Renewing our Communities in Calgary Currie, building on lessons we learned while revitalizing Marda Loop and the others

 Upgrading Community Centres, small business districts, sports and activity centers, schools and churches

Revitalizing and renewing our faith in Government and elected officials

Restoring Ethics Integrity and Trust.

"Experience meeting opportunity and a genuine desire for  change and improvement"

This is what we need to build confidence, clarity and vision in our Government

Maybe, It's time for a Shift.

A Shift, in our thinking. 

Maybe, we should focus on building our People First -  and  then build our City and our Province to suit us - not the other way around. 

Build a city that works for children - because then it will work for everyone. A Province that is inclusive of all of us. A society that unleashes creativity and offers opportunity for talent  to shine. A society that is built of resilient, sustainable communities. A place that turns lemons into lemonade.

Perhaps it starts by envisioning a City that is comprised of 140 empowered local communities that seem almost like small towns of their own, like what we have done in the Marda Loop, Cliff Bungalow-Mission and other areas. Maybe it's a city that isn't just bedroom communities, but communities that also have "living rooms" in them - People spaces and activities and arts and cultural events that encourage people to get out of their houses at night and mingle and mix and meet each other. Maybe it's about choice in housing styles, lifestyles, and densities, to recognize the different stages of life Calgarians go through. Maybe it's about changing the OR in arguments, to AND  - and thereby re-framing those previously unsolvable society issues.

 How about Communities where people know your name? Communities, where people watch out for each other, watch out for crime, and show compassion. A city where your voice is important and is heard. A government, that has a "pull" strategy, instead of a "push" strategy. 

 A City Hall, a Provincial government that puts its

People First!

What do you think? Is this a good approach?

Why do we have a civic government, if not for the benefit of all Calgarians? Why does our current City Hall appear to be more "the Corporation of the City of Calgary", run like a large business monopoly with sweeping legislative powers to change the laws,  favouring itself first and foremost, and appearing to be after all your money? What's up with that?

And what about our Province, with escalating costs, depleting resources, and increasing international criticism?

It doesn't have to be that way.

I  say "People first" because that is what the original intent is supposed to be - a Great City, and a Great Province organized and benefiting us all.

Government that can be Trusted 

    Efficient, Effective and ETHICAL

Doing things right, doing the right things, and doing it for the right reasons.

Back to the Basics, "Old School Ethics" & using new technologies, new approaches  and new perspectives to solving our problems and spotting our opportunities

About your government representatives

What kind of MLA does Calgary Currie need? Is the job of MLA just a title? Chief Bureaucrat? Or is it Vision, Leadership and Ethics combined into one person -  one office? A person who helps sets the tone for our district - and then to the Province? Someone who recognizes that for a City and a Province to truly be great, it must include everyone; have a great environment; a vibrancy and creative feel, and a great economy. Natural, Social and Economic Capital. 

An MLA must inspire, challenge, nurture and be real. An MLA must lead by example, and demonstrate integrity and  be trusted.

I have a Big vision of what I would like to do as your representative. I have had the same vision and have been working on it volunteer and otherwise for almost 30 years.

Results

As your MLA I will work, along with all others, to create a more caring, inclusive, prosperous community, City, Province and Nation - one that puts it's People First.

How will we do this?

First, create a better government that all employees are proud to work for.  A government that is seen to be helpful, visionary, concerned, and shows positive leadership and intelligence. A government that not only does things right it also does the right things -and for the right reasons. A government with a "servant leadership" model that puts citizens ( us customers) first and foremost. A government that understands what social capital is.  A government that understands it's main purpose. A government that does not look like it is being run like a large monopolistic, money-hungry giant Corporation competing against us, that many are afraid of, that nickle and dimes everyone to extract the most money possible for itself. It all starts with a elected officials who "get it" when it comes to common sense, common purpose and  creation of a Province that puts it's "People First".

ENTREPRENEURIAL VISION

Fix the problems, spot the opportunities.

Most new jobs and new wealth, come from those few small business start-ups that succeed. To stabilize and grow our economy, we need to unleash tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, and help them succeed!

Let's create a plan to double the success rate of local small business, pump up our local economy, regain our lost competitiveness, and cut the waste of "people" talent to zero. 

If you aren't exceptionally good at fixing problems, and spotting opportunities, you won't last very long in small business in this City. Jon is the only candidate in this election, who has had to continually meet payrolls with his own money in small and medium businesses for over 30 years now. While other gloss over (failed?) short-lived business attempts - Jon's business career is well-known and documented. Casablanca Video grew over 3000% in it's first 6 years, and was a finalist for Alberta Small Business of the Year, Premier's Award, and 10 time annual winner of Calgary's best in it's category.) Jon has-done, can-do and knows what small and large businesses need to succeed!

Community Vision

Empowering Communities: Creating the CEZ model: 

Empowering, fostering, initiating, respecting, thanking community volunteers, organizations, associations, and helping them initiate community programs that succeed.

As the Initiator and Founding Chairman of the Marda Loop, a founder and past Chair of the World Job and Food Bank, a founder and Chair of BBQ on the Bow, Founding Chairman of the Provincial FedBRZ, and involved with numerous start-ups, committees and volunteer groups for decades, Jon has a lifetime track record and many thousands of volunteer hours working with many diverse groups in the community. Jon knows what it take to help "Build Better Communities". Compare Jon's volunteer track record of thousands of volunteer hours in numerous organizations to any other candidate. 

Political Vision

Provincial Funding - people and partnerships that work

Restore financial confidence, implement leading Governance procedures and policies, initiate V.I.P. service for all citizens, install disciplined business process systems and goals, Improve our competitiveness and foster Community strength that will show leadership across our Nation. Bring back Common Sense, Careful spending, and ensure Honest government!

In politics, Jon's unique problem-solving abilities have been  successful for Calgary taxpayers, for the environment, for economic development, for communities, for people. 

Among many other initiatives, Jon's ISO14000 initiative laid the groundwork for the City's entire Envirosystem policies, which are now winning the City national and international awards across the spectrum on the environmental front, just as Jon said they would when he introduced it in 1997. He introduced Council to the notion of Telework 1998; created the strategy that resolved the 30 year battle between Stampede expansion and Victoria park; brought the "light bulb" motion in 1996 that saved taxpayers $100 million; created the "Snow Rangers" ( now Snow Angels); has successfully lead the charge on secondary suite legalization for over a decade, and initiated and introduced too many other ideas to mention here. 

What will Jon bring back to City Hall?

The Long Term Vision

Vibrant, Resilient and Revitalized Communities

Bring back life, social networks and pride into communities again. After all, what is the purpose of a Government -  if not to improve the quality of life for all Calgarians?

How will we do this?

“Harnessing our Talents” (H.O.T.) – Growing Natural, Social and Economic Wealth to create a healthier, more harmonious Province

Imagine a Calgary of 150 connected, thriving, vibrant, resilient and empowered communities, where pennies count, common sense prevails and people know your name.  A Calgary that goes from building “bedroom communities”, to building “living rooms” in all communities.  We will empower communities to create natural places, spaces, activities and centers, where people will want to get out of their houses, mingle and mix and meet each other and get to know their neighbors. We will create specific “common sense and common purpose”  goals, expectations,  shared rights and responsibilities, to ensure all Calgarians feel not just included - but welcomed - as contributing, participating citizens of our great City.

This will be a Calgary where we put people first -  we encourage Volunteerism, Festivals, Arts and Cultural events, we respect our Senior citizens, we value local entrepreneurs, we help our needy and we do this by inspiring and harnessing the incredible talent and potential of our greatest asset – ourselves - Calgary citizens.

Any Nation's greatest asset, any City's greatest asset, any Communities greatest asset - is us, the people.

• Less talk, more Action! 

• Get the best ideas off the drawing board and into action in our communities. We don’t have to re-invent the wheel, there are many exceptional organizations and dedicated citizens that have come up with solid planning already ( for eg.http://www.imaginecalgary.ca/imagineCALGARY_long_range_plan.pdf  and other great organizations such as our very own Calgary Foundation http://thecalgaryfoundation.org/  where community vitality is the purpose, promise, and passion, but they need more people and resources to get their ideas into action. 

Most Important- getting those ideas put into action.

• EG.  Idea #1.... I will advocate that all Calgary become “Community Enhancement Zones” - CEZ’s. Drawing from my experience as Founding Chairman of what has become the Marda Loop BRZ, and all my other BRZ experience, I suggest we will build upon the success of all small Business BRZ’s (Business Revitalization Zones) models that have helped revitalize entire communities already, such as Marda Loop, Uptown 17, Victoria Park, Kensington, and International Avenue, to build more decentralized, democratic and community endorsed governance that will provide leadership and a new way forward in politics and governance.  I brought forward this initiative in 1998, but little has been done since to put it into action.  Decisions regarding solving local problems,  made as close as possible by as few people as possible involved with the problem, are generally much more effective and efficient.

We don’t need big departments to make little decisions - why not decentralize some of that bureaucracy and bring back common sense! 

• Improved, stabilized long term funding agreements with the Province of Alberta. Wouldn't it be nice to have a representative who has worked at the Provincial Government level as an MLA, knows all the players personally as former colleagues,  grew up in rural Alberta and can talk the language with the majority of Provincial MLA's?

• Improved, long term planning arrangements and communications with our neighboring municipalities and Aboriginal Councils. We are all in this together.
•  
• Continuous attention to long term planning such as SWOT analysis of environmental, cultural, demographic, psychographic and technological and global implications regarding urban planning, design, governance and service delivery. What is it that the Albertans will be wanting in 10, 15, 25 years?

The Short-Term Vision:  

I see our Province becoming an award winning High-Performance employer of choice using Integrative thinking, a Servant Leadership structure and a motivated culture that recognizes we are all in this together.  A Province that is continually inspired and rewards those who are delivering “more and better with less - and faster” using smart ideas, new technology, and a great attitude.  A Province that puts imagination into action in building for all our futures, and also gets back to the basics and focuses on bringing back the best of what we used to have.

A government that recognizes that the words "OR" or "BUT" will not help find creative solutions. It's not "lower taxes OR better services that we are looking for..... it's "lower taxes AND better services". Lets get away from the tyranny of "OR" and move to the genius of "AND" - just one small technique that opens up creativity.  

It’s just entrepreneurial vision, combined with common sense for a common purpose … People first. 

What does this mean?  Common sense, common purpose, People first.

• Be honest, and be seen to be honest in all that we do.
• Restore confidence that our Financial House is in order.
• Articulate clearly Alberta’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats – and Take Action.
• Take lemons, make lemonade and promote a culture of adaptability and resilience.
• Foster private sector local entrepreneurship
• End “Whack-a-Mole” management systems, bring back employee pride and performance that all Albertans will be proud of
• Bring back Alberta’s nation-leading competitive advantages in costs and services.
• Encourage our employees to bring forth their best ideas
• Encourage all citizens to bring forth their best ideas
• Evaluate those ideas with respect, follow-up and recognition - and get the best ones into action!
•  

·         "First you build your cities - and then they build you" .....Jane Jacobs.