I work for Mayor Nenshi, ask me anything!

[CaptainYooh]

Bunk, two questions:

1. I believe CPC abolition is being discussed as part of Transforming Planning. True? Where does Mayor's Office stand on this issue?
2. I heard that another major PDA Department reorganization program code-named "George" is being discussed along with Transforming Planning. True? What is that all about?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Rathji

What's the deal with moving the pedestrian crossings back from the traffic circle in McKenzie Towne?

I know I am just repeating this, but it seems like it got totally missed with the deluge of posts about the subsidy stuff.

Any ideas?

[trew]

Originally Posted by nik-

I don't remember getting the survey, but from what I've heard, the wording was pretty odd. Either way, they need to move that crosswalk.

The city held an information session at the HSCA community association after stuffing flyers into mailboxes. Only people who showed up at that session participated in the vote. (It wasn't the typical community demographic, slanted more to Seniors and House owners).

The survey was confusing, and had three exclusive choices:

1) Move crosswalk to 8th street and restrict left hand turns
2) Move crosswalk to 8th street and restrict right turns during rush hour.
3) Leave it at 7th street.

- First off, they created a three horse race and split the vote for the crosswalk move over two options. (When you added the votes for 1&2, it was very close)
- Second, the restriction on right turns during rush hour is already in place, but the question made it look like they wanted to add extra restrictions to vehicle traffic for option #2, when really they were referring to the status quo.

They published the survey results and all the comments for several months afterwards. From the comments it was clear that people didn't understand what was being asked and were mostly concerned about adding extra vehicle restrictions to 8th street and less about the crosswalk itself.

If they had asked two questions they would have probably got a different result.

i.e.

a) Should the crosswalk be moved to 8th street? Yes/No

b) If Yes for (a), once the crosswalk is moved, should we also modify the turn in/out access to 8th Street?

But that didn't get asked, and now they keep adding instruction signs to try and dissuade people from cutting across Memorial.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Bunk, two questions:

1. I believe CPC abolition is being discussed as part of Transforming Planning. True? Where does Mayor's Office stand on this issue?
2. I heard that another major PDA Department reorganization program code-named "George" is being discussed along with Transforming Planning. True? What is that all about?

You are well-connected with info, aren't you? One of these days I'd love to know who you are!

Good questions. A big part of Transforming Planning is looking at the decision-making framework. It's what's being discussed right now in the working group and internal advisory group (which myself and the Mayor are a part of). Calgary Planning Commission is a big point of conversation - what role should it play? What should its mandate be? Is its function overlapping with Urban Design Review Panel? If there is peer review, where should it lie in the process. And, with everything in this transformation asking questions like "should it exist?" are being asked and discussed. No firm position yet, but most people seem to think changes are needed.

Re: geORGe. This is a big organization review, happening in concert with Transforming Planning. One of the big issues identified is that the organizational structure within PDA (as well as the relationships across business units) may not be working in favour of the outcomes everyone's looking for. So for instance, should policy development and implementation be so separate? How do you break down silos between departments and business units? Should we be more geographically oriented and multidisciplinary focused in our structures? That sort of thing. It's a huge thing.

Funny enough the name geORGe, came from Rollin Stanley mis-reading something on some slide-presentation or something about this reorganization project asking "what's... George?" It ended up sticking.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I know I am just repeating this, but it seems like it got totally missed with the deluge of posts about the subsidy stuff.

Any ideas?

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation...-upgrades.aspx

[kevman]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Maybe Bunk can do some digging on this, as it happened before I became a Sunnysider. But I had heard the city sent out a survey in regards to crosswalk options for the Peace bridge, apparently there were 3 answers but the wording pretty much eliminated there being any hope for the crossing at the Peace bridge, so it was doomed to not be selected no matter what.

I'm fuzzy on it, but have heard about it.

It is ridiculous to not have the crossing right there, move the crossing to that location and eliminate the one to the east of it.

I did live in Sunnyside at the time and somehow did not get the survey?

Here are the results:
http://www.calgary.ca/_layouts/cocis...edirect=1&sf=1

Judging by the comments it was also not made clear that the 7th st. crossing would be removed. There are more than a few "I don't want 7th and 8th st closed to vehicles"

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Bunk, two questions:

1. I believe CPC abolition is being discussed as part of Transforming Planning. True? Where does Mayor's Office stand on this issue?
2. I heard that another major PDA Department reorganization program code-named "George" is being discussed along with Transforming Planning. True? What is that all about?

I know we are all Canadian fuddy duddies here but, someone needs to be hired at the city to come up with cool nick names. George is not cool and should be a fireable offence whoever came up with that.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I know we are all Canadian fuddy duddies here but, someone needs to be hired at the city to come up with cool nick names. George is not cool and should be a fireable offence whoever came up with that.

As I said above - it came about by accident, but stuck.

[CaptainYooh]

Thanks, Bunk. As much as our opinions differ on various matters, I truly respect your openness and willingness to provide credible and interesting information on various municipal issues.

Originally Posted by Bunk

...Calgary Planning Commission is a big point of conversation - what role should it play? What should its mandate be? Is its function overlapping with Urban Design Review Panel? If there is peer review, where should it lie in the process. And, with everything in this transformation asking questions like "should it exist?" are being asked and discussed...

My take on this: CPC has made itself redundant long time ago when Druh polarized it so much. Most of the controversial issues make their way to Public Hearing (or SDAB) anyway regardless of CPC recommendation. And most of the non-controversial issues can get approved at the File Manager's level without taking significant time and resources of the CPC. As you well know, some major cities don't even have this layer of approval and function well.

Originally Posted by Bunk

...

Re: geORGe. This is a big organization review, happening in concert with Transforming Planning. One of the big issues identified is that the organizational structure within PDA (as well as the relationships across business units) may not be working in favour of the outcomes everyone's looking for. So for instance, should policy development and implementation be so separate? How do you break down silos between departments and business units? Should we be more geographically oriented and multidisciplinary focused in our structures? That sort of thing. It's a huge thing...

These big reviews are always scary, because noone knows what's going on for a long time. I can name three issues that I think need attention desperately:

1. Disconnect between LUPP and DBA results in policies that are difficult if not impossible to follow.
2. Accountability for decisions is completely absent. Decisions on files must be rendered within specified times.
3. Disconnect between transportation, engineering, parks and PDA is mind–boggling. Departments don't like talking to each other and when they do, they don't like accommodating each others concerns. A mechanism of someone making a decision after hearing all comments needs to be looked at and improved.

But I am sure you guys know about all of these already... When is GeORGe scheduled to be completed?

[CrispyGriz]

Bunk,

I am currently enrolled at SAIT in the hospitality management program and part of the course is doing a project on green technology related to the hospitality industry.

I was wondering if the city has any programs or incentives directed towards helping and/or encouraging restaurants within the city to try and become more environmentally friendly. The project i am working on is based around composting within restaurants and the cost and benefits of said programs.

I have found a couple of links about the LEAF program that restaurants can become certified in but was wondering if there were others directly related to and supported by the city of Calgary. Ideally i would like to know if any programs exist relating directly to composting as it would benefit me the most, but any programs the city runs or supports relating to green advances within the Hospitality industry would not only benefit myself moving forward but could be used to help my classmates as well in their projects.

Thanks in advance for anything you might be able to direct me towards.

[surferguy]

Hey Bunk,

Any idea of the amount of money the city ends up with by returning bottles (for deposits) found in the blue carts every year. Just curious. My guess would be that is it a significant number.

Cheers

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by CrispyGriz

Bunk,

I am currently enrolled at SAIT in the hospitality management program and part of the course is doing a project on green technology related to the hospitality industry.

I was wondering if the city has any programs or incentives directed towards helping and/or encouraging restaurants within the city to try and become more environmentally friendly. The project i am working on is based around composting within restaurants and the cost and benefits of said programs.

I have found a couple of links about the LEAF program that restaurants can become certified in but was wondering if there were others directly related to and supported by the city of Calgary. Ideally i would like to know if any programs exist relating directly to composting as it would benefit me the most, but any programs the city runs or supports relating to green advances within the Hospitality industry would not only benefit myself moving forward but could be used to help my classmates as well in their projects.

Thanks in advance for anything you might be able to direct me towards.

No, I don't believe there are any special programs or incentives for restaurants in terms of environmental friendliness. Sorry.

[CrispyGriz]

Originally Posted by Bunk

No, I don't believe there are any special programs or incentives for restaurants in terms of environmental friendliness. Sorry.

This is sort of what i expected as i couldn't find anything in my searches. Thanks for the quick reply, it is much appreciated.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Hey Bunk,

Any idea of the amount of money the city ends up with by returning bottles (for deposits) found in the blue carts every year. Just curious. My guess would be that is it a significant number.

Cheers

The latest number I had seen was $1.3 million in 2010. I don't know what the latest figures are, but probably around that.

[Bigtime]

I would assume the incentives of pursuing those environmentally friendly programs are PR the restaurant can use in their advertising.

Catch is quite active on this front with the OceanWise program I believe.

[JonDuke]

"Nenshi agrees to ‘Ask Me Anything’ on reddit, first council candidate to do so"
http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/813...date-to-do-so/

Pfft...who needs Reddit when we have this thread?

[worth]

Hey Bunk, does Nenshi browse this thread at all?

[Bobblehead]

Why does it always seem that there are a lot of traffic cameras that are out of commission? Just looking at the ones listed for Deerfoot, it seems like most of them are offline.

[Kerplunk]

Is there any way that the city can put a stop to the building of the McDonalds at Village Square in the NE, considering the bums in the planning department screwed up the permit approval? That is going to be such a mess....

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by worth

Hey Bunk, does Nenshi browse this thread at all?

I've pointed him here a few times to take a look at the type of discussion taking place.