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]:

c) Reduce in relative terms (grow, but slower than inflation plus population growth)

Question 1.2:

Comments?

Answer/Comments 1.2:

[No Answer Provided]

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]:

[No Answer Provided]

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:

I will support the allocation of taxpayers’ money to the stadium/ Arena if it demonstrates a direct return on the taxpayers’ investment. Things to keep in mind are:

Projects often go over initial budget estimate

Hidden costs

The ticket sales and money revenue may account for existing money being spent in other parts of the community.

How could the arena open Calgary attracting new business and economic growth

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:

Calgary’s City Council spends more time meeting in secret this term than last term and this may be alarming, considering bigger projects such as the Green Line, Arena and Olympic bid. While city must have some confidentiality, it must still keep in mind that it is citizen driven and citizen first. I believe most of the discussion should be public. The most aim should be to reduce the amount of in camera discussion to be transparent and accountable government.

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 Answer Provided]

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:

Council have field because there were no guideline on the process and impact the art will have in our community and economy.Setting aside 1% of a government infrastructure budget for public art was not the bigger issues. The main issue was how that one percent impacts the employment and interacting businesses and jobs.

In addition, Calgary's policy of setting that 1 per cent of each infrastructure project budget to add public art into that project without clearly having a framework may have resulted in negative result.

Some of examples, a LED light display on the side of a waste-water lift station. That are did not really addressed the grass roots issues South East Calgary.

Our council should:

create a selection process for public art to ensure better outcomes
Encourage local businesses to contribute in sense of community by assisting in requiring arts

One of issues that I heard during door knocking is that business owners usually lives in SW or NW part of the city while doing business NE. This is a great chance to show that the care about the nieghbourhood. An example is Encana Corporation and Cenovus Energy had contributed in one of the most photographed piece of public art in Calgary – the Wonderland sculpture.

Question 5:

How can council support small businesses?

Answer 5:

To support small business and entrepreneurs, our council need to:

To examine the unnecessary regulations and red tapes.

Prioritize safety and acceptable standard but keep in mind that entrepreneurs and small businesses are important to a community and may want to reduce the business licensing fees to encourage businesses.

Improve the processes and better respond to businesses needs.

Provide positive and accessible way for businesses to interface with regulations and permitting.

Question 6.1:

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

Answer 6.1 [Yes/No Only]:

[No Answer Provided]

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:

I must have to examine the document first.

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:

Referendum/ plebiscite would give citizens direct inputs on whether we should or not continue to study the bid. As it was stated, “Calgary is capable of hosting the Olympics in 2026 — but whether or not that's a good idea remains an open question that can't yet be answered.” The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee (CBEC) has expensed $3 million already and found out that it is feasible to Olympics in 2026, but it did not mean that we should bid. In fact, they have said it will require more work. This is clearly something that will cause the taxpayers another millions to just find out whether yes/ not to bid. I believe it should only cause them a vote, their vote to make it clear whether we should continue exploring bid or not.