Decision 2010: Calgary Municipal Election

[Calgarian]

Did anyone listen to the mayoral debate on CBC today? pretty funny. Barb Higgens took a couple good shots.

[Ferreth]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Did anyone listen to the mayoral debate on CBC today? pretty funny. Barb Higgens took a couple good shots.

Listening to it now... 2nd link on the list currently at The Eyeopener's audio page.

[Ferreth]

^^ That was interesting but needed another 10 minutes or so as it was *just* getting interesting. Wayne Stewart is a pit bull - didn't even answer the question at hand to start - went straight on the attack. Did a good job bringing in some doubt as to Barb Higgins' qualifications for the job. I'd like to see him go up against Nenshi just to see what attack line he would come up with. He flopped against Kent Hehr on the MLA salary thing. Barb was on the defense - I don't think she was expecting an 'merican style debate

[Radley77]

I came across this poll done by the CBC:



http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2...ey-cbc-environment-cameron-election.html

"The second most important issue for Calgarians is now crime, which was listed by 17 per cent of the people who took part — well above historical levels, according to Bruce Cameron, whose company Return On Insight conducted the survey."

Crime and safety is important to Calgarians, so would like to see more thoughts from Nenshi about this. There needs to be a holistic approach to troubleshoot problem areas, and also need to look at what has been done, and what has been working in recent history.

I noticed on facebook that he is planning to release a "better idea" about crime. Reviewing recent history and recent drops in crime due to improved policing strategies would be a good place to start.

By the way, I thought Higgins performed awful in the mayoral debate on CBC. Her idea on a rolling budget would prob cause much more paperwork, for being only a bit better at management of expectations.

[lubicon]

Why would health care and education even come up on that list?

[freeweed]

Why is "infrastructure/traffic" separate from "LRT/transit expansion"?

Well, at least it shows a huge concern on the part of Calgarians for public transit.

[MalcolmTucker]

People don't know separation of powers, and the question was unprompted.

[suburb]

Originally Posted by Radley77

I came across this poll done by the CBC:



http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2...ey-cbc-environment-cameron-election.html

"The second most important issue for Calgarians is now crime, which was listed by 17 per cent of the people who took part — well above historical levels, according to Bruce Cameron, whose company Return On Insight conducted the survey."

Crime and safety is important to Calgarians, so would like to see more thoughts from Nenshi about this. There needs to be a holistic approach to troubleshoot problem areas, and also need to look at what has been done, and what has been working in recent history.

I noticed on facebook that he is planning to release a "better idea" about crime. Reviewing recent history and recent drops in crime due to improved policing strategies would be a good place to start.

By the way, I thought Higgins performed awful in the mayoral debate on CBC. Her idea on a rolling budget would prob cause much more paperwork, for being only a bit better at management of expectations.

What about audit process and the reality that we would not trust most people running for council to understand our household budgets let alone the city's.

Edit - this image is 5 months old. How can we learn much from this when things change month to month, week to week and day to day? When we quote things like this, we should be transparent on matters such as it being completely out of date! Else you're going to look like a crooked politician yourself

[outoftheice]

Looks like Barry Erskine is thinking about a run for mayor. Personally, I think he would be lost in an already crowded field, however if decides to make a run for alderman, his chances would probably be pretty good.

Barry Erskine for Mayor? He's Thinking About It.
By Don Braid

Shoppers and merchants at Britannia Mall were startled the other day to encounter former alderman Barry Erskine out hunting for nomination signatures.

And yes, the former Ward 11 council member, who quit politics in 2007, could be in the hunt.

“I’m not quite sure yet,” says Erskine, “but yes, I am considering running either for mayor or alderman.”

He’ll have to be quick. Nominations close next Monday and a candidate must have all the signatures and forms ready to turn in at city hall.

Erskine would be a significant candidate. He won Ward 11 five times between 1993 and 2005. After retiring, he ran and lost as an Independent in Calgary-Elbow in the 2008 provincial election.

Now Erskine says voters are unhappy with the direction of city hall. “People aren’t pleased - not a bit. I think I’ve still got plenty to contribute there.”

http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/braidbuzz/default.aspx

[gantenbein]

Originally Posted by outoftheice

Looks like Barry Erskine is thinking about a run for mayor. Personally, I think he would be lost in an already crowded field, however if decides to make a run for alderman, his chances would probably be pretty good.


http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/braidbuzz/default.aspx

I don't know, even in a run for alderman I think his history wouldn't help, i.e waiting until the last minute last time to decide not to run, thus collecting as many donations as possible (which he was allowed to keep!), and then being very public about his plans to run as MLA, only to misunderstand the rules and not file his papers in time to get the PC nomination, and subsequently get a drubbing as an independent candidate.

In a race for mayor he'd have to be thrown in with other past losers like Burrows and Lord.

[bigcanuck]

This came via email - for those that are interested:

How would you like to take part in the debate leading up to this year’s municipal election in Calgary? I’m looking for two or three volunteers to be part of the Calgary Today people’s election panel.

Voters go to the polls on Monday, October 18th to elect a new mayor. The question is, will voters elect someone with previous council experience or will we see a changing of the guard?

The people’s election panel is an opportunity to share your views on what is shaping up to be one of the most interesting mayoral races in a long time.

What candidates do you like or dislike? What you think our politicians should be paying attention to? Is it necessary for the new mayor to have city hall experience?

You don’t need to be an expert in city hall politics. But I would like you to share your opinions with Calgary Today listeners.

You would need to be available between 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm on Wednesday afternoons. The panel would meet three times leading up to the election ... on September 22nd, September 29th and finally on October 13th.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, send me an email.

Mike Blanchard
[email protected]

[jeffwhit]

nm delete post

[Bigtime]

Alnoor Kassam is out of the race, he has thrown his support behind Higgins (trying to figure out if that is a good thing or a bad thing for her!).

[nick.flood]

Naheed Nenshi has released his latest policy (Better Idea #9).

"Calgarians will be able to get around easily by any mode of transportation"

Summary version: http://www.nenshi.ca/new/2010/232

However I suggest reading the full detailed plan: http://www.nenshi.ca/new/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Better-Idea-9-Mobility-Nenshi-for-Mayor.pdf

[Bigtime]

They just keep dropping, Paul Hughes (AKA: The Chicken Guy) is out of the race too.

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

They just keep dropping, Paul Hughes (AKA: The Chicken Guy) is out of the race too.

And also apparently put his support for Barb Higgins candidacy for mayor:

http://www.ffwdweekly.com/calgary-blogs/...alty-candidates-dropping-like-flies-533/

[Radley77]

I found this interesting why Paul Hughes decided to support Barb Higgins...

Another candidate, Paul Hughes, drops out of Calgary mayoral race

CALGARY - Food activist, Paul Hughes, best known for the chickens he illegally keeps in his backyard, has become the second candidate to withdraw from the Calgary's mayoral race Friday.

And like Alnoor Kassam, Hughes threw his support behind the news-anchor-turned-candidate Barb Higgins.

"I felt like she really embraced the issues I was standing for," said Hughes, citing better transit and city-hall culture as his issues, along with food policy.

Hughes ran his shoestring campaign largely on social-media websites Facebook and Twitter. He admits he didn't actually take out nomination papers ahead of Monday's filing deadline.

But in a crowded field of better known, better financed and better organized candidates, Hughes conceded his chances were slim.

"I see the writing on the wall, and I accomplished pretty much what I wanted to accomplish," he said.

There are now 15 declared candidates vying to replace three-term Mayor Dave Bronconnier. Higgins and Ald. Ric McIver are widely viewed as the frontrunners.

Read more from Calgary Herald @ http://www.calgaryherald.com/Another+can...al+race/3541753/story.html#ixzz0zpTxfDWB

[Wooster]

New poll out today from the herald:

56% decided, 44% undecided (big number)

of decided

McIver (43%)
Higgins (28%)
Nenshi (8%)

everyone else less than 3%

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Poll+s...st+Calgary+race+mayor/3545990/story.html

This means a two horse race, but a darkhorse in Nenshi that clearly has the most momentum and is the only one to break from that huge pack. This should be enough whereby the media sees him as a contender worth covering, which will increase his exposure to the average politically ambivalent Calgarian.

The hope for Nenshi is that there's a lot of precedent for a candidate to come from behind to win a mayoral race. As Braid points out Edmonton's current mayor Stephen Mandel was polling at 7.8% on nomination day to win when he was first elected and Duerr was a darkhorse candidate as well in 1989.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Braid+count+anyone+this+early+race/3545991/story.html

In 2003 in Toronto current outgoing mayor David Miller was polling sub 10%, way back of huge frontrunner Barbara Hall who was polling in the 45% range and was perceived to have a cake-walk into the mayor's seat. Miller ended up winning ahead of John Tory, with Hall a distant third. In campaigns, momentum counts.

[suburb]

Originally Posted by Wooster

New poll out today from the herald:

56% decided, 44% undecided (big number)

One of the comments was interesting:

by anonymous at 10:00 AM on September 19, 2010

If an election were held today, who would you vote for as mayor? (results within 4.4% 19 times out of 20):

44% Undecided
24% McIver
16% Higgins

That's right. McIver + Higgins is less than Undecided. That's the story here, not the spin the writer is feeding us.

The other piece on this is that some candidates have huge support in specific niches. It is unclear if those niches would be captured in such a telephone poll - meaning there is a higher chance that these are in the 1 of 20 that are beyond the 4.4% accuracy level. Any by the way, +/-4.4% accuracy is pretty bad for a poll with so many candidates and the leader being only at 24%.

Changing gears a bit, anyone have a schedule of when the major candidate debates are?

[Radley77]

I read that Higgins is set to release a potential policy issue in the next week, that will be parting from her rivals....

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/columnists/rick_bell/2010/09/19/15400791.html

Also, found this interesting a sharp gender split is also evident in the poll results. McIver is clearly favoured by men (47 per cent to 22 per cent), though women's loyalties are more evenly divided, 38 per cent backing McIver, compared to 35 per cent for Higgins. Sexism?

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Poll+s...e+mayor/3545990/story.html#ixzz0zzuprI3F