Nobody but Ric McIver

More than half of Calgary’s city council has failed in a report card compiled by a coalition of business lobbyists.

The newly formed Coalition for Property Tax Fairness released its assessment Monday on how well the mayor and 14 councillors have done in defending the interests of taxpayers through spending and fiscal management.

The group gave Ald. Ric McIver top marks, saying his actions most accurately reflected the needs of the business community, winning him an A+. Ald. Andre Chabot placed second with an A.Mayor Dave Bronconnier received a D, while aldermen Druh Farrell and Linda Fox-Mellway both scored the lowest, each with an F.

Council member Total score Grade
Ric McIver 95.6 A+
Andre Chabot 87.9 A
Diane Colley-Urquhart 76.5 B+
Joe Connelly 68.3 B
Jim Stevenson 65.4 B
Ray Jones 49.7 C
Dale Hodges 40.9 C-
Bob Hawkesworth 35.6 D
John Mar 35.1 D
Gord Lowe 28.7 D
Joe Ceci 27.6 D
Dave Bronconnier 26.7 D
Brian Pincott 23.8 D-
Linda Fox-Mellway 19.7 F
Druh Farrell 19.6 F
Source: Coalition for Property Tax Fairness
Seven aldermen received a D+ or lower.

The report card was issued by a coalition of nine organizations, including the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).

The group examined 32 issues dealt with by council in the past 18 months — such as curbside recycling, election donation reform and new pedestrian bridges — and awarded points based on how each council member voted.

For example, votes against raising business and property taxes earned each council member points.

“We selected the voting record based on how important they were to the member groups in this coalition,” said Bill Partridge, executive vice-president of BOMA.

The coalition did not count voting records on topics such as environmental, social or infrastructure spending, saying it created the report card to raise awareness of what it feels is an anti-business sentiment on city council.

“Our small business members are growing increasingly frustrated with the direction of this council. From excessive spending to increasing taxes and a lack of movement on the extra business tax, small business owners are looking for more,” said Janine Halbesma, acting Alberta director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Most of the points were based on voting records, while the rest were awarded based on:

•Staying within office and travel budgets.
•Number of taxpayer and business-friendly motions.
•Proactively seeking feedback from stakeholders, and responding to letters and meeting requests.
“Hopefully this will be a wakeup call to the mayor and aldermen on the importance of defending the interests of small business owners and taxpayers for the remainder of their term,” said Halbesma.

“I put very little value in it,” said Farrell, who ranked last. “It’s always easy to vote against something but at the end of the day is that the best decision for Calgarians?”

Ald. Jim Stevenson, who received a B, said how the people in his ward feel is a more telling barometer.

“What really counts is the poll on election day. But I’m out there to fight for my constituents. The community’s had to be brought back to the table and I believe I’ve done that,” he said.

The next municipal election is in October 2010.

和平桥

２５００万加元的和平桥原计划这个月就要落成的，看来是不可能的了。为了这座桥，市民们炒翻了天，市长市议员们也炒翻了天。这次市长选举，好多人都拿这个话题说事儿。２５００万就盖了一座人行天桥，只供一个５０００人的社区使用，未来潜在使用者也不会超过二万人。不过，卡城的DOWNTOWN市景实在太凄凉，清一色的玻璃幕墙，十足一个暴发户的感觉，是要改善一下。

不说别的，这座桥美学上还是没得说的，是世界上非常著名的设计师事务所设计的，不需招标。这也是被攻击的理由之一了。整根蜂窝状绗架梁做桥，外观即结构，如同北京的鸟巢，美学和力学的完美合一。桥下涓涓河水，不设桥墩，适合漂流行舟。不过这施工。。。。。。我看八成这２５００万是要赔钱的。

这是设计图：

这是正在施工中的和平桥：

施工中盖了一座完整的钢结构临时桥，然后在旁边建了个临时的小房子，还没封顶，看来准备冬季施工了。临时桥下面打了无数的钢桩在河里，上面估计要铺铁轨。先在小房子里焊好一段框架，安装好玻璃，然后就顺着铁轨往前推，最后完全横跨河面，再把下面的临时桥和钢桩全拆了。

这可真是费了老鼻子劲了。估计这临时桥还要起拱，圆弧形的玻璃更是价格昂贵。要是落成以后，哪个小混混扔几块砖头，或者开几枪气枪，市政府就赔大发了。

美学与经济真是不可相提并论啊。