[Bigtime]

This is gold right here:

But Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot — a fiscal hawk who pushed hard to trim the budget — said he never intended for city staff to take the scissors to the street-cleaning program.

Councillor votes for tax cuts, is shocked when services provided by the city decrease.

Councillor Hard Poo Man with some even headed thoughts:

But Pootmans said reducing the service this year may be a good way of gauging how much Calgarians are willing to give up to avoid tax increases.

“Frankly, I would prefer if we did do the job as well as we have in the past,” Pootmans said. “But maybe this is an example of economy and sensitivity to taxpayers’ dollars — and we’ll see what their limits are.”

The bike community/advocacy group chimes in:

Not everyone agrees, however, that street sweeping is a luxury. Already, word has spread through Calgary’s cycling community that there may be more gravel and grit on the roadways this summer.

“Certain cyclists have even been asking if it’s a liability, if the city leaves the roads in poor condition,” said Sean Carter, cyclist and owner of Calgary store BikeBike. “From all my experience riding, gravel is actually more dangerous than ice or snow. Sometimes you can’t see it, sometimes you can’t see how loose it is ... it can be pretty deadly stuff to encounter if you’re not ready for it.”