Recognizing Lethbridge City Council’s first year in office

It's been 365 days since Mayor Blaine Hyggen and Councillors Mark Campbell, Jeff Carlson, Belinda Crowson, Rajko Dodic, John Middleton-Hope, Nick Paladino, Ryan Parker and Jenn Schmidt-Rempel took their oath of office and formed the current Lethbridge City Council.

"It's been a great honour and privilege for myself and our dedicated Councillors to serve Lethbridge residents for this first year," says Mayor Hyggen, Lethbridge's 26^th Mayor. "We are prepared for the challenges of the coming Operating Budget Deliberations and look forward to working with the Provincial Government to continue advocating for the services we need in Lethbridge."

Watch a new recap video from Mayor Hyggen here.

Results of the 2022 Community Satisfaction survey completed by IPSOS show that 90 per cent of respondents rank their quality of life in Lethbridge as good or very good. It's a useful tool and essentially a community report card to help inform Council on how residents see their quality of life in our city and their thoughts on City services.

Council's work during the past year has been based around the Gateway to Opportunity 2022 Action Plan. Council pledged an approach that clearly articulates priorities, creates further transparency, reports performance and builds community trust.

Council's Action Plan was created using the Municipal Development Plan (MDP) as a guiding strategic document. Goals in the MDP include setting a vision and policy guidance for the City to improve residents' quality of life, to meet the community's changing needs, to foster a prosperous local economy and to grow in a responsible manner for years to come

The initiatives identified in the Council Action Plan are each aligned to one or more of the MDP's six strategic themes: Economically Prosperous; Healthy and Diverse; Culturally Vibrant; Well-designed City; Environmentally Responsible; and Supports the Region. The Quarter 3 update will come to Council at Tuesday's meeting.

Some of the highlights and work completed or underway by the 2021-2025 Lethbridge City Council thus far include:

• Launching a land acknowledgement Oki & Welcome video
• The Mayor's Community Hockey Challenge to support local food banks
• Lethbridge hosting the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier at the ENMAX Centre
• Supporting a family physician marketing and recruitment campaign
• Steps to coordinate with the Provincial to government to support the vulnerable population
• Detailed analysis to possibly implement a Ward Electoral System by the 2025 municipal election
• Receiving a Third Bridge River Crossing Review from Administration
• Continuation of cityLINK Transit system
• Investment and grand re-opening of Lethbridge Airport
• The grand opening of the new Festival Square Market Plaza
• The return of in-person Canada Day celebrations for 2022
• Opening the second phase of Legacy Park
• The Mayor's Community Barbecue following the Whoop-Up Days parade
• Supporting the Legion's Salute our Veterans banner project
• Ongoing meetings with Provincial Ministers on a range of topics including addiction recovery and EMS dispatch
• In addition to the ongoing work of the Lethbridge Police Commission, Mayor Hyggen has regular meetings with Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh to discuss possible solutions to safety concerns in Lethbridge

"Our City Council is aware of many challenges facing our community including community safety, social issues, affordable housing, budgetary impacts and doctor shortages, just to name a few," says Mayor Hyggen. "As we head into our second year together, we are committed and ready to tackle these issues, continue advocacy efforts to the Provincial government and continue working towards making Lethbridge the best city it can be."