[Image-1] The potential lives saved by truck side guards isn’t enough of a reason to install them on municipal vehicles, says HRM staff. That’s the recommendation from a staff report going to Thursday’s meeting of the Transportation Standing Committee which recommends “no further action” be taken on the idea of side guards on all city-owned […]
City Council
Posted inNews + Opinion
Council report recommends selling Khyber as “community interest”
[Image-1] It will likely be 2018 before anyone’s down at the Khyber. A staff report coming to HRM Regional Council on Tuesday is once again recommending to sell 1588 Barrington Street, but this time under the city’s “community interest” category. That means a community group will be able to buy the property at less-than-market value, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Waye Mason says HRM needs a lobbyist registry
[Image-1] In this week’s cover story, The Coast looks at whether HRM needs a lobbyist registry to curb conflicts of interest. Municipal registries documenting when consultants and developers meet with councillors are on the rise across Canada, but there are arguments for and against one being installed in Halifax. Waye Mason, councillor for the downtown […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The devil in the details: Why Halifax needs a lobbyist registry
[Image-1] Somewhere upstairs inside Halifax City Hall resides the municipality’s guest book. Its expensively heavy pages, bound in Oxford-blue leatherette, are half-filled with autographs from visiting dignitaries and VIPs who have glad-handed with mayors over the past 16 years. Anyone can view the guest book, although the commissionaires at the front desk couldn’t remember the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Everything you need to know to be a school board member
[Image-1] What do you think? Mayor? Councillor? Or maybe you secretly long to be a school board member. If so, the following is for you. Speaking personally, it’s been a fantastic experience being a school board member. I’ve loved it. I’ve hated it. And most days I fall somewhere in between. It’s an honour and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Salary freeze rejected during snarky council debate
[Image-1] A new compensation system for HRM councillors and the mayor was viciously shot down at City Hall this week, but problems with the current salary formula remain. A report asking to change HRM council’s pay and base it off of the average salary for a full-time HRM resident was debated at a stumbling, confrontational […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cast your vote in our city council report card
[Image-1] This week, HRM Regional Council will gather to review and finalize the 2016/17 budget, marking the end of one fiscal year and the slow march toward this fall’s general election. Come October you’ll be able to let the municipality’s 16 councillors and one mayor know how you really feel about their efforts, but who […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Brad Johns once again HRM’s most absent city councillor
[Image-1] It’s not the kind of chart most politicians want to be topping, but Brad Johns makes no apologies for having HRM Regional Council‘s worst overall attendance record in 2015. “My priority has always been my district, things going on in my district,” says Johns. “Whether it’s a seniors’ dinner, or calling BINGO…that takes priority […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Salary freeze proposed for Halifax council
[Image-1] The mayor and city councillors are making too much money, says HRM’s council compensation committee. A newly-released report from the group—specially created by council in 2014 to study this very issue—recommends freezing salaries for elected HRM officials and instituting several changes to how that compensation is tabulated. If approved, the recommendations will have city […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Substantial design changes planned for Nova Centre
[Image-1] Developer Joe Ramia wants to change the exterior design elements of his downtown Nova Centre complex, including the elevation above Market Street and the materials to be used at the Centre’s base and tower. That news comes from an information item headed to next week’s meeting of the Design Review Committee. A new substantive […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The roast of Gloria McCluskey is happening in April
If you want to watch Mike Savage make fun of Gloria McCluskey, it’s going to cost $50 a plate. Next month, various political dignitaries and community well-wishers will gather together on April 23 in Eastern Passage to do what some on the internet have been doing for a while now, and roast the retiring […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City council to discuss removing Halifax logo from Dartmouth
[Image-1] Having solved Twitter and given royal assent to donairs, HRM Regional Council will now turn its attention to scrubbing HΛLIFΛX off of Dartmouth. Next week councillors will discuss a recommendation from the Harbour East-Marine Drive community council to look at removing the Halifax logo and brand from “all community signs, landmarks and flagpoles” across […]
