Calgary Ward 4

On November 23, during 2010 budget adjustments, City Council approved my motion to eliminate parking fees at Calgary Transit Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) parking lots.

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

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

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 if Bob Hawkesworth asked you…

“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.

The results are in for the City of Calgary’s annual Citizen Satisfaction Survey.  Each year, The City asks citizens how satisfied they are with the quality of life in Calgary and of the services they receive from their local government. Ipsos Reid, on behalf of The City, conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 citizens of Calgary over the age of 18 and asked them about a number of issues relating to overall level and quality of City services and programs, quality and amount of city contact and communication, levels of taxation and overall quality of life. The survey was conducted between August 31 and September 6, 2009. 

• 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