Taking Care of Business: Calgary City Council needs to focus on leadership and vision

Dear Calgary City Council:

Please stop.

I write urging you to stay focused on the job at hand in helping this city navigate through continued tough economic times.

But what I see and hear through the media these days is a lot of wasted time in public meetings and behind closed doors bickering amongst yourselves about things that really don't matter.

The citizens of Calgary would much rather you take that energy and put it to more positive use - like showing some leadership, vision and creativity in guiding the city through this economic storm that continues to persist.

Now that the city has failed in its efforts to bring Amazon's second headquarters to Calgary and in going after the 2026 Winter Olympics what's next?

Where is the vision to take us from this economic malaise into a new era of prosperity? Or do we just sit back, throw our hands up in the air and say 'well, there's nothing we can do. Everything's out of our hands as other forces are in play that impact the city's general state of affairs.'

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." That's from one of the Psalms in the Bible. And man isn't that the case. The people in Calgary are perishing in so many different ways these days because of an economic downturn that began in late 2014 when oil prices collapsed. That led to economic recessions in 2015 and 2016 in the city which destroyed many people who were suddenly out of work with no hope for future employment in their chosen fields. Many of those same people are still looking for meaningful employment today. The recession years crushed many businesses in the city which had to close their doors and put many others in peril of experiencing the same fate.

Downtown Calgary is a ghost town compared to what it used to be years ago. More than one quarter of office space in the core is vacant. And there appears to be no end in sight to the plight of the commercial real estate market in the heart of the city.

And while the economy rebounded in 2017 and 2018, we still have a very long way to go to return to the stability and prosperity that this city is used to.

But how do we get back there? It truly is a million-dollar question. Some people think the oilpatch will never return to the heyday it experienced a few short years ago. Or at least if it does, it will be in a very long time.

Which brings me back to why I'm writing this letter to you. Please stop. At this critical time in Calgary's history, the city doesn't need the childish antics that we've been seeing from City Council of late. It needs leadership and vision to steer this boat safely through these challenging economic storms.

You owe it to the citizens of Calgary to stop being so dysfunctional and to roll up your sleeves, work together and lead this city through this difficult time in its history.

After all, it was the job you were voted to do.

Sincerely,

Mario Toneguzzi

(Taking Care of Business is my regular blog of thoughts concerning business and the community)