only]:

Yes.

Question 2.2:

If yes, how much and in what form would these taxes take (direct cash, land, subsidy, indirect, etc), and why do you support public dollars being directed towards a corporation?

Answer/Comments 2.2:

Make a deal. We need an arena. Public-Private Partnerships are the way things are done in Calgary and in Canada. That is the reality we work with. A deal that is good for both sides, respecting taxpayers, is entirely within reach - once the occupant in the Mayor's Office changes. A repairing of the relationship is paramount. The detailed negotiations need to happen man-to-man, not through the media.

Question 3.1:

Recent research on Calgary’s City Council found that council spends nearly a quarter of its’ time meeting in private (in camera). Do you agree that this is too much time spent in private?

Answer 3.1 [Yes/No Only]:

Yes.

Question 3.2:

If so, what would you do to fix this? Which topics do you believe should be discussed behind closed doors and why?

Answer/Comments 3.2:

It's obscene. The most amount of time spent in private of any City Council in Canada. What are they hiding? That's for them to answer...

Question 4.1:

From the $470,000 Blue Ring, to the $236,000 for a “Poop Palace”, and now another $500,000 for Bowfort Towers, council has consistently failed to engage with Calgarians about which public Art projects their tax dollars are spent on. Do you support continuing to use taxpayer dollars to fund art projects for the city?

Answer 4.1 [Yes/No Only]:

No. 

Question 4.2:

If yes, why do you think council and administration have repeatedly failed on this issue, and what guidelines should be used to ensure Calgarians are happy with the results in future?

Answer/Comments 4.2:

This is a mess. Shut it down. It's not even real art.

Question 5:

How can council support small businesses?

Answer 5:

By getting out of the way. Government trips all over itself saying it's helping, but we all know it's just bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo. The answer is to cut business taxes substantially, find efficiencies, cut the red tape (bylaws, permits, licenses, fees, fines, levies, etc., etc....), and facilitate small business creation. Small business owners are more than able to function well if City Hall would just stop hindering them with excessive regulation. Oh, and change the guy in the Mayor's Office, who is currently an active enemy of business in this city.

Question 6.1:

Do you support the current plan for construction of the Green Line?

Answer 6.1 [Yes/No Only]:

No.

Question 6.2:

The construction of the Green Line was approved based on a cost-benefit analysis that assumed the project would be completed two years earlier than now projected, and at a lower construction cost for the entire line than is now estimated for half of the line. If the costs increase again or the project is further delayed, would you continue to support it, and why?

Answer/Comment 6.2:

Absolutely not. The cost overruns on this are a sin. Some reliable estimates on this now have the whole thing costing $20 Billion. I wonder what the auditor will say? ;) Back to the drawing-board on this one. Taxpayers deserve better. Surely public transport doesn't have to always be about burning money?

Question 7.1:

In July, City Council voted against a motion to hold a referendum/plebiscite on whether Calgary should bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics bid. Do you support holding a referendum / plebiscite on whether Calgary should bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics bid?

Answer 7.1 [Yes/No Only]:

Yes.

Question 7.2:

Why do you support/oppose a public vote? Should the results of a vote should be binding?

Answer/Comment 7.2:

It's a democracy. Let the people decide. Make it binding. Beautiful.