CommonSenseEdmonton

• On Tuesday, there will be a City Council Public Hearing at 9:30 am to address several zoning amendments, including one in Westmount that seeks to rezone a large area at 105 Avenue and 124 Street. There are plans to construct a large-scale apartment building reaching up to 85 meters tall, covering a footprint of 850 square meters.
• There will be a meeting of City Council on Wednesday at 9:30 am. Council will review and make decisions on previously discussed items, including knife sales, potential fare gates at certain LRT stations, tax options for remediated derelict properties, and the 2024 Affordable Housing Grant Awards, along with amendments to various community plans. Should the meeting not conclude on time, it will continue on Thursday at 9:30 am.
• At 12:00 pm on Thursday, there will be a Special Audit Committee meeting to discuss a private item labelled “External Auditor - Non-Audit Service Request”. On Friday, there will be a meeting of the Special City Manager and City Auditor Performance Evaluation Committee at 9:30 am to discuss a consultant update, followed by a Non-Regular Meeting of City Council at 1:30 pm. During the latter meeting, a private Intergovernmental Update will be discussed.

Common Sense Edmonton has launched a petition to stop the 6.6% tax hike in Edmonton. You can sign by clicking this link or following the link below.

• There is plenty going on at City Hall this week, starting with the Agenda Review Committee meeting at 9:00 am on Tuesday, followed by a City Council meeting a little later in the morning, at 9:30 am. Council will cover rental licenses for basement suites, garage suites, and short term rentals, a Transit Safety and Security Interim Update, and a Spring General Repealing Bylaw, which corrects errors and removes dozens of bylaws that no longer are applicable.
• On Wednesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a City Manager and City Auditor Performance Evaluation Committee meeting which will consider a private verbal report. Later in the day, at 1:30 pm, there will be a City Council Public Hearing to discuss 15 minor zoning amendments.
• At 9:30 am on Thursday, there will be an Audit Selection Committee meeting to discuss recruitment and candidate shortlisting. This will be done in-camera. On Friday, there is time scheduled at 9:30 am for the continuation of Tuesday’s City Council meeting should it not wrap up as scheduled. Also on Friday, there will be a City Council Non Regular meeting at 2:00 pm to consider the reports of the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee, the Women’s Advocacy Voice of Edmonton Committee, and the City of Edmonton Youth Council.

 #commonsenseedmonton, #thisweekinedmonton

I receive THIS WEEK IN EDMONTON posts from Common Sense Edmonton. On Saturday I attended Common Sense Edmonton' s Pints & Politics gathering and met a number of their supporters. Common Sense Edmonton is a grass roots organization that depends on volunteer support so if that is of interest to you contact them.

• It’s a full week at City Hall, starting with a City Council meeting this morning at 9:30 am. There’s a large agenda, including both an operating and capital financial update. Edmonton is also proposing it be allowed to levy a special tax to replace alley lighting. How do we not have money for street lamps when our operational budget is $3 billion dollars?
• Tuesday, at 9:30 am, the City Manager and City Auditor Performance Evaluation Committee will meet to receive a consultant's update. Afterwards, at 1:30 pm, there will be a City Council Public Hearing to discuss the usual zoning amendments. City Council will continue on Wednesday at 9:30 am should it not conclude on Monday. Finally, on Wednesday at 1:30 pm, there will be a non-regular meeting of the Community and Public Services Committee to discuss appointments to various boards and commissions.
• On Thursday, the Urban Planning Committee is set to meet at 9:30 am to discuss memberships of boards and commissions. On Friday, there are three meetings. At 9:30 am, the Audit Committee will present a few audits, after which the Audit Selection Committee will meet from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm to discuss Audit Committee membership and recruitment, and finally, there will be a non-regular meeting of the Executive Committee to discuss appointments to its boards and commissions. 

#CommonSenseEdmonton, #cityCouncil, #volunteersupport

We're hosting our second ever in-person event on Saturday, March 12.

Yes, you read that right, a real, live, in-person event!

We had been hoping to be able to host more events since our inaugural event last summer, but as you may have noticed, certain issues beyond our control conspired against our plan. 

Anyways, we're organizing some casual drinks this weekend and we'd love to see you there.

Where: The Transit Hotel Smokehouse and BBQ (12720 Fort Road) in the Private Dining Room.

When: Saturday, March 12th from 5:00pm – 8:00 pm.

Feel free to arrive/leave anytime during that window as there's no formal agenda, just a chance to get together with like-minded Edmontonians, meet some of the Common Sense Edmonton team, and chat about municipal, provincial, and/or federal politics. 

The Transit Hotel has also said that if anyone wishes to stay past 8:00 pm, that’s fine too. 

Please send us an email (edmonton@commonsensealberta.ca) or RSVP on Facebook if you're planning to attend, so we can have a rough idea of numbers.

Hope to see you on Saturday!

#CommonSenseEdmonton, #municipalpolitics, #provincialpolitics, #federalpolitics, #TransitHotelSmokehouse