Municipal Election 2017
 

So, it seems there has been very little discussion of this, considering the election is just over 10 weeks away.

Still no word if O'Keefe is running again.

There's been rumours of Andy Wells running again, but nothing confirmed yet.

Here's what's I know so far

1) Danny Breen running for Mayor
2) O'Leary running for Dep. Mayor
3) Galgay is running again
4) Bruce Tilley is retiring
5) Walter Harding running for Ward 3

Other than that, I haven't heard of anyone announcing their candidacy.

Jamie Korab is running in Ward 3

Yes, forgot about that. Also, Maggie Burton is going for an At-large seat.

Ian Froude is running in ward 4.

Seems to be getting very close to the election and few candidates have come forward.

Ellsworth is running for candidate at large

I hear that Art Puddister is sniffing around for support money, so look for an announcement soon.

Not very often you see someone go from being Dep. Mayor to run for councillor.

I'm very surprised there has been no word from O'Keefe yet. Election is only 2 months away.

I think O'Keefe is planning to run, he thinks the city as "his" and doesn't want to give up the reins or at least only to his favourite. He's waiting to see if anyone else runs, then he'll decide if he can beat Danny.
As the incumbent mayor he really doesn't have to do much campaigning, while Danny will have to show how he's better than Doc.

I doubt Doc will run, and I can't imagine his chances would be very good. Andy Wells running seems quite possible.

Lou Puddister is running in ward 1 and Peter McDonald is running in ward 3.

Dave Lane is in the running for At Large again.

Happy City's Election Centre website is live. Here's a list of current candidates:
http://www.stjohnsvotes.ca/candidates/

Election is 8 weeks away from today and still have uncontested Mayor and Deputy Mayor candidates, as well as most wards. I find that surprising.

Also, they don't have Wally Collins there for Ward 5. Pretty sure I saw one of his signs up the other day.

Edit: Dennis O'keefe was on CBC radio today, his response when asked if he was running was that "he is waiting for Andy to make a move"...or something closely along those lines.

I'm surprised at the lack of candidates running in some wards. People seem so vocal about council but when it comes time to actually want to try and make a change, few are stepping up. Disappointing.

Looks like Andy is running for Mayor:

https://twitter.com/AndywellsWells/s...17162400403457

Renee Sharpe has tossed her hat into the mayoral race. So it's Danny, Andy, and Renee for now. Doc has till the 29th to weigh in.

http://www.stjohnsvotes.ca/candidates/

After women being shut out of council in 2013, it's not looking good for them to have much of an increase in representation this time. O'leary looks like she'll win the Deputy Mayor's seat, if she's not acclaimed. But the only other two women who seem to be making a serious effort are Deanne Stapelton and Maggie Burton. Burton is running at large against the four incumbents and Ron Ellsworth, so she's in a tough race.

Still really not that many candidates running, and it's getting late for anyone who's serious about it too run.

I think Maggie Burton has a pretty good shot. She's been very active on social media, in papers via opinion letters, and at events, and has a wide network and a very passionate base of support. Her signage is also well designed and placed. Combined with current discontent with sitting council and I am confident (and hoping) she will scoop up enough votes.

I think Dave Lane deserves another shot and Ron Ellsworth is very effective in many ways so they've got my other votes at the moment. I am not super thrilled about any of the others for a fourth. Sandy's alright but I am wary of councillors who stick around too long. I would love to see (Art) Puddister shut out.

Hope Jamieson is also promising in Ward 2 but needs to get out there with more signs, public appearances, and policy. I am banking on a wave of anti-Galgay sentiment.

Doc is out. Throws support behind Danny B. http://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/2017/8/16/x.html

Of all the councillors I've dealt with, Dave Lane has always been the most helpful. He responds quickly to questions and digs for information for you. I've not had similar experiences with some other councillors, my ward councillor in particular.

Maggie Burton seems to be good, so she'll definitely get one of my votes. It'll be interesting to see if anyone else joins the race. It'd be nice to see a few more people.

One new ward 2 candidate: Greg Dunne.
Three new ward 5 candidates: Paul Dinn, Mike Walsh, and Fraser Piccott.
http://www.stjohnsvotes.ca/candidates/

Debbie Hanlon is running at large.

I wrote this miniguide as a social media post but figured I may as well post here as well. Plenty of quality candidates this time around.

Hey y'all! So the St. John's election starts today and for those I haven't already been hassling for this, here's the link to the voter registration as well as the Happy City site with all of the candidates, their bios, and an interview.

https://www.stjohns.ca/…/municipal-e...r-registration
http://www.stjohnsvotes.ca/

Below are are my picks and a couple articles.

Mayor: Renee Sharpe
Deputy Mayor: Sheilagh O'Leary
Ward 2: Hope Jamieson (Hope for Ward 2)
Ward 4: Jamie Finn
Ward 5: Ian Froude
At Large: Maggie Burton, Dave Lane (Dave Lane for St. John's), and... well the others are either terrible or unknowns. My suggestion is to only vote for these two to rule out any chance of contributing to their overtaking by any "lesser evil" type candidates.

Ward 1 and 3 are all unknowns to me.

A piece on how female candidates only ever want to be interviewed on the "challenges" of being a woman in politics—never policy.

http://theindependent.ca/…/time-to-d...-not-barri…/

Another on the rot of the status quo and how incredible it is that counting the number of candidates worth voting for this time around will require more than a four-fingered simpsons hand.

https://theovercast.ca/god-guard-the...something-…/

Now go and vote whydoncha before downtown is just one big parking lot and The Keg flanked by a couple Walmarts and a Costco (slight exaggeration).

.

On what basis are we to believe that Renee Sharpe is suitable for mayor? From what I have seen most of her concerns fall under provincial responsibilities (mental health, etc.) or show a lack of understanding how the city operates (Asked about city salaries...."Overworked and underpaid, but our financial situation is what it is."). I just don't see her as an option.

I too was skeptical of Renee at first but I really do think as a working class outsider and activist she presents a strong progressive alternative to Andy Wells (St. John's wannabe Donald Trump) and Danny Breen (status quo).

Although Renee has no formal political experience on council she has plenty among the many activist groups around town and I thought she killed it on Cross Talk a couple weeks back.

At risk of falling into the "lesser evils" fallacy, which of her opponents do you see as a better or more viable option? I originally was considering Breen knowing little about the guy, but after seeing how cozy he's been with a certain Danny Williams (and Wells is no different on this front) and some questionable donors there's simply no way he could have my support.

Your point that social services (mental health, etc) are strictly under provincial jurisdiction: when it comes to things like safe injection sites, soup kitchens, and sex work, this is simply not the case.

As for a lack of understanding of how the city operates or public policy much of the current council appears to be no better.

It occurs to me that we need an almost clean sweep of current council. There's a few good members (Lane for example) but the Logy Bay Rd sidewalk issue from last week showed for me just how corrupt some council members are - Puddister seconded by Breen moved a motion to build a sidewalk on Logy Bay Rd at a cost of $54,000 even though Puddister is not the Ward member, no committee was consulted and no money allocated for it (to be taken from next year's budget). So, it's probably too late in the season for it to get done so Puddister is just playing politics. Members approving the vote were: Okeefe, Hann, Breen, Collins, Puddister, Galgay. So, the Mayor cast the deciding vote and I think normally he should not have, since the motion to bypass normal Council procedures, allocate money from next year's budget and for something not vetted by any committee should have stood on it's own. But hey, Doc's outta here with another pension (is that two or three public-paid pensions for him?) so he didn't care.

While I don't have any particular love for Danny Williams, it appears the Council and City bureaucracy are putting the screws to his project. City development regulations seem to be setup to give Councillors the maximum ability to approve/reject projects - subject to their own political/business whims - you can't even build a three story building in a commercial zone without jumping through a lot of red-tape , changing zoning and kiss-a*ss because when it comes down to it, an individual councillor seems to be able to side-track any development they want. Even the way Council 'debates' allows any particular councillor to spread miss-information on the go-round at meetings and there's no opportunity to counter it if you've already had your say - so no debate at all.

I was actually considering not voting for mayor and only voting for council positions. I didn't see any of the three as a viable option, I will look further into Ms. Sharpe.

Anyone want to make any predictions?

I'll go first (feel free to ridicule me if these are way off ;) )

Mayor: Danny Breen (wouldn't be shocked if Wells took it though)
Deputy Mayor: O'Leary (easy call)

Ward 1: Puddister
Ward 2: Jamieson (I think it'll be close and wouldn't be shocked if Galgay held on)
Ward 3: Korab
Ward 4: Froude
Ward 5: Collins

At Large:
Hann
Lane
Burton
Ellsworth

Will also be competitive to some degree: Hanlon, Hickman, Power



Anyone else want to take a stab?

At-Large is the trickiest since there are multiple positions and people can vote for up to 4 of them, and a lot of councillors and former councillors running...

Fairly big shake up at city hall.

Was surprised with Jamieson's win over Galgay, eventhough I knew he was a polarizing guy.

Was also surprised with Hickman and Hanlon winning at large. Would have exoected Ellsworth and Hann over them. I was hoping for Power.

Not sure how exactly I feel about the council yet but it's a pretty big shakeup.

Status quo isn't really working at city hall anymore, so I like to see what these young progressives can bring to the table.

Renee Sharpe would have been better running for an at large position. I have no desire to elect someone with zero political experience to the most important position in the city, and a lot of people feel the same way. Ultimately she came off as not knowing what exactly is expected of her as a would-be mayor. Not knowing everything is fine if you're running or are elected to a lesser position; there is inherently some learning on-the-fly. However there's much less flexibility in the mayor position for not knowing what to do. In comparison, Dave Lane is taking a very admirable road through council; he's learning the intricacies of municipal politics through an at-large position for the second term now. He'd be a great candidate to run as a ward councilor next election, or even as deputy mayor if he were feeling particularly ambitious.