Sir. David King is correct of course – community buy in is essential for long term change to get traction and ownership. But it’s also correct to say that the failure to act on the part of national and other orders of government gets downloaded onto communities to solve – usually without resources but with a hearty handshake and effusive words of encouragement. What would be wonderful if somewhere on this endangered planet both could function – communities and local governments accorded a key role within a robust national strategy.

Thanks!
Bob

The amendments include:

• Maintenance of an additional 7,000 kilometres of roads, comprising of residential streets.
• Maintenance of priority one routes, primary spot sanding to be treated at the same time
• A focus on known trouble spots including, but not limited to: bus stops, steep grades and high collision locations.
• Removal of plowing windrows at the discretion of the Road Maintenance manager.

However, although the City expects the new measures will result in much improved winter road conditions, they will not result in bare pavement on residential streets.

 As always, feel free to contact me about this or other Ward 4 issues at 268-2430 or bob.hawkesworth@calgary.ca

 Bob Hawkesworth

Alderman, Ward 4

The fee for parking resulted in a sharp decrease in parking lot usage, an increase in parking on the streets near the lots, and requests for permit parking in affected communities.

The BRT parking lots are now free once again and will operate in the same fashion they did before the parking fee was implemented earlier this year.

In closing, I hope you all had a memorable, safe and happy Holiday season, and look forward to working with you in the New Year. As always, should you have any questions concerning ward issues, feel free to contact my office at 268-2430 or bob.hawkesworth@calgary.ca

Sincerely,
Bob Hawkesworth
Alderman, Ward 4

On October 31, Conversation Calgary II was held at the Thorncliffe/Greenview Community Association. The event was the follow up to Conversation Calgary held in May of this year, designed to try and achieve a more satisfying and effective citizen engagement. 6 themes of common agreement emerged on how to sustain Calgary’s quality of life into the future:

• Urban Mobility and Design
• Citizenship
• Enabling Economy
• Environment
• Culture and Community
• Social Justice

For Conversation II, a number of Calgary leaders shared their thoughts and knowledge about these themes. The participants took these conversation starters to use as a jump off point to help clarify what they felt was important to their community and the future of our City. Through a unique series of conversations, the participants on October 31 distilled their feelings and opinions, represented here by the summary matrix.

A PDF of the complete document may be viewed here. Details of the first event and the individual essays can be accessed through the Conversation Calgary and Conversation Calgary II links respectively under the ‘Categories’ section on this page.

I found both events thought provoking, informative and fun. I thank all those who attended for their insight and enthusiasm. For those of you reading about this process for the first time, I encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions with me. I look forward to helping turn the priorities indentified here into action plans for our community!

Sincerely,
Bob Hawkesworth
Alderman Ward 4

“What concerns you most about our city’s future?”

Last May, Bob asked citizens that question. In a unique, full day conversation, 6 themes of common agreement emerged on how to sustain Calgary’s quality of life into the future:

• Urban Mobility and Design
• Citizenship
• Enabling Economy
• Environment
• Culture and Community
• Social Justice

THE CONVERSATION ON OUR FUTURE CONTINUES

Please join us in the next phase of this dialogue. It will be a working session that’s fun. We will use new, leading edge techniques for effective community wide conversations. Help turn your priorities for Calgary and for your neighbourhood into action plans!

WHEN: Saturday, October 31, 2009
9:00 am – 2:30 pm
WHERE: Thorncliffe-Greenview Community Association Hall
5600 Centre Street North

The best conversations happen around food. We’ll provide the morning snacks, coffee, and a light bagged lunch.

The event is free, but you must pre-register by October 30th. Please RSVP by registering at:

http://conversationcalgary2.eventbrite.com

For more information, call: (403) 268-2430.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF CALGARY!

Connect with leaders, neighbours, City of Calgary staff, and engaged Calgarians at this unique and fun event.

PLEASE JOIN US! BRING A NEIGHBOUR, FRIEND, OR FAMILY MEMBER!

Ald. Bob Hawkesworth
Bob Chartier, Facilitator

UPDATE

To get our conversations started on October 31, a number of prominent Calgary leaders have shared their thoughts and knowledge about Calgary’s choices and possibilities.

Please click here to see them

Their answers may surprise, inspire, or agitate. You may approve of their conclusions or you may not. Whatever your response, these “conversation starters” are intended to help you clarify what is important to you when you think about the future of our community. Please review these, as you have time, in the next few days. And thank you again for being willing to come with the answers that you want to share with others on October 31.

• For the first time in three years, positive momentum is noted in attitudes related to quality of life in Calgary.
• Overall, The City of Calgary continues to perform very well, with eight in ten Calgarians rating. The City’s overall performance as “good” to “very good”, a slight improvement from last year.
• 91% of Calgarians view the overall quality of services provided by The City as ‘good’ to ‘very good’.
• Satisfaction with the overall level and quality of City services and programs increased this year by 4%.
• More than eight in ten (82%) Calgarians are satisfied with the job The City is doing to protect the environment.
• Perceptions about the value for property taxes has remained relatively unchanged over the last five years, with 70% of Calgarians providing a perceived value rating of six or higher on a ten-point scale.

Of those surveyed, 78 per cent said they felt safer in their neighbourhood compared to 70 per cent in 2008. Eight in 10 (82 per cent) endorsed the job the City was doing to protect the environment, above the 75 per cent rating of a year ago.

The complete results of the 2009 Citizen Satisfaction survey are available on www.calgary.ca

The World Health Organization designated Calgary as a Safe
Community in April of 2003. Ald. Hawkesworth, Safer Calgary
co-chairs Carol Eamer and Bob Lang, and officials from the
Calgary Police Service, the Calgary Fire Department, and the
Transportation department celebrated this designation and
Calgary’s ongoing status of being a Safe Community.

The proclamation was one of many made across Canada today. On
the first Wednesday of October each year, Safe Communities
Canada and its network of 44 designated members celebrate
Safe Communities Canada Day.

“Today is a reminder of the results of our ongoing efforts to
make Calgary a safe city”, says Ald. Hawkesworth. “Calgary is
internationally recognized as a Safe Community and this is
something that should be celebrated.”

A designated Safe Community is one that believes that a safe
life is a basic right and aspires to create a safer life for
all its citizens. The responsibility of creating a safer
community is one that is shared between all members of the
community. A community can strive towards being safer by
working with such organizations as Safer Calgary.

“Safer Calgary’s mission is to foster community action
towards the creation of a safer Calgary” says Eamer. “The
organization acts as a connecting network that joins many
interested organizations and services that are involved in
the reduction and prevention of harm in the Calgary
community.”

For more information about Safer Calgary please visit
www.safercalgary.ca

 -30-
Public Contact Information:

For more information about Safer Calgary please visit
www.safercalgary.ca

Public Email Contact:

    3-1-1contactus@calgary.ca

 The event had three steps: first, participants named the issues they wanted to talk about. Conversations were held on over sixty topics. Secondly, the group priorized seven critical issues they wanted to explore in further depth. Thirdly, in a setting of “courtyard cafes”, people refined the directions they felt were needed to address those critical issues. Solutions were directed to the community as well as being directed to the City of Calgary. The results and comments from the day are posted elsewhere on this website.

 Conversation Calgary proved to be so successful that we resolved to follow it up with another event this fall. Over the summer a steering committee will review the findings and then reconvene participants to prepare a more detailed action plan.

Conversation Calgary has been a great experience for me. Judging from the feedback I have received, a great many of you feel the same.  I am confident that what we learn from these events will benefit the communities and individuals of Ward 4, as well as Calgarians in general.

 Bob

The Operations, Maintenance and Administration Building at Pine Creek attained a Gold rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ®) program. The LEED® New Construction program promotes green design and construction practices. These practices are intended to reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of buildings on the environment and on the users of the building. This rating has only been achieved in 6 buildings in Calgary to date.

The Pine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant was recognized with two Awards of Excellence from the Consulting Engineers of Alberta. These Awards of Excellence were in the categories of sustainable design and project management. In addition, the plant was honored with the Project Achievement Award from the Alberta Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists Association on April 23, 2009.

As always, feel free to contact me about this or other Ward 4 issues at 268-2430 or bob.hawkesworth@calgary.ca

Bob Hawkesworth
Alderman, Ward 4