Latest news with #cityhall
CTV News
a day ago
- Business
- CTV News
Mayor cracking down on councillors' disparaging comments that derailed 6-hour meeting
City councillors who cross the line during heated debates are straining relationships and slowing decision-making at city hall. On Tuesday, Mayor Josh Morgan warned councillors that he will crack down on the use of disparaging comments directed at city staff, stakeholders, and each other. '[You] make it sound like something untoward is happening,' a clearly frustrated Morgan said while resolving a dispute over a councillor's choice of words. 'That's what I've talked about before, and I'm going to engage on these things a little more clearly from now on.' The council meeting lasted over six hours. It's the latest council meeting needlessly extended by councillors using politically charged language that triggers an objection from another councillor (formally called a Point of Privilege). Rules that govern council meetings require the mayor to immediately rule on a Point of Privilege and remedy the situation, 'despite other pending business currently before Council.' At the same time members of the public are left waiting in the gallery each time council's progress through the agenda stalls. The mayor suggests that crossing the line can impact relationships with city staff, municipal agencies, and stakeholders. 'We can have lots of debate, but that does not need to be done with charged language or veiled accusations,' Morgan told CTV News after the meeting. 'So I called that out today, and I'm going to continue to do that. I'm going to expect the committee chairs to do the same.' During Tuesday's council meeting, the mayor had to interrupt debate about a funding request from the Old East Village Business Improvement Area (BIA). Coun. David Ferreira expressed concern that he had yet to see an accounting of how the BIA has utilized COVID Relief Funding which expires at the end of 2026. 'When I asked for this transparency from the Old East Village, I got a letter back that gives me a fog. I don't even know how to classify it. And it really actually hurts my confidence even more,' Ferreira said. Coun. Susan Stevenson, who sits on the OEV BIA Board, stood up and called a Point of Privilege, 'Saying your confidence being shaken, I think, is a disservice to the [city] staff who oversee this, to the BIA, and to the councillor that sits on that [board].' Later in the meeting, Coun. Sam Trosow took exception with Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis' comments that presumed the results of a hypothetical appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal before council even voted on a high-rise development on Pack Road. Trosow was later scolded by the mayor for implying that the staff report recommending approval of the Pack Road development was not signed by the planner who wrote it. Morgan interrupted the meeting to allow the Deputy City Manager to confirm that the report was, in fact, recommended by the Director of Planning and Development. 'I'm actually going to ask all councilors, every single one in this room, to assume that staff of the corporation and staff of the BIA's are public service members doing things because they believe it is the right thing to do, [and] are doing things authentically and appropriately,' the mayor added. The councillors accused of making disparaging comments and those raising Points of Privilege tend to change based on the issue being debated. The increasingly common behaviour has involved many, but not all members of council. Council now has a brief period to cool off before committee meetings resume Aug. 11.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
City of Golden, Colorado breaks ground on new city hall, police department building
Wednesday, the City of Golden, Colo., broke ground on a project nearly six years in the making. The municipal building, which will house the city hall and the police department, will be moved from its current location in the center of town on 10th street to a plot on the east end of Golden near the Coors plant. A patch of dirt that will soon become a new symbol of the future of the city. "I was really excited about it because it is, as you put it, the anchor," Golden resident Gerchard Pfau told CBS Colorado. "Golden continues to evolve, but the great thing about the city is it preserves." The move to this plot was part of the city's longtime plan to evolve the Clear Creek corridor to meet the demands of increasing traffic, visitors and residents. Moving the municipal building to the east end of town will put an anchor on an otherwise underdeveloped area of Golden. "This project will start the revitalization of this area of downtown, bring people and more opportunities for the future," said Mayor Laura Weinberg. The move instantly makes the old building one of the most valuable and coveted pieces of real estate in the city, located just off the central corridor of Washington Street and right next to Clear Creek, with access to the area. "When we purchased this property, we launched the Heart of Golden effort; it wasn't just built on this property that's vacant," said Weinberg. "It's about what's going to happen to the rest of the corridor." The city hasn't decided on what to do with it yet, but is asking the community for their input. "The prevailing thoughts have been more green space, more open space, more access to the creek," Weinberg added. Wednesday's groundbreaking was a momentous occasion for a project that started six years ago as the city enters a new phase of its life cycle, continuing to develop but still hoping to retain the same charm that Golden's always had. "Golden reinvents itself," Weinberg concluded. "We have for the last 160-plus years." The project is slated to take around two years to complete, alongside other development, including the Clayworks and other CoorsTek and Colorado School of Mines projects.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bell: Gondek shovels the spin — Calgary's notorious city hall secrecy remains
How much do the Calgary city hall paper-shufflers actually make? Mayor Jyoti Gondek says nothing of substance. No surprise. Almost nobody at Calgary city hall wants to talk about it. Getting the facts for Calgarians from these folks downtown is far tougher than pulling teeth. You'd think these folks were running a spy agency. What is second nature, so obviously the right thing to do, a no-brainer with governments right across the country, is something almost nobody at Calgary city hall wants to talk about. They nibble around the edges but when they are pressed on the issue they won't take a real bite. Instead, life is so closed in the city hall cocoon, their operations so notoriously secretive, the city hall politicians will actually chinwag next week about how much we should know about what their boss paper-shuffler David Duckworth pockets carrying out orders in the Big Blue Playpen. It is pitiful. Why isn't somebody going on the city council floor and pushing for what's called a Sunshine List? The Alberta government has a Sunshine List. If you're on the Alberta government payroll and make more than $133,813 this year, then your regular salary, any other cash benefits above that wage and the employer's contributions to your pension and other benefits will be shown on the list along with your name and job title. If you get the boot and score severance on the way out that payout is also known. By the way, do we even know what Calgary top cop Mark Neufeld got in severance going out the exit door? Ask city hall about it and they pass the buck to the Calgary Police Commission where city council members sit. Taxpayers learn squat even if it's your money. City hall just hopes you tire of the constant struggle to get to the truth and throw up your hands and give up. It is time to ask Mayor Gondek. The buck has to stop somewhere. Gondek talks about how city hall could do a better job of being more open. Alas, most of what she says is a word salad involving insider talk of city hall procedures that would give you instant brain freeze while taking a shot at Sonya Sharp, a councillor running for the mayor's job. You're no wiser than when you started. MEMO TO THE GONDEK BRAINTRUST. Friendly advice. The mayor is not following the plan on how to politically rehabilitate herself. You know, the Gondek image makeover I recently wrote about with the $107,324 price tag paid by you, dear reader. A question to Mayor Gondek from this newshound. I'm trying to help the mayor see the light. Why not just bring in a Sunshine List like most other governments and then we will know how much the city hall movers and shakers make? It is taxpayer money. It is a doubly important question since, this week, one of the city hall high-and-mighties actually seems to suggest Calgary city hall doesn't have enough employees. Say what?! That's hard to believe because when one of the city hall somebodies makes a presentation to city council they often come in with a big enough entourage you'd think they must be a member of the Royal Family. So the slow pitch question to Gondek. How about finanicial info on the city hall brass? A swing and a miss. 'We do have tools that provide that.' They do not. 'Are they easily accessible? Obviously not, because people are asking: Where can we find these things?' People are asking because … THERE IS NO CITY HALL SUNSHINE LIST. A follow-up question. Gondek rushes off. The city of Calgary has a list of job titles and the pay range for each job. It's like a massive Help Wanted catalogue. It means nothing. So the secrecy goes on. Ten years ago, yes, ten long years ago, city hall paper shufflers misled Calgarians. They said provincial privacy laws prevented a Sunshine List showing the pay and perks of city hall bigshots. Did they take us for fools? Jeff Fielding, then the big boss at the city, cleared the air and said council could have voted Yes to a real Sunshine List, like almost everywhere else, including where he previously worked in Ontario. Council should press the issue and stop letting city brass lead them around by the nose. Again, Dan McLean seems to be one of the few members of city council willing to speak. If others are, you know where to find me. 'Everyone would like to see a Sunshine List, except administration. Why don't they want to see one? What are they hiding? I want to know exactly how much Joe Schmo is making and what he does,' says McLean. 'I don't care if you're getting paid a lot of money if you're earning it, but enquiring minds want to know.' rbell@
Reuters
18-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Europe's busiest cruise port Barcelona to scale back amid overtourism concerns
MADRID/BARCELONA, July 18 (Reuters) - The port of Barcelona, Europe's busiest for cruise ships, will scale back its passenger terminal capacity by 2030 as the city tries to put the brakes on surging arrivals and address concerns about overtourism. The city hall and port authority agreed on Thursday to reduce the number of terminals to five from seven, lowering the port's capacity for simultaneously handling cruise ship passengers to 31,000 from 37,000 by the end of the decade. Barcelona recorded a 21% increase in cruise ship calls and a 20% rise in passengers to 1.2 million people in January-May this year from the same period in 2024, official data showed. That was a sharp acceleration after passenger numbers grew a total 20% in 2018-2024. There have been protests against tourism and debates about overcrowding in the Spanish city. "For the first time in history, limits are being placed on the growth of cruise ships in the city," Mayor Jaume Collboni said, announcing the agreement. The left-wing mayor told Reuters last year he was seeking a new deal with port authorities to reduce the number of one-day cruise calls, in an effort to avoid overcrowding at cultural landmarks such as the Sagrada Familia basilica. Under the new plan, three terminals will be combined into one. The port will prioritise cruise ships that use Barcelona as their home port for departures and arrivals and encourage tourists to stay longer and spend more in the city. The port said the refurbishment would facilitate connecting ships to the local electricity grid, reducing emissions. European Union rules on reducing carbon emissions have set a 2030 deadline for maritime ports to install the infrastructure to provide onshore power supply. Most European ports are lagging in installing them, a study said this week.
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
London receives payment from OLG for hosting Gateway Casinos
The Gateway Casino in London, Ont. is seen in this undated file image. (File) The city of London has received its latest payment from the province for hosting Gateway Casinos. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) paid city hall more than $1.5 million. It's for the first quarter of the fiscal year, running from April to June.
