The Kingston Greater Chamber of Commerce released its 4th quarter report card for Kingston City Council this week.
The report card grades council’s decisions on motions that a relevant to businesses in the city that were discussed at council in October, November, and December.
Overall the chamber gave council a positive “green” rating for the quarter.
Chamber CEO Karen Cross said that overall throughout the end of the year council has been fairly well aligned with business interests, with housing remaining a main priority that could be further addressed.
“I think for the fourth quarter and for all three or all four of the reports we’ve done, that City Council has been fairly well aligned with the needs of business,” Cross said.
“Housing is it’s still the number one concern for business folks because they can’t bring in new employees, they can’t upscale because they don’t have places to put their new employees and such.”
The chamber was supportive of council’s decisions to wind down the sleeping cabin project, adopt chamber recommendations in an application to the federal government’s housing Housing Accelerator Fund, and to implement the Community Standards Bylaw.
The bylaw, which the chamber’s report card noted as a key area if interest, drew some controversy when passed, with some saying it disproportionately would impact the most vulnerable people in the community.
Cross said the chamber feels that city staff will get the appropriate training to handle any that arise situations the right way.
“I think that all goes back to what the city staff was confirming that you know increasing professional training for all the staff that will be dealing with those individuals,” Cross said.
“It’s all about educating and training people so that they understand their roles and how they can help best support the overall community and supporting those who are in need of help.”
The chamber didn’t fully align with council’s decision to opt for a medium growth strategy, wanting the city to pursue more aggressive growth.
Overall, the chamber says council’s key decisions in 2023 were generally aligned with business interests.
