Councillor Websites – A Review
Mar 9th
While some politicians are waiting for technology to evolve to them, others have boldly stepped into the digital age and have began to harness the connectivity of the internet to better serve their constituents.
One of my favourite City Councillor websites is that of Edmonton City Councillor Don Iveson (Ward 5). First elected in 2007 at the age of 29, Councillor Iveson boasted a great election website, complete with interactive multimedia, regularly updated content, and an excellent candidate blog. Since being elected, Don’s site has transformed into a running account (in blog format) of a week-to-week account of City Council, a sounding board for his decisions, and a place for Edmontonians to engage one of their councillors through back and forth discussions in the comment sections. (Of course, as I write this I notice that his site has not been updated in over 2 weeks!). He is also a regular tweeter.
Using Councillor Iveson’s site as a baseline, let’s take a look at what Saskatoon’s Councillors and Mayor have to offer to their constituents and City residents:
Ward 1 – Darren Hill – www.darrenhill.ca
The site is very well laid out, easy to navigate, and full of pictures. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to have been More >
Moving the Bus Barns – South Caswell Concept Plan
Mar 4th
The South Caswell Concept Plan (SCCP) will be making it’s ways to the next City Council Meeting on March 22th, with a quick stop (hopefully) at the Planning and Operations Committee meeting on March 16th. The ultimate outcome of the SCCP is the removal of the current Saskatoon Transit Bus Barns and the complete redevelopment of a 2×3 block area.
A brief primer (gleaned from the SCCP blog, and website)
Moving of the bus barns has been a distant blip on the City’s radar for a number of years. In the 2001 Caswell Hill Local Area Plan (LAP), moving of the barns was identified as a key long-term component. The LAP suggested that should the barns be removed that park space and a community centre be part of any redevelopment. In 2005, the City Council approved zoning changes within the South Caswell area that would see a phase out of industrial and a transition to a mixed-use (residential/commercial) zoning plan. In 2008, funding was allocated to undertake the SCCP and a RFP was issued in early 2009. A consulting company was hired soon after to guide the SCCP process, which involved input from a Steering committee consisting of key stakeholders and Caswell residents.
In June More >
Cycling Licenses – Councillor Responds
Mar 3rd
Glad to see the Star Phoenix picking up on this story so quickly, with an article in today’s edition.
While I speculated on Monday that the real reason Councillor Heidt was asking for information on bike licenses was mainly aimed at going after cyclists (and not trying to help them) – He confirmed that with his quotes in today’s article. A sampling (my responses are in bold/italic font):
[...]
“Cyclists, basically, can do what they want and how do you ID these people?” said Coun. Myles Heidt.
“You’re walking down the sidewalk and all of a sudden a bike goes by you. And, really, there’s no licence to report these people.”
[...]
I believe Tom Wolf (in the same article) put it best: “If he wants to get bikes off the sidewalks, he should make it safer to ride on the road,”
[...]
A renewed program — which Heidt said should only apply to adult bikes — could take advantage of better technology to stay more up to date and enlist bike shops to sell the licence at the time of purchase, Heidt said.
“I think we can do it now. It’s not that complicated,” he said. “I think there’s a distribution network out there and now that it’s mechanized More >
Should Cyclists Be Licensed – A brief look at other Municipalities
Mar 2nd
Further to my post yesterday (here), I figured it would be worthwhile poking around other jurisdictions to get an idea of what they have discussed and what, if any, regulations they have put in place.
From Seattle, Washington (who in 2007 implemented a 240 million dollar cycling infrastructure plan):
[...]
Numerous national cycling advocacy groups said they knew of no government that requires cyclists be licensed. But some cities do require them to register their bikes, including municipalities in California and Wisconsin.
Lately, “there seems to be a little resurgence in conversation around the country,” in favor of such cost sharing, said Darryl Anderson, Minnesota state bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. “It kind of comes and goes.”
The idea of charging cyclists a registration fee has been floated by lawmakers in Olympia, but not seriously considered in recent years. For each of the past several years, legislators have asked transportation officials at look into the idea of establishing such a program, said Paula Reeves, of the state Department of Transportation.
After talking with other states, the department believes the programs raise little money — if any — beyond what they cost to run, Reeves said. “We wouldn’t see a big opportunity to improve facilities with that kind of More >
Cycling Debate Continues
Mar 8th
Posted by Sean Shaw in City Planning
No comments
If even the Star Phoenix editorial board won’t back your ideas, you must be way out in right field. (Ok, ok, in fairness, I’ve found myself in agreement with the SP editorial board on several occasions over the past year).
Today, an editorial was published gently chiding Councillor Heidt’s call for bike licensing as a means to ticket those who ride on sidewalks.
I agree with the SP’s suggestion that this opening salvo from the anti-cycling crowd should be the kick-off to a larger debate about how much more should be done to make cycling safe, accessible, and encouraged in Saskatoon. Hopefully, cyclists will take heed of anti-cycling sentiment that exists in our city. Maybe this will spur them on to get better organized similar to cyclists in places like Victoria, Portland, Seattle, and Toronto to give their voice more weight. Time has shown that the Cycling Advisory Group set-up and run by the City has little to no teeth in actually pushing policy other than what the City wants – The year-after-year delay of fully implementing the cycling plan and the sad state of our current cycling infrastructure (especially between Nov and April) are probably the most visible reminder of this lack of action.
Here a More >