Jeromy Farkas is officially Calgary’s new mayor and took the oath of office before each one of his new council colleagues at city hall on Wednesday evening. “It’s been great getting to know my city council colleagues, getting caught up with city administration on a bunch of important files. And, look, it’s an amazing time to be here in Calgary,” said Farkas. In addition to Farkas returning to council chambers as an elected official, 10 of the 14 councillors are new faces. Returning councillor Dan McLean said he’s “ecstatic” about being re-elected as the Ward 13 representative alongside the new-look council. “There’s a whole renewed sense of optimism, I think, in city hall, just between the councillors and the new mayor,” McLean said. “Even from residents of Calgary, when I’m talking to them, the old council, let’s be honest, was a little fractious and contentious.” Landon Johnston is one of the many rookie councillors elected. The new Ward 14 representative said his No. 1 priority is “getting the voice back on the table there for 14.” “Accountability was my No. 1 issue, right? And that’s finding (out) if there’s waste, we’re going to cut it, and if there’s underfunded programs, we’re going to find out. And for Ward 14, there’s a lot of specific things that a lot of people have been looking to get done in the last 10 years here,” he said. Council has just weeks before it must make major decisions on the city’s next four-year budget cycle. Some of the newly-elected councillors say the blanket rezoning debate is also expected to be one of the first issues considered in the new term. “But first thing’s going to be budgets. And that’s how Calgarians’ priorities will manifest,” said Farkas. “It’s going to be action on housing, it’s going to be action on public safety, addressing affordabilityll of those things that we heard through the course of the campaign.”
