3 things to watch at city council today

Monday's city council meeting will be a combined one so there will be a handful of secondary suite applications in addition to the other interesting debates tentatively scheduled for later in the day.

No extra councillors

The report of the Ward Boundary Commission on the number of councillors on Calgary's city council is in. The independent assessment concludes that adding two or even four more chairs around the council table won't make a difference to the current workload.

Seats were last added to city council in 1977 but in an ever-growing city, picking a firm ratio of councillor-to-population is seen as the slippery slope to a legislature-sized council chamber.

However, the commission did conclude that councillors should physically be closer to their residents and it recommended ward offices be set up in city-owned buildings so Calgarians don't have to trek to City Hall to find their representative.

There's also a call for a council task force to examine how to make councillors' offices more efficient and effective.

Getting tough on 'easy' cash'

At least three councillors feel payday loan businesses undercut poverty reduction strategies. Studies have found most payday loan customers are on a low-income and need emergency cash.

The motion before council calls for a clear definition to be developed for payday loan businesses operating in Calgary so the land use bylaw could potentially be amended to limit the number of such shops in a neighbourhood.

The motion also suggests the city could look at higher fees for business licences if payday lenders were categorized separately from other businesses.

Curbing consultants

It seems like every time the city needs some advice, a consultant is hired to do a report. Last year, the city paid that industry over $16.9 million to complete a pile of reports.

Coun. Shane Keatinghas a motion calling for ... wait for it! ... a report on the matter.

He wants the bureaucrats to examine whether more of the work can be done by city employees and what changes would need to be made to expand the bureaucracy's capacity to do reports. If council agrees, at least this report will be conducted in-house.