Just a note or two...

I’m excited about a couple of upcoming posts I have - one on inclusionary zoning and another on sidewalk snow clearing. There are also a few features on Substack I look forward to trying out. So, this week’s post is simply a brief update on a few of those things - I mean, who has much time right now to read blogs when there are holidays to prepare for!?

Next week I want to explore the idea of inclusionary zoning - a planning tool that requires developers to include a minimum percentage of affordable units in every proposal over a certain size. In 2018, when I ran for council, I was a big fan of inclusionary zoning. My thinking has shifted somewhat and I’ll share why next week.

This week, Regional Council met to discuss several issues, including the Upstream Initiatives Fund and Councillor Deutschmann’s motion regarding procedures for encampment evictions. You can see that motion here, as well as Waterloo Region Yes In My Backyard’s response in support of that motion. The motion was deferred until after the judge in the encampment eviction court case makes a ruling (expected later this month or early January). Click to see delegations Regan, Meagan, and David speak in support of the original motion (starting around the one hour mark).

One other update from Regional Council: the new council voted to reverse the ‘benefits for life’ motion, approved by the previous council. I wrote about that vote here. The current council voted to strike a citizens committee to review remuneration and benefits for politicians, which will happen in the third-year of this council term. As well, “councillors also agreed to an amendment brought forward by Councillor Rob Deutschmann who suggested the committee not consider lifetime benefits paid for by the Region of Waterloo as part of its review.”

Also, it wouldn’t be winter without me digging into municipal sidewalk snow clearing. As I prepare my notes for that post, I’d like to take this opportunity to try out a new-to-me feature on Substack - polls!

The issue of whether or not the city should take over clearing all sidewalks of snow comes up every winter. Many are in favor of it, citing concerns about lack of accessibility with the current method of property owners being responsible for clearing. Others are worried that it’s simply too expensive for the city to take this on. What do you think?

Substack (that’s the platform that hosts Citified) has recently enabled a chat function that I am testing out. Stay tuned for more updates on that feature as I figure it out!

A reminder that for the month of December, for every paid subscription to #Citified, I will purchase a paid subscription to another Substack writer. Feel free to comment below with suggestions of accounts I should subscribe to.