Website

www.jyotigondek.ca

Bio

Jyoti has lived, worked and raised a family in Ward 3 for the past 20 years. She has spent 5 years on the board of the Northern Hills Community Association and 2 years on
the board of Vivo for Healthier Generations, as well as serving as a volunteer citizen member of the City of Calgary’s Planning Commission for 4 years. As Director of the Westman Centre and adjunct professor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, Jyoti established a unique program to bring students and professionals together in building strong and prosperous cities. For 12 years prior, she provided consulting services ranging from creating complete communities to fostering healthy corporate cultures. Jyoti has also has private sector experience in financial services and public sector experience as a policy analyst. She is currently a director on the board of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Alberta and serves as an advisor on the National Executive Forum on Public Property.

Candidate Video

Survey

1. The City of Calgary could be more business friendly in tone and action.

   Yes

   How?

   Great strides have been made at the City of Calgary in introducing a client focused approach to dealings with residents and businesses who are partners in the city-building process. The departments that have been successful should share their perspectives and approaches with others. Council will need to set a leadership example by resisting the unproductive practice of treating the private sector like an adversary, and begin understanding that the business community is a valuable partner in creating a resilient economy.

2. City government could be more efficient in program delivery and spending.

   Yes

   How?

   The biggest lesson we have learned from the economic downturn is that both the public and private sector need to be conducting proper, thorough annual budget reviews to weed out excess spending and eliminate duplication of effort to achieve economies of scale at a corporate level. We cannot be nimble, responsive and resilient if layers of process and decision-makers hinder our ability to seize opportunities.

3. City Council needs a plan in place for managing the loss of revenue, that resulted from the drop in downtown business property values.

   Yes

   How?

   The impact of declining oil prices was felt in the real estate sector in an
   unprecedented manner. Reliance on downtown non-residential property taxes tied to an assessment model was problematic in our current economy, and pushed the burden to periphery business districts. The tax relief program further failed us with its complexity and multi-step process that effectively eliminated any savings to property owners and business operators alike.

4. City government could be more open and welcoming to new innovative ideas or business models.

   Yes

   How?

   The public, private and social services sectors ALL need to be more welcoming of innovation and less proprietary over roles and aging models of service delivery.

5. Regulatory barriers should be reduced and regulatory timelines shortened to allow businesses to create jobs faster.

   Yes

   How?

   Regulations are important to ensure that all businesses abide by the same
   standards and have access to a level playing field, but slow processes and dated policies need to be changed.

6. What is your top idea or policy for developing jobs, business, and the economy?

   One of the initiatives I was able to champion with other members of the Calgary Economic Development Real Estate Committee resulted in the new Enterprise District downtown. We recommended that the City update its land use bylaw to allow for a greater mix of complementary uses on sites that have vacancies which could be filled by non-traditional or non-office services. We also encouraged a change to the parking minimums that were otherwise restricting professional services or small businesses from utilizing vacant spaces. As a result of our advocacy and the partnership between
   public and private sectors, this innovation will allow for greater vertical mix of uses on single sites, and assist in creating a more diverse and resilient economy.