#yxh

Council Committee of the Whole Budget Deliberations - Invest Medicine Hat (IMH) Budget Slashed!

allardkg

Nov 13, 2022
2 min

Council Committee of the Whole Budget Deliberations - Invest Medicine Hat (IMH) Budget Slashed!

Council Chambers Wed Nov 16 at 4 pm IMH Appears to Be on the Way OUT Again, NOT set in stone. Must still be approved by council. (Re the pics of the document - the paperwork is a little confusing because of this - “NET EXPENSES (REVENUES)” Normally expenses /losses are indicated by brackets, not revenues /profits. Also, numbers are in thousands, not millions.) Projections for IMH Land and Investment pg 76 Nov 7 City Council Meeting agenda packet 2022 - $5,103,000 profit (th

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Council Committee of the Whole Budget Deliberations
Off-Site Levy (OSL) Rate Review

allardkg

Nov 13, 2022
3 min

Council Committee of the Whole Budget Deliberations Off-Site Levy (OSL) Rate Review

This is part of the proposed budget which will be deliberated in public for the very first time ever on Wednesday November 16 at 4pm in Council Chambers. This has NOT been passed yet, NONE of this is a done deal. Among other things it recommends that the “Municipal Assist” be allowed to die Dec 31 2022. (I think that’s a good thing. The Residents of Medicine Hat cannot afford to subsidize developers anymore after the nearly $6 million given to Aurora among other subsidies. Re

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It Seems We’ve Replaced King Bob with Queen Merete Pt 2

allardkg

May 4, 2022
4 min

It Seems We’ve Replaced King Bob with Queen Merete Pt 2

Repeal Bylaws 4662 and 4311! This combines two posts originally published to my Facebook page. RECAP (Not all is verbatim) Acting City Manager (ACM) Merete Heggelund told the Council Employee Committee (CEC) that she doesn’t want Council to have the results of the Employee Engagement Survey as “hearing the opinions of employees about their working conditions is not allowed”. She said if she’d been ACM when the committee was formed, she’d have prevented it. Employer reviews on

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It Seems We’ve Replaced King Bob with Queen Merete

allardkg

May 3, 2022
3 min

It Seems We’ve Replaced King Bob with Queen Merete

April 26 2022 Council Employee Committee (CEC) Meeting I’ve been silent about Merete Heggelund’s appointment as Acting City Manager (ACM) after King Bob “retired”. Her appointment seemed reasonable and it was only temporary. Tuesday I heard we might not find a new City Manager before 2023 so now I must Speak Out and Speak Up Background During the campaign, we candidates heard from many city employees about how unhappy they were with their employment. Benefits

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allardkg

Apr 19, 2022
3 min

$3,000,000 and Not a Pot to Piss In

Tom from Community TV https://www.comtv.ca/ sent me these photos and asked me to write an editorial. (Photo Credit Community TV) Here it is. After I submitted the first version Tom said: "Good read!!! I think I could stand to see the word piss in there a few more times." So, I obliged. Happy reading! Invest Medicine Hat and a History of How Our Money Was Pissed Away on Tin Can Alley $3,000,000 and Not One Pot to Piss In April 2019 Property sold to Spero Hydrocarbons owne

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So Who Will Be Our Acting CAO January 31?

allardkg

Jan 23, 2022
2 min

So Who Will Be Our Acting CAO January 31?

I’ve heard from a number of people who are concerned that the Managing Director of Energy and Infrastructure Brad Maynes will be chosen. I share their concerns. I looked into Mr Maynes last year and did a couple of posts, so I will just quote from them. I’ve got another advocacy project on the go right now so my time is limited. However, they’re naming someone in one week so this needs to be addressed right now. https://www.allard4mhcc.com/post/city-hall-rewards-failure “In 2

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Our CAO is Gone But Our Work is Not Yet Done

allardkg

Jan 22, 2022
2 min

Our CAO is Gone But Our Work is Not Yet Done

Our CAO/City Manager announced his retirement yesterday, I am overwhelmed with joy. I like to think that I may have played some small part in this. :) Now that he is officially done, I see no need to post about him any more. My issues with his decisions no longer matter, he will be powerless very very soon. I encourage all others to do the same, let him retire in peace. We won, it’s done. We should be gracious in victory. I don't care what our CAO says about how he decided t

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allardkg

Oct 18, 2021
2 min

Financially Fit Post #3

(I originally posted these on my FB page, they got posted in the wrong order on my blog. I could have renamed them but it would make things confusing. It's just best to admit I screwed up. ) Shiny New Things Are Nice But Not When Our Growth is Stagnant Some of current council have been speaking about building new recreational facilities instead of fixing the old ones. We are given the estimated costs of repairs but are given nothing about what a new facility would cost, not e

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My Take - the Deloitte Review of the IMH RFP Process Part 2

allardkg

Oct 6, 2021
4 min

My Take - the Deloitte Review of the IMH RFP Process Part 2

"The City spent $75,000 and did not even request a review on what people were so angry about. To be clear, Deloitte did the job they were asked to do, I'm not suggesting they did anything wrong, at all. The problem is they were not asked the right questions." I did a little more digging about the IMH RFP and what I found shocked me. I think you will feel the same when I show you what I uncovered. (I could not copy and paste as it was watermarked so I had to type it all out.

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My Take on the Deloitte Review of Invest Medicine Hat (IMH) Request For Proposal (RFP) Process

allardkg

Oct 5, 2021
3 min

My Take on the Deloitte Review of Invest Medicine Hat (IMH) Request For Proposal (RFP) Process

The City spent $75,000 and did not even request a review on what people were so angry about. To be clear, Deloitte did the job they were asked to do, I'm not suggesting they did anything wrong, at all. The problem is they were not asked the right questions. I was angry about the fact - 1 the RFP was changed so city workers could bid on it, previously not allowed 2 the RFP was vague at best and the Value Added section was very concerning 3 that this ten year contract would be

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Upcoming Review on the Invest Medicine Hat RFP Fiasco Part 2

allardkg

Oct 4, 2021
1 min

Upcoming Review on the Invest Medicine Hat RFP Fiasco Part 2

Timeline on the Request for Proposal to Outsource Invest Medicine Hat Oct 2018 – Bob Nicolay hired as CAO/City Manager. Aug 2019 – Previously outsourced IMH brought in as a City Department. https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/news/city-merges-economic-development-efforts-into-invest-medicine-hat.aspx Feb 25 2020 – Jason Melhoff hired as Managing Director IMH, start date March 2 2020. https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/news/cao-announces-managing-director-of-invest-medicine-hat.aspx Feb

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allardkg

Sep 6, 2021
2 min

Ward System or At Large?

I have heard some people saying they want a Ward system instead of our At Large system. I think residents feel that most of current council are well off and don’t represent the less affluent parts of town. There is also the idea that it would make it easier for poor people like me to run, we would only have to campaign in part of the city. So is a Ward System the answer? I looked online. The City of Vancouver has 10 At Large council members for a population of about 675,00

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Cricket in Medicine Hat -The Gentleman's Game

allardkg

Sep 5, 2021
2 min

Cricket in Medicine Hat -The Gentleman's Game

I went to my first cricket match August 28. :) Earlier this year I made a post about cricket pitches being on the Parks and Recreation Survey, thinking nobody played it in the ‘Hat. I was corrected by a very nice young man. I apologized that day, learning a little humility along the way. Here’s what he told me. Cricket is the second most watched game in the world, second only to football (soccer). The Medicine Hat league (MHCA) has three teams; they have tournaments with out

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allardkg

Aug 29, 2021
2 min

Unqualified at City Hall?

Originally posted August 27 2021 on my Facebook Campaign page https://www.facebook.com/kelly4mhcc/ This story is why I am so adamant about how wrong Bylaw 4662 is that council passed back in April abdicating their powers to the CAO. No one person should have the power to hire and fire at the top levels. HR should be doing the recruiting and screening, then narrow it down to a short list. Council can then decide which one of the QUALIFIED candidates to hire. Again, I love Link

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allardkg

Aug 21, 2021
2 min

Nepotism at City Hall?

Once again, I love Linked In! I got a tip about possible nepotism at City Hall. Let me lay it out for you and see what you think. First of all, I am not holding the hirees responsible, I am not interested in condemning them at all. Right now the fault lies SOLELY with the people in power who pushed for this to happen. Some people in HR had no choice. They either had no power over these decisions or were overruled. I do NOT hold them responsible. (I think we need Whistleblower

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