Hello Ward 8,
With summer on the
horizon, City Council business is on the very busy homestretch leading up to our
summer recess in August. On that note, there's no time like the present to give
you all a heads up about a big change coming in my life. On August 7 we will be
welcoming our second child (a boy!) to add to our current roster of one
3-year-old daughter.
For August and a
couple of weeks in September, the excellent Ward 8 Team will be helping me manage
this big life change. I will still be working on constituency issues daily and
attending Council and Committee Meetings but will have less availability for
in-person meetings. Urgent meetings virtually will still be possible, and we are planning to ensure nothing falls
through the cracks. This is all to say that having a great team is the most
valuable asset for a Councillor, and I'm lucky to have one.
Now for a few
updates from the last month.
We are continuing
our effort to be as transparent as possible so I have been writing summaries of council meetings on the Ward 8 website you can find here, along with other important updates. A dedicated Vote Tracker page for the Ward 8 website is in progress and will be available soon.
The last two months
of Council and Committee Meetings featured some important strategies and
initiatives. My Notice of Motion to improve Parks Maintenance Funding for 2026
passed unanimously in April. This provides an additional $1.7 million of
funding in increase mowing, weed control, garbage cleanup, and public washroom
maintenance. Calgarians love their parks and we believe it is valuable to
reflect this through better service levels.
We have another
Notice of Motion coming to June's Council Meeting using up to $6 million from
this year's surplus to create a pilot program for community traffic safety
improvements. With injuries and fatalities on track for record levels, we need
to take action. The vision for this program is to create a pool of funding that
each Councillor can use in collaboration with communities and our Mobility team
to more quickly address problems with crosswalk improvements, traffic safety
infrastructure, and better signage. The funding will also be used for other
priorities in the Safer Mobility Plan.
Public Safety and
Social Disorder is another urgent issue affecting Calgarians, especially Ward
8. For the first, we have a dedicated strategy to address these problems called Safer Together. I tabled an amendment to
this plan that requires a report back in July for more detailed budget and
outcome targets as well as yearly reports to Council. I believe this is a
critical step forward for our ability to have a plan and be more responsive to
public safety.
I'm also very
excited to share news of significant progress with the transformation of the
vacant land around Westbrook Ctrain Station. We have been working with
Administration over the last two months to accelerate this work and now is your
chance to share your vision. More information about this is below and there
will be more chances to shape the future of this site.
I look forward to
seeing many of you for a very chilly Neighbour Day and hopefully a much warmer
and sunnier Stampede.
All the best,
Nathaniel Schmidt
Ward 8 Calgary City Councillor
