Delivering

There’s no doubt that it is summer in the city! Before you head out for some much needed patio time, I wanted to reflect on some of the accomplishments this new City Council and I have achieved thus far. After the election on October 16th, we hit the ground running and I have been relentless in following through on key campaign commitments. Work began on building a new economic future for our city, on accelerating our leadership on energy and climate, building a more family-friendly Edmonton and more; work that will ensure Edmonton emerges as the creative, dynamic city we all want it to be.

What did we accomplish?

• I worked hard to enable free transit to accompanied kids 12 and under – making it easier for children to get to school, enabling families to move around our city, reducing isolation and building community
  
• After last year’s successful outdoor pool season, the City announced outdoor pools will, again, be free for all this summer
• The City’s Open Data team launched a “Kids Map of Edmonton” highlighting family-friendly locations throughout our city
• Four months ahead of schedule, on budget and just in time for summer, the City re-opened the Mill Creek Ravine Pedestrian Bridges
  
• I took action to reduce license fees for home-based businesses
• Hosted the Mayor’s Economic Summit to hear from business leaders on local economic development policy
• Spoke up for pipeline expansion
• Secured non-stop flight between Edmonton and San Francisco to support local innovators
• Used my annual State of the City address, to call urgently for innovation across all sectors to enhance our competitiveness and diversify our economy
  
• My office launched the Edmonton Declaration – a commitment to science-based policy-making that considers the carbon impact of cities beyond their boundaries. Now endorsed by city networks that represent over 3500 municipalities around the world, and has been signed on to by cities including: Montreal, Victoria, Hamilton, Guelph, Pittsburgh, Honolulu, Houston, Salt Lake City and Quito, Ecuador, and just last week by Enoch Cree Nation next door.
• I successfully lobbied for provincial PACE legislation that will make it easier for home and business owners to access funding to purchase things like solar panels and attach these costs to their property and not personal debt
• Council finalized plans and the route for the West LRT line
• I secured $1.5 billion in provincial transit funding to fund Edmonton’s next LRT priorities and secured a further provincial commitment to long-term transit investment for our city and region
• Council approved further, more comprehensive progress on the infill roadmap. This new plan commits to building the ‘missing middle’ and addressing the affordability gap of infill. It also lays out work to improve process timelines and consistency, better inform residents and more.
• After years of advocacy, and many conversations, I was elated to announce federal funding to separate trains from traffic on 50th street
• My office launched a lobbyist registry
• Council approved a Code of Conduct and Integrity Office to oversee Mayor and City Councillors to ensure greater oversight and more transparent practices
• I was asked by my colleagues to serve another term as Chair of Canada’s Big City Mayors group, which helps put Edmonton front and centre nationally

So, what’s up next?

Council’s biggest deliberations will come this fall when we discuss our three-year operating and four-year capital budgets. Our job is to ensure the City respects every tax dollar you give us, no matter what shape the economy is in. I can assure you, based on our budget discussion so far, that every elected Council representative takes this job incredibly seriously. Recently, there have been many conversations and misunderstandings circulating about property taxes and our City Budget. Here’s what I can tell you:

• In 2017 Council directed City Administration to find efficiencies, and were able to reallocate nearly $34.1 million in harvested savings (equivalent to roughly 2% of property taxes).
• In 2017 Council also passed the lowest tax increase in a decade, aiming for a balanced approach to city building. A modest increase that allowed us to continue with work like:
  • Fixing our neighbourhood roads and sidewalks
  • Building LRT, recreation centres, and fire halls
  • Maintaining river valley trails and bridges
  • Providing ongoing city services like garbage collection, infrastructure upgrades & more

I can also tell you that, as Council prepares for Budget 2018, we will continue to push Administration to find real, lasting efficiencies in our operations.

This year, there are many “asks” in front of Council and less certainty of funding to deliver these asks. This year, the provincial government reduced the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (our usual stream of infrastructure funding) with a promise to replace it with a more stable long-term. The next few months of negotiation with the province will be critical in getting a good deal that allows us to keep building and maintaining vital infrastructure. Edmonton is an economic driver for Alberta, and the long-term health and sustainability of our big city benefits the entire province, including the provincial government’s bottom line. I’ll be working to ensure this infrastructure deal progresses over the summer and into the fall. Stay tuned for updates.

It has been a busy nine months for this Council and we’re all very much looking forward to catching our breath ahead of a busy fall. I hope you enjoy the best that our city has to offer this summer and we’ll see you at the festivals!