City of Airdrie council candidate Mike De Bokx met with the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) Sept. 27 in Calgary to discuss Airdrieís involvement in the collective.
ìMy education continues. Thanks to CRP for meeting with me today to discus the CRP and the Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP). New, greater understanding of each,î De Bokx wrote on his Twitter account after the meeting.
De Bokx, says he met with the Chair of the CRP Truper McBride amid public discussions over the CRPís density requirements and The City of Calgaryís veto vote.
De Bokx is a member of Airdrie Team United. Airdrie Team United ñ a conglomerate of four aldermanic candidates each running for a seat in the Oct. 21 municipal election ñ made waves when it unveiled its platform on Sept. 5 which included ìrevisitingî the issue of the CRP and Airdrieís involvement.
ìWe met and talked about the CRP and the CMP,î De Bokx said.
ìTruper shared some amendments that could be in the works, which could be beneficial for Airdrie and we also discussed the possibility of Rocky View County re-joining the CRP.î
ìWas great having coffee with you Mike, CRP is here to help, all the best in the election,î McBride wrote on his Twitter account Sept. 27.
De Bokx admits the meeting was beneficial and it helped to clarify a few points for the election candidate.
Recently, McBride and Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson exchanged heated discussions over the Airdrieís involvement with the CRP, after Truper accused Anderson in media reports of backing Team United and being opposed to the CRP and Airdrieís involvement in it. For more information, visit www.airdriecityview.com
ìThe partnership is a good one and it is sustainable for our natural resources,î De Bokx explained. ìThere are things he did clarify (for me)Ö like the section in the CMP on eight to 10 units per acre of land in density development.î
He explained that the units ñ which De Bokx believed were strictly limited to residential development - were in fact based on the entire cityís growth.
ìThat certainly amended my point of view,î he said.
While De Bokx is officially a member of Airdrie Team United, he said he took the initiative to meet with McBride on his own, and he does not speak for the Team when expressing his new opinion on the CRP.
The meeting was arranged through discussions via Twitter last week between McBride and De Bokx.
ìFor me in order to make an informed decision, you need to get all the information,î he said. ìItís imperative that we explore all angles of the perspective.î
When the Airdrie City View contacted De Bokx, he had yet to attend a scheduled meeting Oct.2, with City of Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown, to further explore the issue.
