Snow clearing, Olympic bid dominate public forum
With Calgary’s recent bout of heavy snowfall, Coun. Jeromy Farkas told his constituency at a town hall meeting that funding for clearing it should take precedence over something like the city ’s potential Olympic bid.
Nevertheless, the councillor has heard enough feedback about the bid that he said he would be willing to go back on a campaign promise not to pursue a referendum on it.
Thursday was Farkas’s second town hall since winning the Ward 11 seat in October’s election. These meetings were another promise Farkas made on the campaign trail.
Held at the Oakridge Community Association, the town hall was an opportunity for members of Ward 11 to ask the councillor any question on any topic, and to listen as he provided updates on issues he and council are currently dealing with.
On the potential Olympic bid, Farkas made it clear that he opposes it, but not because he thinks Calgary wouldn’t make a good host.
“We absolutely, if we set our minds to hosting the Olympics, we absolutely could host the Olympics and I think that we could do it well,” he said. “The question remains, though, whether it actually makes sense for our priorities.”
One of those priorities that the councillor feels the city could dedicate more resources to is snow clearing. Farkas said his office has been flooded with calls and emails from residents complaining about mobility issues due to snow clearing, or a lack thereof, and the issue was brought up in many audience questions at the town hall.
There are potential solutions to the city’s snow-clearing problem, but they would come at a cost — one that Farkas believes residents shouldn’t have to pay extra for.
“I don’t think that we should be raising taxes in order to perform better snow management,” he said. “I think that the budget should be increased, but I think that we can cut on some of the frivolities elsewhere. Say, for example, if we’re going to spend four to 10 billion dollars on an Olympic bid. That could have us, basically, removing snow from nearly every road for decades.”
But how can residents who would prefer to see their tax dollars go to city services rather than an Olympic bid communicate that to City Hall?
One audience member asked the councillor about the possibility of holding a plebiscite on the issue. Farkas campaigned against a public vote because he thought it would “actually legitimize holding the Olympics.” However, he’s now open to the idea if constituents show enough interest.
“If you think the situation warrants me going back on that promise not to have a plebiscite then I’m willing to explore it and ( be) openminded towards supporting it,” he said. “I think at least with a public vote we would have an opportunity for a really robust debate.”
Farkas plans to continue to hold town hall meetings throughout his tenure on the third Thursday of every month, with the next event planned for March 15 at the Parkhill Stanley Park Community Hall.
This story is provided to Postmedia through ongoing collaboration with the Mount Royal University journalism program and the Calgary Journal.