Decision 2010: Calgary Municipal Election

[LFRENCH]

Originally Posted by DavidKuitunen

Haha. I like @ 1:54 the one girl has an iphone in between her tits. They probably have no idea who Joe Connelly is. JOE FOR MAYOR!

I was linking the previous video which has now linked up with the third video. If you go back to the second video you see some even worse footage. on a side note, that old guy needs to lay down the bottle of rye before he talks.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by fusili

Well, I feel we should actually talk about the election at some point: Anybody else think Hehr is going to run. If he does, he has my vote.

I am going to say it: McIver won't be that bad of a mayor (gasp!). Not saying he will be good, and he won't be as good as Bronconnier, but I think he will really push the SELRT, and he seems to be on board with things like TOD and the like. Much, much, much better than Connelly. What a sad city when I have to actually say that McIver won't be bad, but right now, there is nobody else.

Both Hehr and Nenshi will hopefully be scared off by Stewart. McIver is definitely the best of the right, considering Jon Lord's tirade about parking prices and doom and gloom at the parking authority.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Frink was just taking out his frustrations on me, I'm sure he was going crazy after the whole A/V cable discussion in the construction thread!

His response was pretty funny though, twitter is full of garbage information for the most part. I follow it for those nuggets of gold that you can get in all the crap.

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that's corn, not gold.

[Bigtime]

Stewart still hasn't made it official right?

^^^ Well I like corn, mighty tasty!

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by Sir.Humphrey.Appleby

Both Hehr and Nenshi will hopefully be scared off by Stewart. McIver is definitely the best of the right, considering Jon Lord's tirade about parking prices and doom and gloom at the parking authority.

I'm guessing Nenshi will take a run at Ward 4 or 5.

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by Wooster

I'm guessing Nenshi will take a run at Ward 4 or 5.

I think so too. Nenshi makes the most sense for Ward 5. And someone, please someone, run against Chabot. That guy is a tool. He is absolutely terrible at representing his constituents.

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[Wooster]

Gain-Carlo Carra's full website is now up:

http://www.carra4ward9.ca

[Ramsayfarian]

I pretty much did a spit take, when I read that McIvor supports spending money on Chinatown's centenary bash.

"Aldermen will have more questions about a pricey bash for Chinatown’s centenary when it comes to a city committee next week.

A report outlining the city’s $500,000 contribution to the “grand celebration” set to come before the city’s community and protective services committee calls for the city to shell out $180,000 for a Youth Community Forum Series, $75,000 for a documentary on Chinatown’s history and $75,000 for social inclusion projects.

Ald. Ric McIver, who supported the city’s contribution but asked for a detailed accounting of where the money was going, said he has concerns about some of the projects and will be asking administration about them when the committee meets on Wednesday.

“There are some questions here to be answered yet,” he said, specifically singling out the community engagement projects and the documentary.

“Most of the other things seem fair but there are some pieces that are a concern to me.”

According to the report, the local Chinese community has raised more than $1.2 million for Chinatown’s 100th birthday and any of the city’s contributions will come from existing budgets and not require a tax hike.

The city will also pursue a grant from Alberta Film for the documentary, which is currently being solely funded from municipal coffers.

Most of the community-generated cash will go to the planned street festival and fireworks scheduled for Aug. 14 as well as plans to beautify Chinatown and restore the Daqing Plaza “gateway” while incorporating a time capsule.

The city will also pick up the tab for new street planters while contributing to a makeover to Sien Lok Park and providing $30,000 worth of in-kind services for the summer bash.

Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart was the only alderman who voted against the $500,000 contribution and said the plan should not have been hatched at the last minute.

“Something that’s so significant as this should never be left for politicians to decide upon,” she said.

“What we’re doing is too little, too late and unfortunately the Chinese community is getting dragged into the city’s incompetence.” "

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/04/30/13788566.html

[mersar]

Joe Connelly posted an interesting piece of his opposition to the Bow River Flow festival, which is scheduled to close Memorial Drive again this year on August 22, most of his argument is based on the traffic congestion.

Quite hiliarously, and to the point, Naheed Nenshi replied on twitter to him "I await your post on why we should cancel the Stampede parade, which causes massive congestion! On a weekday!".

[jeffwhit]

This election might actually get me using the Twitter, like some of you guys.

Anyone here behind fake Rick McIver?

http://twitter.com/fakeRicMcIver

The very first post is priceless.

Also noticed that Gian-Carlo Carra had lunch with my landlord, who is the owner/developer of the Atlantic Ave Arts Block.

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by mersar

Joe Connelly posted an interesting piece of his opposition to the Bow River Flow festival, which is scheduled to close Memorial Drive again this year on August 22, most of his argument is based on the traffic congestion.

Quite hiliarously, and to the point, Naheed Nenshi replied on twitter to him "I await your post on why we should cancel the Stampede parade, which causes massive congestion! On a weekday!".

Joe's got "cowboy ethics". down with the latte-sippers. yeeehaw!!

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by mersar

Joe Connelly posted an interesting piece of his opposition to the Bow River Flow festival, which is scheduled to close Memorial Drive again this year on August 22, most of his argument is based on the traffic congestion.

Quite hiliarously, and to the point, Naheed Nenshi replied on twitter to him "I await your post on why we should cancel the Stampede parade, which causes massive congestion! On a weekday!".

I thought Naheed would be above a strawman argument. Not that I'm a fan of Connelly, but equating the Flow Festival to the Stampede parade is a bit of a stretch.

Why can't the Flow be held on Riverfront Avenue or in the newly revamped East Village.

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

I thought Naheed would be above a strawman argument. Not that I'm a fan of Connelly, but equating the Flow Festival to the Stampede parade is a bit of a stretch.

Why can't the Flow be held on Riverfront Avenue or in the newly revamped East Village.

Why? both are festivals. One reduces 2 lanes on a sunday, the other closes all of downtown on a weekday. Why doesn't Connelly pick on Lilac Fest or one of the many other events that close roads in the city. It seems apparent to me that people like Connelly don't like the Bow River Flow because of the people who organized it, attend it, and what it's meant to stand for. Nenshi was pointing out this hypocracy choosing which festivals are worthy of road closures and which ones aren't.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Wooster

Why? both are festivals. One reduces 2 lanes on a sunday, the other closes all of downtown on a weekday. Why doesn't Connelly pick on Lilac Fest or one of the many other events that close roads in the city. It seems apparent to me that people like Connelly don't like the Bow River Flow because of the people who organized it, attend it, and what it's meant to stand for.

The Stampede parade has been going on for close to a hundred years now and is world famous and is attended by tens of thousands. Not to mention it gets us a half day off. The Lilac has grown organically and isn't held on a major thoroughfare.

Personally, other than thinking it would be better suited on the other side of the river, I don't give a rat's ass one way or another when it comes to the Flow or Connelly for that matter.

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

The Stampede parade has been going on for close to a hundred years now and is world famous and is attended by tens of thousands. Not to mention it gets us a half day off. The Lilac has grown organically and isn't held on a major thoroughfare.

Personally, other than thinking it would be better suited on the other side of the river, I don't give a rat's ass one way or another when it comes to the Flow or Connelly for that matter.

Have you seen traffic surrounding the Lilac fest? Cars trying to cross 4th street at 17th ave? It's a nightmare. Besides, the transportation department determined there was more than enough capacity on Memorial drive on sundays for a lane reduction to cause minimal disruption. There's simply no argument based on traffic disruption with regard to the Bow River Flow that holds water. Most other festivals, even if they are on less major roadways are total closures and cause more traffic disruption than this one. Nor do I believe that the age of the festival matter either. The lilac fest, Sun and Salsa Fest, Marda Gras all had to start somewhere as well. The opposition is trying to capitalize on this sort of anti-urban, anti-elitist populist sentiment that the likes of Rick Bell spew and some Calgarians subscribe to. Just look at the rhetoric that often associates some of the opposition - calling Druh Farrell "flaky" or the residents of hillhurst-sunnyside "hippies", "treehuggers" or "latte-sippers". I acknowledge that the other side can be just as bad sometimes, but I dislike that just as much.

[jeffwhit]

Why even bother arguing against Joe-for-Mayor's point about traffic? The guy clearly has never seen a map of Calgary:

http://joeformayor.ca/2010/05/01/the-road-to-perdition/

Having a tourism background, I readily admit that festivals like this add to community vitality, however, I also recognize the importance of this major east-west connector. (This year it is especially critical as many Calgarians use it to avoid the LRT construction on Bow Trail and 17 avenue).

I think I might have also solved this problem by figuring out an alternate route for August 22nd (AKA Armageddon, latte-sipping style.) this took a lot of research, but I think I worked out a solution for motorists, see my google map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&h...837339149097797616.000485a244fe02dacd14a

Of course, the flaw is you have to compete with all that Sunday afternoon downtown traffic.