Lethbridge Minute: Exhibition Funding, Safety Survey, and a Very Merry Christmas

Lethbridge Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Lethbridge politics

This Week In Lethbridge:

• It’s Christmas Day - Merry Christmas to you all! Thank you for your support this year - we hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with friends and family. We rarely ask for financial support in these newsletters, but if you’d like to contribute to help us keep producing these newsletters next year, you can click here to make a donation. We appreciate it, and we'll see you in 2024!
  
  
• There are no meetings at City Hall this week, on account of the holidays. Committee meetings will begin again in mid-January, and Council will reconvene on January 23rd, 2024.
  
  
• The City of Lethbridge and the Lethbridge Police Service are conducting a Community Safety Survey to gather community input on safety perceptions. Remember all those times we sounded the alarm about safety in the city? Well, now the City has finally decided they want to hear from you. The survey can be taken online and is open until January 19th, 2024.

Last Week In Lethbridge:

• Council met in a closed session to discuss the financial fate of the Lethbridge & District Exhibition (LDE). Council had offered funding to the LDE, contingent on securing Provincial funding, which was denied. After an emergency Council meeting, the City announced the departure of the LDE CEO after two years in the position, and a potential significant restructuring to the organization which could include an interim governance board made up of administrative staff from both the City of Lethbridge and Lethbridge County. Council also recommended that the City provide an emergency operating grant of $250,000 immediately and set aside up to $950,000 in contingency, for verified emergent needs. It was recommended that the Exhibition be subject to an independent third-party review, and undertake regular reporting to the Economic and Finance Standing Policy Committee. ​​Final approval will take place at the January 23rd Council meeting. Nothing like saying you’re not going to do something, and then doing it anyway.
  
  
• In a packed Council Chamber at City Hall, Streets Alive Mission appealed a stop order issued by the City of Lethbridge. The stop order was issued in November as a result of claims that Streets Alive Mission is operating outside of their land-use permit for religious assembly by assisting the homeless through the operation of a clothes bank, on-site lockers for visitors, and a financial administration program. The Appeal Board is expected to make a decision by January 5th, 2024.
  
  
• Mayor Blaine Hyggen gave a year-end interview, and said that, while he was proud of the City’s accomplishments in addressing social issues, much remains to be done. He acknowledged that social issues can be challenging to solve at the City level because there is so much overlap with provincial and federal jurisdiction, but said it has been easy to build relationships with the new provincial government. He also said that there is a lot of respect between Councillors, even when they disagree. Looking ahead to 2024, Hyggen said he wants to continue tackling social issues and building an even better community.

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