June 2012 Newsletter

I hope this column finds you sitting outside on a sunny June day with your choice of cold beverage in hand. I think all of us deserve some extra summer considering how hard we work during the deep freeze of winter. Calgarians have been enjoying the Stampede for 100 years now, so even if summer doesn't arrive when it should, you'll soon have an extra reason to get out and celebrate anyway. It will be an enormous milestone for a truly world class event. I urge everyone to join in this year's festivities.

Calgary is a big city now. Big cities have big celebrations and they also have lots of pavement. The effort to clean up and maintain Calgary's thousands of kilometers of streets and alleys is now well underway. With all of that work to be done, City staff must focus their efforts in critical areas. I have heard questions from many of you over the spring asking if your paved back alley will be swept. The answer is that once those critical areas are done (by July, weather permitting), City staff will get down to sweeping other areas. But, if you would like to have your paved alley swept, you must call in a request to 3-1-1. If you have an unpaved alley, the gravel lane repair page is useful. Similarly, The City will be re-painting the lines on our streets this summer. For most of Ward 14, this is scheduled to have been finished by the end of May (with the exception of Silverado, which is scheduled for August), so if you feel that there have been any major omissions, I urge you to contact 3-1-1. The same thing goes for potholes. Finally,the first of hopefully many solar powered crosswalk signals in Ward 14 is up and running at Sun Valley Boulevard and Sun Harbour Road S.E. I put forth an application to council proposing the pilot project for these solar powered lights on June 20, 2011. There are several different versions around the city and the Roads Department is looking for feedback on the project. Call 3-1-1 to provide feedback. Speaking of 3-1-1, here's a treat for anyone who loves a good bar graph.

Top 10 communities in Ward 14 by service request volume (March 2012):

• Deer Run - 92
• Queensland - 94
• Walden - 96
• Deer Ridge - 101
• Willow Park - 169
• Silverado - 175
• Midnapore - 189
• Chapparal - 231
• Sundance - 243
• Lake Bonavista - 284

This graph gives a breakdown of the number of service requests made to 3-1-1 in Ward 14 communities for the month of March. Out of all 14 wards for that month, Ward 14 had the third fewest number of requests with 1,868.

There are a couple of events on the horizon that I want to share. On June 25, a lucky class from Ward 14 will be introduced in a Regular Meeting of Council because of the political acumen and literary prowess of one of its students. In May, I asked Ward 14 schools to pose an essay question to their Grade 6 students. I (and my team of judges) will be choosing the best from the best of each class. The question was, "How does Municipal Government affect Me?" Stay tuned because the winner will be posted on my website.

And please consider saving some time on the morning of Sept. 22 to join me at my annual pancake breakfast. The goal of the breakfast is to increase membership registrations for Ward 14's community associations.

Aldertalk is on June 16 at the Willow Ridge Community Centre (680 Acadia Dr. S.E.) from noon to 2 p.m., so come out and have your say. Otherwise, you can always contact me at 403-268-1653 or contact my office.