Last weeks + Regular Council Meeting May 7, 2024
Last weeks highlights
Discover You; Discover Team Workshop (DiSC)
Most of Council consented to participate in this in-person team-building workshop, intended to help us better understand the perspectives of those we work with on Council through personality assessments in the context of our workplace. I’ve done a few of these personality assessments before - when I worked at Alberta Blue Cross and through my MBA program - and it was fun seeing one more assessment type. My assessment was pretty accurate - I’m a “CD” style and some of the descriptions about my assessment that I particularly resonated with include the following:
“… You probably take an efficient, no-nonsense approach to your work. You likely have high expectations for yourself and others. Since you value expertise, people who consistently demonstrate competence are most likely to gain your respect. And because you want to reach superior results efficiently, you work to balance speed and quality…
You have little patience for disorganized people or unnecessary meetings… [and] you may fail to recognize when you've stepped on someone's toes… You probably don't enjoy conflict, but you usually don't let it stop you from doing what you think is right…
Although you pride yourself on the quality of your work, you may shy away from public recognition. If you receive praise that seems overly emotional, you may question its validity.”
It went on to say that I particularly enjoy “working with people who have high standards” (the city employs these types of people in spades!), and that I struggle with “relying on overly emotional or illogical people”. It was a fair assessment and an interesting exercise.
Grade-6 Visit to Chambers (Deputy Mayor)
I wrapped up my turn as Deputy Mayor with a couple of fun events, including two visits with groups of grade-6 students learning about municipal government. (Ego, the happiest mutt ever, came with me once again!)
Homeland Housing Regular Board Meeting
I was in Morinville again chairing this meeting while our chair was away. We approved our audited statements - another clean audit! - and continue to advocate for the St. Thomas Street Affordable Housing project.
Land Use Bylaw Updates & ASP Public Participation
I popped into this open house at St. Albert Place to see what the engagement level is looking like for these projects - I was pleased to see how many people had walked through! I’d encourage everyone to keep an eye out for engagement activities: https://conversation.stalbert.ca/
Agenda highlights
I’m not able to attend this meeting as I have a personal conflict (not related to my other job), but I’ll be able to review the recording to keep up.
Take it or Leave it Facility($977,000 + $150,000/year)
This is a motion to consider adding this type of facility to our sometime-in-the-future public works yard that will go in the north end of the city. If this passes, Council would still have to consider the project through future budget processes before it is funded/approved. I was a bit shocked at the price tag for this facility - almost $1M to build it, then $150,000/year to operate - and I suspect Council questions will be around the projected cost.
St. Albert Botanic Park Parking Lot Paving(~$1.3M)
This is a motion from an individual member of Council to add this project to our sometime-in-the-future capital plan. If this passes, Council would still have to consider the project through future budget processes before it is funded/approved. This project was on our long-term plan for a while, but we first removed it (along with a bunch of other gravel lots) in 2021 because it just wasn’t as high a priority as many other projects, and didn’t impede use of the space. In August of 2023, the same member of Council bringing this motion forward tried to get it added back, but the motion failed. (We have to wait 6 months to bring back a failed motion, so I suppose we could debate this twice per year. It’s a wildly expensive and inefficient way to govern, in my opinion.) Interestingly, my own grandmother, who had significant mobility challenges before she died, had no problem navigating the gravel and as of last August, we hadn’t received any complaints regarding accessibility.
Grandma enjoy the Canada Day celebrations at the Botanic Gardens.
St. Albert Transit Bus Funding Increase (+~$1.5M)
Admin is recommending we increase the budget for planned transit replacements & additions because the quotes for procurement came up higher than expected. Escalating costs are being seen everywhere, and I’m concerned about inflation - but I support transit as a critical aspect of municipal services.
Meeting Through Electronic Communications Revision
This is a motion from an individual member of Council to add that “Councillors shall make every effort to attend Council meetings in person and only attend Council meetings by electronic communications due to unforeseen, extenuating, or extraordinary circumstances”. The only Alberta municipality that Admin found that has rules around this is Parkland County, which had a fairly permissive policy that respects that part-time councillors may be outside of the municipality or may have family obligations that prevent them from attending in person.
As the member of Council who primarily attends Council meetings virtually, I was surprised that a member of Council wanted to micro-manage an option that has been in place for decades. My strong preference is to attend everything in person, which is why I’ve attended most Youth Advisory Committee, Seniors Advisory Committee, and Homeland Housing meetings in person. I attend Chamber of Commerce events in-person, and I regularly meet with the City Manager in-person. I attend any number of community events in-person. That said, my ability to attend formal Council meetings where discussion and debate are strictly managed virtually has allowed me to participate fully in formal meetings and also to be a better employee, parent, and partner.
Although a policy like this is unenforceable (how do you define extenuating?), I would still be heartbroken to imply to potential members of the Council that the role should only be open to community members who are not part of a homogeneous group that does not have diverse responsibilities or abilities. That said, it has warmed my heart to hear from community members who expressed disappointment at this motion - For anyone considering running in the 2025 election, please know that there are so many people out there who support diversity.
In reflecting on this motion, I was also reminded of the code of conduct complaints that were brought forward against three members of Council last term because of their travel. At the time, I commented on the experience of Councillor Hughes, who has prioritized time with her family while still participating in meetings virtually since long before covid changed the landscape of virtual meeting attendance. At the time, I said:
"One of the things I love about municipal politics is there is room for diverse points of view, for dialogue… that we don’t see in levels of government that are steeped in partisan rhetoric… I’m so thankful for that”.
I still feel this way, and I’m thankful that virtual attendance allows a diversity of people to contribute as members of Council, including those with family commitments, work commitments, health limitations, and any number of other lived experiences. Our council is stronger when we welcome diversity of experience. Below are my full debate comments at that time - I get grouchy about halfway through!
This is a brief and incomplete overview of our meetings, with my personal comments sprinkled in - In no way are my opinions representative of the official direction of council or the City of St. Albert. Please let me know of any typos or errors. Members of the public can register to speak if they have information to present to council. Full agenda packages can be found on the stalbert.ca website.
