Decision 2010: Calgary Municipal Election

[Koolfire]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

Brilliant catch Koolfire. You should put that on the twitter. I noticed that either Bob wears the same shirt and tie all the time, or something really pissed him off between your photo and mine.

I don't twitter. But I'm ok with anybody twittering.

[fusili]

Hawkesworth has gone from a really decent, well spoken alderman to a bitter, petty mayoral candidate during this election. It has brought out the absolute worst in him, and I am really disappointed because of this.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by fusili

Hawkesworth has gone from a really decent, well spoken alderman to a bitter, petty mayoral candidate during this election. It has brought out the absolute worst in him, and I am really disappointed because of this.

He must of hired some type of Rove want to be to run his campaign. If Ceci wants to end his civic career on a hight note, he should pull his support for Hawkesworth.

[Wooster]

Brand new Nenshi Website is up

and two new podcasts: on getting the sw moving and poverty/social inclusion:

http://www.nenshi.ca/new/policy/podcast

[Radley77]

Barb Higgins Takes Stand on Ring Road

Accused of lacking policies, mayoral candidate Barb Higgins rolled out her transportation platform Wednesday, including her intention to renew negotiations with the Tsuu T'ina to build the southwest portion of the city's ring road on the reserve.

This came in advance of an evening forum at the University of Calgary where mayoral candidates addressed top issues and traded digs.

Higgins unveiled her transportation and transit platform late Wednesday afternoon. It included proposals such as eliminating the $3 daily park-and-ride fee and increasing the number of cycling lanes in the city.

In a statement, she said she would reject any plan to route the ring road through the Weaselhead or down 37th Street S.W. "I don't like it, and I won't vote for it."

Higgins, who resigned as news anchor at CTV to seek the mayor's job, has been running a strong second in polls to Ald. Ric McIver. She has been criticized by other candidates for not taking a stand on contentious issues.

A deal reached between the Tsuu T'ina band council and the province on running the ring road through nation land west of the city limits was rejected by band members in a 2009 referendum.

The band later suggested it would be open to negotiating once again. However, the provincial government said the Tsuu T'ina route was dead.

Chief Sandford Big Plume said the Tsuu T'ina reserve and the City of Calgary are good neighbours, so it makes sense to have regular, constructive dialogue.

"I welcome any dialogue with Calgary and a new administration at city hall," said Big Plume in a statement. "We have a number of issues in common, including transportation, and I'll happily sit down with the new mayor for a frank discussion about those issues."

Meanwhile, the zingers were flying Wednesday night at the university as mayoral candidates took shots at one another on everything from expenses to track records on council votes to raising backyard chickens.

The loudest reaction came when former alderman Craig Burrows accused McIver of flip-flopping on several big-ticket issues.

"Ric is the kind of guy you take for dinner and he says 'Wait, I'll get my wallet' and then he doesn't come back," said Burrows.

Not to be outdone, McIver got in a few digs, too.

Candidate Oscar Fech had the 500-strong crowd of students in stitches over his repeated mention of officials "throwing him out" of council chambers for asking too many questions, and Ald. Joe Connelly was chastised for not heeding debate protocol.

Former alderman Jon Lord revealed he went disguised to homeless shelters several times to get a better understanding of the issues.

The forum's questions were taken from a survey of the top concerns Calgarians had for the future of the city.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Barb+H...ry.html?cid=megadrop_story#ixzz111wxGyib

Additional article from Calgary Sun: Weaselhead ring road not on, Higgins said

Some other points by Higgins:

- expand bus rapid transit
- more car pooling lanes
- investigating 'seasonal bicycle highways'
- expanding student bus passes
- pushing for monthly downtown street parking passes

[Aegis]

Bob Hawkesworth is to this election as David Parker is to this forum. Both are dinosaurs.

[kw5150]

FFWD has a really good article about sprawl and the lack of talk about it amongst the mayoral candidates. Apparently, with the excess money spent on sprawl we could have:

-3 top of the line airport tunnels
or -60 - 25 million dollar bridges
or -finance a $1,000,000 (million dollar) mayoral campaign 150 times over.....

This is the kind of crap I am talking about...... and all they focus on is these other topics....... until our city finds a new way to deal with sprawl it is likely that we will never have anything new but roads.....

[gantenbein]

Originally Posted by kw5150

This is the kind of crap I am talking about...... and all they focus on is these other topics....... until our city finds a new way to deal with sprawl it is likely that we will never have anything new but roads.....

You don't think Nenshi has policies that address sprawl?

[Innersoul1]

Let Calgarians shovel streets in winter, McIver says in election plan
By Jason Markusoff, Calgary HeraldSeptember 30, 2010


CALGARY - Mayoral candidate Ric McIver is pledging to let Calgarians use their own snow-clearing gear on wintry streets, something city hall's legal team has long warned against.

The city has been against permitting civilian snow-clearing, out of concern for liability when their equipment does damage to hydrants or curbs.

"Calgary should be encouraging good neighbourly relations rather than outlawing them," the southeast alderman said in a news release Thursday.

The rest of McIver's snow removal plan resembles new measures the city enacted temporarily this year after much of the snowfall -- use of private contracters, as well as a new system that clears trouble spots as well as residential streets when their 12-centimetre snow pack renders them impassable.



Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Calgar...on+plan/3603039/story.html#ixzz112s5hHR5

[suburb]

Originally Posted by Wooster

Brand new Nenshi Website is up

and two new podcasts: on getting the sw moving and poverty/social inclusion:

http://www.nenshi.ca/new/policy/podcast

His web-site already had the most information by far of any candidate. This revision is now awesome, as it is truly integrated, easy to navigate and find things, and content rich. Home page: www.nenshi.ca - check it out!

[MonctonGoldenFlames]

Originally Posted by gantenbein

You don't think Nenshi has policies that address sprawl?

maybe you should read the post before you ignorantly pounce on it.

he specifically said "FFWD has a really good article about sprawl and the lack of talk about it amongst the mayoral candidates."

he never said nenshi had no policies to address sprawl, he simply said there is not enough talk about it.

[freeweed]

I can't argue with him on this one. I don't want to see a PERMANENT snow budget increase (most years we are more than fine even if a small increase is needed) but we do need to somehow deal with contingencies.

Cities are piss-poor when it comes to "rainy day" funds, so for those once-a-decade events like we had last winter, let the citizens deal with it if they so choose. It's what happened anyway, on my street - locals in their huge 4x4s were driving back and forth all morning one day just to pack it down enough so that those of us with cars could get out of our driveways. You can't tell me that that is any safer/smarter than just using the one guy with a plow on his truck, once.

[nick.flood]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I can't argue with him on this one. I don't want to see a PERMANENT snow budget increase (most years we are more than fine even if a small increase is needed) but we do need to somehow deal with contingencies.

The city has gone over the snow removal budget 14 of the past 17 years so the budget isn't really accurate anyways.

[suburb]

Originally Posted by nick.flood

The city has gone over the snow removal budget 14 of the past 17 years so the budget isn't really accurate anyways.

I think that does say something, but at the same time, without zero based budgeting, it is quite possible that, like other areas, this one always ensures that it is a smidgen over every time. 'We have $1M left so lets send the trucks over a second time to deal with that last 2mm else we'll get less next year.'

It really requires a thoughtful review by people who understand budgeting and finances and have the patience and capacity to understand the subtleties.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by kw5150

FFWD has a really good article about sprawl and the lack of talk about it amongst the mayoral candidates. Apparently, with the excess money spent on sprawl we could have:

-3 top of the line airport tunnels
or -60 - 25 million dollar bridges
or -finance a $1,000,000 (million dollar) mayoral campaign 150 times over.....

This is the kind of crap I am talking about...... and all they focus on is these other topics....... until our city finds a new way to deal with sprawl it is likely that we will never have anything new but roads.....

IMHO, this is the issue in Calgary for me. Our taxation and development levy policies are costing us a lot of money and it needs to change.

[Blader]

I donated and picked up some condo signs, buttons, and car magnets for myself and a friend.
I've been a long time fan of Nenshi and voted for him when he ran for alderman in Ward 3. He, then, was a johnny come lately into the fray and finished close. At that time, I sought out his temporary ward office and picked up a lawn sign.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by nick.flood

The city has gone over the snow removal budget 14 of the past 17 years so the budget isn't really accurate anyways.

Maybe if we didn't have 200 kilometres of extra roads every year that would ease the problems? Ok, now I am just picking battles...lol

When it snows excessively, I try not to shovel my walkway onto the road and that helps...... sometimes that is the problem.....

The salt also creates a big problem.... just as the snow gets packed down they salt the crap out of it and re-make the problem all over again. We have to cut down on salt in this city.

In winnipeg, if your car is in the way, they tow it over one block and do not ticket you at all. No aggression created that way by both the plowers and the citezens. Go Winnipeg!

[MalcolmTucker]

Winnipeg also spends something like 5 times the amount Calgary does on snow removal if my memory serves me.

[gantenbein]

Originally Posted by MonctonGoldenFlames

maybe you should read the post before you ignorantly pounce on it.

he specifically said "FFWD has a really good article about sprawl and the lack of talk about it amongst the mayoral candidates."

he never said nenshi had no policies to address sprawl, he simply said there is not enough talk about it.

Ouch. What did I do to you to be called ignorant?

I guess my point is that having policies on an issue firmly at the core of your platform constitutes 'talking' about it. It was also the main topic of the Eyeopener debate the other morning. Are the other candidates quiet about it? Absolutely.

Relax.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by Sir.Humphrey.Appleby

Winnipeg also spends something like 5 times the amount Calgary does on snow removal if my memory serves me.

Yes, and Calgary usually doesn't have as much snow. Winnipeg also has a big drifting problem. It is a complex issue and we need a better plan. I say that we reerve enough money to do one or two big clearing events when the snow builds up to much.

Winnipeg also uses WAY too much salt on the roads. The contractors get paid per m3 of salt which I would hate to see in calgary. The trees die, the bridges fail and the cars are rust buckets.