Annual Aldermanic Expenses

The 2007 year-end Ward office expense reports were made public at the end of January, 2008.  These expenses are to pay for assistant’s salaries, communications, business expenses, travel, and courses.  All Aldermen were allotted $126,205 for 2007. 

Budgets are set for a reason; however, I do not need to spend more than is necessary to do my job effectively for the resident’s of Ward 13 and the city of Calgary.  One of the things I do not do much of is travel – I find that I have more that enough to do right here in Calgary.

I am pleased to report that I was one of the two thriftiest members of Council, spending only $74, 917 or 59% of my budget.

Calgary Transit Safety Audit

Everyday there are 550,000 boardings on Calgary Transit and a large majority of them are law-abiding Calgarians traveling around the city.  However, crime on transit is occurring and the perception of riders is that their personal safety is at risk.

On 2008 January 21, Alderman Farrell and I brought before Council a Notice of Motion requesting that a comprehensive safety audit of Calgary Transit be conducted.  I am pleased to say that this passed Council unanimously.  Hundreds of you contacted me to let me know of your own person experiences on the trains and buses.

Given the emphasis that the City places on encouraging Calgarians to leave their cars at home and use public transportation, the growing concerns from riders should not be underestimated.  The safety audit will break down crime statistics, the ability to respond to incidents and rider’s perception of cleanliness and safety while using the system.  The safety audit is NOT to create a climate of fear, but to address the concerns brought forward but those who make use of the system.

The next step is to have the Audit Committee review, prepare the Terms of Reference, and present them to Council in April 2008.  Council then approves the Terms of Reference and the safety audit will commence with a report back to Council at its’ conclusion.

Ward 13 Traffic Warrant Studies

As a result of safety concerns expressed to my office, we asked City Administration to evaluate locations throughout the ward for enhanced safety measures, in particular traffic signals.  Counts and analysis were conducted during the summer and early fall.  Results and recommendations were included in Roads’ annual warrant studies report to the November meeting on Land Use Planning and Transportation where they were added to the citywide priority list.  Below is a list of those intersections that were studied and that will have traffic signals installed during the 2008 construction season.

*The intersection of 162nd Avenue & 24th Street SW (warrant score of 58) warrants a 4-way stop due to its’ collision history.  As per Council approved policy, based on sound engineering principles, whenever an intersection with a very wide centre median warrants a multi-stop, it is also deemed to warrant a traffic signal, regardless of warrant score.

As always, you can contact my office regarding this or any other civic matter at 268-1624, by email at dcolley@calgary.ca, or through my website, www.aldermandiane.ca.  Alternatively, you can contact ‘311.’