City Council
Provincial By-Election Likely to Result in City By-Election This Fall
Aug 31st
Breaking news this morning that Saskatoon-Northwest MLA Serge LeClerc has tendered a letter of resignation in Regina. This paves the way for the Sask Party government to call a by-election in Saskatoon-Northwest sometime within the next few months.
As previously discussed here on this blog, Ward 5 City Councillor Gordon Wyant is the nominated candidate for the Sask Party in the Northwest constituency. Councillor Wyant has already indicated that he will take a break from City Council during the writ period. Should he win the by-election in Northwest, which has been a Sask Party Seat since 2003 with LeClerc winning handily in 2007, it is all but certain that Wyant would resign his City Council Seat.
Assuming this all happens before October 2011, that would force a by-election for the vacated Ward 5 Council seat.
Currently, there has been no indication of whom might consider running in such a City by-election.
Council Salaries – High Enough?
Jul 13th
On the weekend the Star Phoenix published an article comparing the salaries of the Mayors and Councillors of Saskatoon and Regina.
In Saskatoon, the Mayor earns 85% of a Provincial Cabinet Minister ($112,968) and Councillors earn 45% of the Mayor ($50,836 – 1/3 tax free)).
In Regina, the Mayor earns 77% of a Provincial Cabinet Minister ($102,336) and Councillors earn 33% of the Mayor ($33,770).
The article quotes long-time Saskatoon Councillor Glen Penner (Ward and Mayor Atchison suggesting that Councillors should possibly be increased. They argue that the responsibilities required of Councillors merit recognition on the pay stub.
Of course, I’m sure if you asked all Councillors, the majority would back peddle away from any suggestion that the pay scale should be increased. It seems that nothing riles up the public more than politician’s talking about increasing their own salaries. While I agree that Council shouldn’t be directly deciding on their rate of pay, I don’t agree that it shouldn’t be discussed.
In a City the size of Saskatoon we are being under-served by a system that sees the majority of our Councillors working additional jobs in addition to their Council duties. Personally, I’d rather have each and every Councillor dedicating themselves full-time to the running More >
Recycling Consultation: Full Cost Analysis Indicates $3 per household/month
Jun 29th
In an effort to continue beating the dead horse that is the 2007 Saskatoon Waste and Recycling Plan (SWRP), let’s take a look at the estimated costs associated with establishing a city-wide curbside recycling program. Using the triple-bottom line cost estimates developed by the outside consultants in the SWRP and building in some conservatively estimated cost savings and revenue generation, we can get a better sense of the true cost of such a program.
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A quick primer: In 2006 the City commissioned a comprehensive report on how the City generates, handles, and disposes of its waste. Additionally, that report was given the mandate to propose a new long-term plan on how Saskatoon would eventually become a “zero-waste” city. That plan, unanimously adopted by each and every member on today’s City Council in November 2007, involved a series of working groups, stakeholder engagement, and (wait for it) public consultation/information open houses.
The crux of the plan was a three phase process. Phase I was to start educating residents on how they can reduce their waste and move every home to an individual garbage bin. Phase II (which was scheduled to be implemented this year) was to institute a city-wide curbside recycling program with More >
Council Support for Curbside Recycling – Councillor Hill
Jun 25th
A great interview by Councillor Darren Hill on NewsTalk 650 radio this morning. Glad to hear such strong support for a city-wide curbside recycling system in Saskatoon coming from one of our City Councillors.
Councillor Hill’s support shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to residents of his Ward (ward 1), as he campaigned openly in 2006 and 2009 for a city-wide curbside recycling program.
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News And Notes: August Edition
Aug 24th
Posted by Sean Shaw in City Council
1 comment
It appears that my new job has nearly zapped my ability to keep this blog upto-date over the past weeks. In my defense it has been a relatively slow summer. So, I figured now would be a good time to dump a few municipal tidbits on whatever readers I have left:
1. Possible Municipal By-Election:
Ward 5 Councillor, and Sask Party Candidate for Saskatoon-Northwest, could possibly find himself contesting a Provincial By-election this fall. Word has it that the Sask Party would very much like to see current Saskatoon-Northwest MLA Serge LeClerc vacant his seat as early as this Fall. Such a series of events may be a long shot, as the recently turned Independent MLA has been granted a medical leave of absence from his elected duties, boarded up his offices, and is residing in Ontario, seemingly content to draw on his MLA salary until the General Election in November 2011. However, should Mr. LeClerc be “convinced” to retire, Councillor Wyant stands a good chance of retaining the seat for the Sask Party in a by-election. Wyant has already indicated that he would resign his Council seat if elected to the Legislature. If this were to happen before October 2011, the More >