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The Board of Commissioners is the highest administrative body in the Corporation of the City of Calgary. Since its establishment by Council appointment in 1905 and through its various manifestations, its role has been and continues to be ensuring the effective administration of The City. Before the Board of Commissioners was created, City Council had exclusive jurisdiction on all matters pertaining to The City, both legislative and administrative, generally carried out through committees reporting to Council. It soon became obvious that with expanding civic departments, a structure for coordination and control was necessary. While the first Board and its interim successor were both created by-law, an amendment to the Calgary Charter of 1908 divided certain legislative and executive duties of Council, giving most of the latter to the Commissioners. The first Board of Commissioners was appointed by Council in 1905, to assume office in January 1906. After a brief trial period, this Board was found to be unsatisfactory and disbanded. In 1907, Council petitioned the Provincial Legislature for the power to elect a Board of Commissioners. While awaiting the Legislature's decision on their petition, Council appointed an interim Commission for 1908. A special plebiscite was held in 1907 to select two candidates for appointment to the new Board. For more information regarding the City of Calgary, Board of Commissioners administrative history, please link to the City of Calgary Archives homepage and click on the "fonds level descriptions" link.

Ralph Klein was elected Mayor of Calgary on 1980 October 15, succeeding Ross Alger. He was sworn in October 27. His platform was the creation of good communications between City Hall and taxpayers, and the funding of "essential services first and desirable services last". He was an active proponent of increased participation by the public in civic government, and initiated an open-door policy in his office. He also organized "Town Hall" meetings in each of Calgary's 14 Wards in an attempt to bring community members face to face with City staff to deal with issues and problems. He favoured using task forces to handle various issues. While Mayor, Klein also hosted a weekly open-line radio show. Under Ralph Klein, Rod Love served as Executive Assistant, Kay Hicks as Executive Secretary and Gerry Belanger as the Mayor's personal secretary. For more information regarding Ralph Phillip Klein's biography, please link to the City of Calgary Archives homepage and click on the "fonds level descriptions" link.

The Transportation Department of the City of Calgary was formed in 1972. Its purpose is "to ensure that the city of Calgary has a transportation system that meets the needs of Calgarians in an efficient and safe manner through careful planning for all transportation modes, effective operation of the current street system through appropriate traffic control, and provision of a safe, effective and efficient transit service."[1];Since its creation, the Department's activities have centred around three basic functions: Transportation planning, traffic operations, and Calgary Transit. Transportation planning involves planning the City's transportation system for all modes of travel, including walking, cycling, private vehicles, and public transit. The traffic operations function of the Department is concerned with managing the City's street system, including control of traffic and on-street parking; installation of signs, signals, and road markings; and control of temporary street closures. For more information regarding the City of Calgary, Calgary Transit administrative history, please link to the City of Calgary Archives homepage and click on the "fonds level descriptions" link.

The Transportation Department of the City of Calgary was formed in 1972. Its purpose is "to ensure that the city of Calgary has a transportation system that meets the needs of Calgarians in an efficient and safe manner through careful planning for all transportation modes, effective operation of the current street system through appropriate traffic control, and provision of a safe, effective and efficient transit service.";Since its creation, the Department's activities have centred around three basic functions: Transportation planning, traffic operations, and Calgary Transit. Transportation planning involves planning the City's transportation system for all modes of travel, including walking, cycling, private vehicles, and public transit. The traffic operations function of the Department is concerned with managing the City's street system, including control of traffic and on-street parking; installation of signs, signals, and road markings; and control of temporary street closures. Calgary Transit is concerned with operating and promoting the City's public transportation system. The transportation planning and traffic operations functions were originally part of the Engineering Department. Transportation planning was handled by the Town Planning Engineer, and traffic operations were the responsibility of the Streets and Roads Division of the Department. In 1951 a Traffic Engineer joined the Department. He assumed responsibility for both functions, and by the following year the new Traffic Division was in operation. In 1958 Traffic Engineering became a separate department. In 1960 the function of transportation planning was transferred to the Planning Department. In 1963 Traffic Engineering again became a division of the Engineering Department. By 1969 the Traffic Engineering Division had taken on increased responsibility for transportation planning. In that year it was split into the Traffic Operations Division and the Transportation Study Section (later known as the Transportation Planning and Long Range Design Section) of the Streets Construction Division. These two units became the Traffic Operations and Transportation Planning divisions of the Transportation Department when it was formed in 1972. Calgary Transit went into operation on July 5, 1909 as the Calgary Electric Railway. In 1910 its name was unofficially changed to Calgary Municipal Railway. In 1946, when the decision was made to phase out streetcars, it became the Calgary Transit System. In 1970 its name was changed to Calgary Transit. In 1972, when Calgary Transit became part of the new Transportation Department, it consisted of three divisions: Operations (consisting of transit operators and their supervisors), Maintenance, and Passenger Services. The divisions reported to the General Manager of Calgary Transit, who reported to the Director of the Transportation Department. In 1977 the three divisions became sections and Calgary Transit became a division of the Department. Around 1977 the Light Rail Transit Division (later called the LRT Construction Division) was established. It was merged into the new Engineering and Maintenance Section of Calgary Transit in 1990. In 1978 the Accident Prevention, Safety, and Security Division was established. Around 1981 it became the Protective Services Division, and in 1990 it became part of the Administrative Services Section of Calgary Transit. The Marketing and Community Relations Division was created in 1988, replacing the former Passenger Services section of Calgary Transit. It again became a section of Calgary Transit in 1990. The Department's Finance and Administration Division was established at the time of the formation of the Department in 1972. It was renamed Finance and Accounting in 1989. The Management Information Systems Division was created in 1987 to provide support to the Department's data processing systems. It became part of the Director's Office in 1990. In 1991 the GoPlan, a comprehensive long-range study project with a status equivalent to a division, was initiated. Reporting to the Director of the Department, it was scheduled to function for five years.

The Town Planning Commission (Committee) was established on November 13, 1911 by a resolution of Calgary City Council. The Commission was given the mandate to "obtain data and information on the subject of town planning and to prepare and recommend a comprehensive scheme of City Planning which will meet the requirements of this City of its future development." Members of the 1911 Town Planning Commission often referred to themselves as the City Planning Commission. Initial meetings were chaired by the Mayor of Calgary, John W. Mitchell but later, James W. Davidson was appointed to the position of President. Mr. Davidson served two non-consecutive terms as President of the Commission as did William Pearce. James H. Garden was the last person to serve in the position of President before the Commission dissolved in 1914. The major focus of the 1911 Town Planning Commission was the production of a planning scheme for Calgary. For this, they hired Thomas H. Mawson, a landscape architect and urban planner from England who had already contributed to Western Canada's urban landscape by developing designs for Stanley Park in Vancouver and for the Town of Banff. As well, the Commission also worked with provincial representatives to develop a Town Planning Act for Alberta. Mawson presented a preliminary plan to Calgary's City Council in April 1914, but the outbreak of World War I prevented the implementation of any of Mawson's ideas. Nevertheless, the Mawson Plan, as this design came to be known, remains one of the most popular early documents from Calgary's history because of the grandiose and optimistic vision Mawson presented to Calgarians. The Town Planning Commission (Committee) was dissolved on July 17, 1914. Calgary's next Town Planning Commission was not established until 1929.