Amarjeet Sohi, Edmonton Ward 6 Councillor

Nominations for Good Neighbours Open

The nominations have opened for The 2010 Good Neighbour Awards. Nominations are open until March 1st. Nominated someone who has made a difference in your community today!

Please visit: http://www.edmonton.ca/for_residents/resident_services_programs/cms-good-neighbours.

Opening Ceremonies Black History Month

I was able on January 30th, 2010 to celebrate the contributions that the Black and Caribbean communities have made to the City of Edmonton .

Congratulations Mill Woods Christian School!

On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, I had the pleasure to meet with the staff of Mill Woods Christian School at Leading with Literacy Breakfast, organized by Centre of Family Literacy.

Heartland Transmission Project

For my thoughts on the recently announced Heartland Transmission Project and how it affects Ward 6 please look under Issues.

Haitian Earthquake

On January 12^th, 2010, a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the impoverished island nation of Haiti.  The earthquake caused catastrophic damages and massive fatalities.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Haiti and the rescue and aid workers from all over the world who have rushed to their aid.

Property Assessments and You

By now, most of you would have received your 2009 assessment notice. These notices show the assessed value of properties, which are then used by the city to determine each owner’s share of property taxes. This notice is not a tax bill. Your final tax bill comes in May after the addition of the provincial education tax, which is announced in spring, and adjustments due to any final changes in the City’s budget and shifts between property tax.

Happy 2010

Councillor Amarjeet Sohi and his family would like to wish you a Happy New Year.

2010 is bringing many exciting things to our city. January 13th, the Olympic torch arrives in our city and celebrations kick off at 6pm at Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Winter Lights 2010 begins on January 6th and goes until March. Winter Lights will be coming to Ward 6 with Big Winter on February 26- 27, where skating, sledding, and magical lights on the lake are all part of free family fun. It takes place at Jackie Parker Park 4540 - 50 Street N.W.

Hoping you have a great 2010

LRT route to Mill Woods approved

I am happy to report that Council has approved the proposed route for the southeast LRT extension to Mill Woods. This is the biggest step the City has made toward making LRT in Mill Woods a reality since the area was developed 30 years ago.

LRT has been my top priority since I first ran for Council in 2004. It has incredible potential to re-shape our city now and for the future, and I think today will stand as a landmark decision by Council.

The route to Mill Woods is the result of a motion I made to expedite route planning for an extension to Mill Woods. City staff have been evaluating possible routes for over a year, and have consulted with hundreds of citizens. I think we’ve picked the best possible route, and I’m excited to get started on the next steps.
 

Council sets 2010 budget

At about noon today, Council approved the budget for 2010. We kept to our guideline of a 5% tax increase (3% for City operations, plus a dedicated 2% for neighbourhood renewal). The average household will see a tax increase of about $94 in 2010, or under $8 per month.

I’m very proud of this budget. We were fiscally responsible in a difficult time, but we didn’t sacrifice the services our citizens rely on. We found money to restore the swimming pool hours we had reduced earlier this year, and we ensured that the libraries won’t have to reduce hours. We also found some efficiencies and new revenue to cover an increase in the Police Service budget, so we won’t have to reduce police presence in the city.

Some other highlights of this year’s budget include enhancements to Transit, fire rescue, crime prevention, and neighbourhood renewal.

Transit driver assaulted - pushing for solutions

My thoughts and prayers are with Transit driver Tom Bregg and his family this week. Tom is the driver who was assaulted last Thursday morning during rush hour. I wish Tom and his family peace as they cope with this tragedy.

I think we need to get tougher on attacks against Transit operators. The Criminal Code needs to recognize that an attack on an operator compromises the safety of passengers and people on the road. The consequences of an attack on a driver are far more severe than just the assault itself.

I’m working with Councillor Leibovici to ask Council to endorse a proposed change to the Criminal Code to address this issue.

Budget talk

As we get closer to debating the contents of the 2010 budget, I want to share some information about what the proposed budget contains and what I think we might be able to achieve. Council held a Public Hearing on the budget on November 25, and we’ll begin debating and making amendments next week. This post contains some thoughts on transit, community safety, environment and sustainability, and other community services.

Transit: What’s in the Budget

- ETS has proposed an overall budget requiring tax levy of about $109 million. That covers all bus, DATS and LRT service throughout the city.
- The headline item is the opening of the South LRT extension to Southgate and Century Park in April 2010. That service will cost about $4.6 million to run.
- There are also some changes to bus service to allow connections to the new Transit Centres in the Meadows and Lewis Estates.

What’s Not

- There are a few new communities that have bus service in Peak Hours (rush hour), but not during midday hours, evenings, or weekends. I want to explore the cost of providing service to meet these needs.
- A few of the newest neighbourhoods don’t have any bus service at all. I think we have to at least explore whether we can provide service in these areas.
 

Budget season underway at City Hall

Budget season is underway at City Hall.

On Nov. 10, Administration presented its recommendations for the 2010 budget. Earlier this year, Council directed Administration to keep the budget to a 3% increase, plus 2% dedicated to neighbourhood renewal. We’ll debate the budget over the next month and finalize it mid-December.

The budget process is always difficult, and this year will be no exception. It looks like the most controversial item this year will be the Police budget. The Police Service cannot maintain existing service levels within the 3% budget increase. If Council doesn’t grant the Police an increase of 9.9%, or $13.7 million, early indication is that we may have to decrease the size of the service by 200 officers (which we'll try to do through retirement and attrition). The recession has also placed major demands on other services, like transit and libraries – in hard times, people need these more than ever. Visits to our libraries grew by over one million in 2009, and transit demand continued to rise as well.

LRT expansion - your voice matters

On November 9, Council will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed route for the future LRT extension to Mill Woods.

This is the result of the motion I made in Council last year to expedite route planning for the Mill Woods leg of the LRT. Over the past year, City staff have considered numerous possible routes and consulted with hundreds of residents.

The proposed line will serve almost 50,000 riders a day.

LRT is one of City’s biggest priorities, but at a cost of $900 million to $1.2 billion for the Mill Woods line, we can’t afford to build it on our own. Of every dollar you pay in taxes, only about five cents goes to the City – we need funding from the provincial and federal governments to make this happen.

There is a lot of excitement about LRT, and we’ll get where we need to go - but we need Edmontonians' help.

Toward a better fee structure for City rec centres

On Monday, Council’s Community Services Committee will look at a proposal to change the fee structure for using City rec centres. The new structure would make monthly and annual passes cheaper for most users, but would increase the single-visit cost by an average of about $1.

The goal is to lower costs for most users by making sure they’re not paying for more than they need. It’s a good principle, and I support it.

There are some bugs, though. The new proposal is good for most users, but people who use the Mill Woods Recreation Centre and not the Kinsmen will have to pay about $20 more for an annual pass. UPDATE (NOV. 2): We were able to adjust the proposal in committee today to resolve this issue. The new model will come to Council for final approval in December, and I think most users will be happy with it.
 

City to consider pilot speed limit reduction in neighbourhoods

At today’s Transportation and Public Works Committee meeting, Councillors passed a motion to prepare a pilot project to reduce speed limits in three to five neighbourhoods. The pilot will let us evaluate whether lower speed limits could reduce collisions and injuries citywide.

City staff will put together a proposal for the pilot, and Council will decide whether to implement it in March 2010.

I’m a strong supporter of reducing residential speed limits. In March, I attended the International Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, and learned from world experts about the danger posed by speed. If a pedestrian is struck at 50 km/h, the chance of fatality is 90%. At 30 km/h, the chance of fatality is 10%.

Today, the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) showed Councillors the results of a survey they conducted throughout the city. Results were clear: many Edmontonians think 50 km/h on their neighbourhood streets is too fast.

Welcome to Sohi.ca!

Thanks for visiting the new Sohi.ca! A new website is part of my commitment to making it easier for you to get involved.

As an elected leader, involving citizens in Council decisions is a fundamental responsibility. A healthy democracy relies on citizens being informed and involved, but the onus is on leaders to be accessible and to make information available.

The ways that we’ve reached out to citizens in the past are positive, but they’re no longer enough.

In a changing society, not everyone can spend a day at a Public Hearing, so we need to be online and available. Not everyone reads a printed newspaper – we need to get information directly to you so it works for you. Not everyone has time to phone their Councillor, so we need to be open to online debate.

Above all, we need to respond to your needs.