Calgary city council’s goal is to not raise taxes on residential property owners by as large of a percentage in 2024 as they did in 2023 after approving a 7.8 per cent hike in its budget adjustments this year, according to Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
The comments were made to Global News during a wide-ranging year-end interview, where Gondek defended the tax hikes as the result of “not investing enough in our public service over time.”
“We had to invest in housing, we had to invest in public safety and we needed to invest in transit as well.”
Mayor stands by decision to not attend menorah lighting
Demonstrations over the current conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas continue to take place in Calgary, creating a painful situation for many people in the city according to Mayor Gondek.
In December, she decided to not participate in the annual menorah lighting at city hall after a poster promoting the event circulated on social media with both the phrase “Supporting Israel” and her name on it.
The Calgary Jewish Federation described the mayor’s decision as “extremely disappointing, harmful, and offensive.” Despite the backlash, Gondek said she stands by the “incredibly difficult decision.”
“In social media, people are not having conversations, people are picking up on wording linked to a public official’s name and leaping to a conclusion. I have no sides to take in this,” she said.
“That poster became problematic and to not have it retracted and to have it appear very unexpectedly, felt like a letdown to me.”
Mayor Gondek admitted she did consider still attending the event in an effort to bridge the gap and advance a sentiment of understand over the very contentious issue, but ultimately felt “the public that saw the poster, that was not going to be at the event, would not understand that.”
“For them it would have been the mayor has taken a stance in a war, which I did not want to do.”
Crime concerns remain front of mind
A number of high profile shootings in public areas are “unnerving” to see in Calgary according to the mayor, however she believes a wholistic approach to public safety is making a difference on city streets.
Gondek explained that Calgary police were “previously taking all the calls and dispatching their resources to deal with everything,” but now service members work with peace officers, transit peace officers, outreach crisis response teams and health care professionals.
“The police are focused on the things that they are best equipped to focus on like gun violence or crime and you’ve got a group of other services providers who are looking after community safety and well being.”
Downtown revitalization through office conversion to continue
Mayor Gondek noted that several downtown office conversion projects will continue to move forward in 2024. There are 13 approved sites throughout the city’s core and four others waiting to be rubber stamped.
In total, 2.3 million square feet of vacant office space is set to be converted, creating 23,000 homes downtown, 15 per cent of which will be affordable housing.
“When people have a place to live downtown and it’s close to work and it’s close to all of their amenities, it completely changes their quality of life,” said Gondek.
“They are able to enjoy access to the things that they love dearly. So that’s what we’re trying to do with our downtown, really make it a place that people want to be all of the time.”
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