Episode 163 of Speaking Municipally takes a look at a couple of very specific downtown issues that have wider implications.
One is Coun. Anne Stevenson's notice of motion to cancel a plan to spend $26.5 million from the downtown Community Revitalization Levy on the 103 Avenue Pedway, as well as $10.6 million on the first phase of development on public amenities at Qualico's Station Lands project.
The previous council approved a recommendation to amend the CRL to use funds in this way, but it is up to this council to vote on a borrowing bylaw to release the money. The councillor for O-day'min urged her colleagues to consider whether the idea "aligns with our public investment and city-building priorities."
"This is, I think, a very clear break from the previous council's direction," said podcast co-host Mack Male, who wondered whether we'll see a vote split between new and returning councillors when it comes to council on Jan. 24.
He also noted Stevenson's point that the city could build a significant amount of affordable housing with the money currently destined for the Station Lands project. "It's refreshing to me to see a new councillor say, well, we can continue to complain to the province and the federal government about how we need money for this. But we also have a lot of money we spend in the city, and maybe we should spend it more wisely."
Male and co-host Troy Pavlek also discussed who should bear the costs when police action causes damage, in light of a story involving Tzin Wine and Tapas on 104 Street. Police deployed flash-bangs or bean bag guns during the course of an arrest last summer, which resulted in almost $3,000 in damage to the restaurant. Business owner Kelsey Danyluk's landlord charged her for cleanup and repair, but she hasn't been able to recover those costs from either the city or the Edmonton Police Service.
Coun. Anne Stevenson of O'day-min has asked her colleagues to reconsider a plan to amend the downtown CRL to fund a pedway to the Station Lands project. (Mack Male/Flickr)
"For a small business owner, especially a restaurant in pandemic times, $3,000 could be survival or failure of the business. For the Edmonton police, they have probably spent more than $3,000 in staff time denying this claim," said Pavlek.
Small claims court is not an option, as lawsuits against the police have to go to Court of Queen's Bench, said lawyer Avnish Nanda. And the legal costs associated with that would be prohibitive.
"It doesn't seem right that the police can go around causing this damage and then not have to pay for it," said Male.
The police told Male that when their action leads to property damage, a form is submitted to the city's insurance and claims management section. Male has asked how many such forms are submitted every year, and he suggested that it would be prudent to budget for this kind of compensation.
"If we are talking at capital budget about new grenades or armed vehicles or any of the things that police are going to use, I think it's safe to assume that some of those things are going to cause some damage, and maybe that we should be budgeting for that," he said.
The episode also gets into Justice Minister Kaycee Madu's ill-fated call to Chief Dale McFee over a distracted driving ticket, ponders the recent interim report on the bus network redesign, dives once more into snow removal, and chats with councillors Tim Cartmell and Jennifer Rice.