A report released by city officials overseeing the so-called “tax reform” proposal could not have been better designed to inflame urban vs. suburban strife. The one-page document, which was handed out at a Tuesday workshop for councillors, shows the effects of “tax reform” by electoral district averages. For example, using 2007 numbers, under “tax reform” […]
Councillor
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Councillor
“The city is abuzz” with positives, says Sloane. They include being able to secure funding for Centennial Pool and keeping local schools open—including St Patrick’s-Alexandra—HRM by Design (“whether you like it or not,” she says, laughing) and the potential for affordable, mixed-use housing. Moving forward she’s going to work towards the getting the master plan […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mary Wile
Cell: 476-2048 Grade this year: D Grade last year: D Since last year, Mary Wile has shown some sparks of awareness: As a member of the Urban Design Task Force, she piped up with a few observations related to HRM By Design, and she importantly raises issues related to handicap access from time to time. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jerry Blumenthal, Council newbie
Cell: 237-0720 Grade this year: C Grade last year: N/A Jerry Blumenthal retired after a long career as councillor in both the old city of Halifax and in the HRM, and then came back in 2008 to challenge his replacement, Patrick Murphy. Blumenthal seems to have won the October election thanks in large part to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Sue Uteck
Cell: 221-7651 Grade this year: C+ Grade last year: B- Sue Uteck forthrightly and unapologetically fights for what she thinks is right. And, she knows the city—she knows where the bodies are buried, who holds the keys to which doors and what makes everything run. That knowledge serves her well, and she uses it effectively. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jennifer Watts, Council newbie
Cell: 497-4748 Grade this year: B Grade last year: N/A Jennifer Watts hit the ground running, leading the resistance to the Bayers Road widening and putting forward a proposed ban on plastic bottles in city buildings and a range of suggested changes to the HRM By Design planning initiative, all within her first six months […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Russell Walker, BIG improvement
Cell: 497-7215 Grade this year: B- Grade last year: C- Russell Walker’s been around forever, and knows what’s what. He’s generally right-of-centre on the issues that The Coast finds important—he’s for a third harbour crossing, he voted for the Chebucto Road widening, he unthinkingly supports huge budget increases for cops, whether warranted or not. But—and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Debbie Hum, MLA Wannabe
Cell: 476-7212 Grade this year: D+ Grade last year: C+ “Debbie Hum,” I wrote last year, “is a likeable councillor, and has a sort of 1970s-style good-government sensibility to her, which is not a bad thing at all, but I wish she’d be more of a presence on council. Mostly, she seems to get into […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jackie Barkhouse
Cell: 476-5601 Grade this year: C+ Grade last year: C+ I still have very high hopes for Jackie Barkhouse. She’s intelligent, and comes from a union background that should serve her Eastern Passage and Woodside constituents well. But does she? Well, since she won a byelection to her seat in December 2007, Barkhouse has mostly […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jim Smith, MLA Wannabe
Cell: 229-8887 Grade this year: C- Grade last year: C- Smith surprised me this past year. During discussion of the Clairmont Report on violence, he pointed out that everyone was ignoring Clairmont’s suggestion that brothels and prostitution stroll areas be legalized. And, through the transit tax debates, he solidly protected his low-income constituency. He remains […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City Council Report Card 2009
It’s the end of the school year, so once again, it’s time for The Coast’s annual city council report card. This is a thankless chore—city councillors hate me for it, readers troll up the comments section on thecoast.ca with words like “douchebag” and “idiot,” my few remaining friends shake their heads in dismay. But hey, […]