Edmonton Minute: School Costs, Streetcar Routes, and Defunding The Police Again

Edmonton Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Edmonton politics

This Week In Edmonton:

• There is plenty going on at City Hall this week, starting with the Agenda Review Committee meeting at 9:00 am on Tuesday, followed by a City Council meeting a little later in the morning, at 9:30 am. Council will cover rental licenses for basement suites, garage suites, and short term rentals, a Transit Safety and Security Interim Update, and a Spring General Repealing Bylaw, which corrects errors and removes dozens of bylaws that no longer are applicable.
  
  
• On Wednesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a City Manager and City Auditor Performance Evaluation Committee meeting which will consider a private verbal report. Later in the day, at 1:30 pm, there will be a City Council Public Hearing to discuss 15 minor zoning amendments.
  
  
• At 9:30 am on Thursday, there will be an Audit Selection Committee meeting to discuss recruitment and candidate shortlisting. This will be done in-camera. On Friday, there is time scheduled at 9:30 am for the continuation of Tuesday’s City Council meeting should it not wrap up as scheduled. Also on Friday, there will be a City Council Non Regular meeting at 2:00 pm to consider the reports of the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee, the Women’s Advocacy Voice of Edmonton Committee, and the City of Edmonton Youth Council.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• In a controversial meeting, the Executive Committee voted 3-2 to cut the Edmonton Police Service's budget by $22.2 million. Meanwhile, Police Commissioner, Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, called for the removal of Councillor Anne Stevenson from the Police Commission after she didn't disclose that a member of a City task force who spoke in favour of the cut was also a member of her staff. The Committee's vote isn't final, and the issue will now go to the full Council in the coming weeks.
  
  
• Edmonton Public Schools projected increased enrolment as well as cost increases in a report presented at a Board of Trustees meeting. Insurance costs and utility costs are rising, and it remains unclear whether this will impact programming or if costs will be recuperated through additional funding, aka taxation.
  
  
• The High Level Streetcar has expanded its route south into Old Strathcona with a new stop on Whyte Avenue. Years in the making, the project encountered some delays but the historic streetcar is now available for riders Monday through Friday. The Edmonton Radial Railway Society is one of the largest heritage transit organizations in Canada and is staffed entirely by volunteers. We all know that, one way or another, Edmonton taxpayers always get taken for a ride; at least this method seems fun!

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