Municipal Politics

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Oh oh, I think it's time Gillian Steward went to see her doctor as I think she may have something like dementia. For those who don't know her, she is a former editor of the Herald who now freelances for papers that like to showcase the foibles of Calgary/Alberta. According to her, the only reason Nenshi won was because of all you 20 somethings since all us "old-timers" appear to love the same-old, same-old. The best part of her article is that "Coral Springs" appears to be a "tough Calgary neighbourhood".

Steward: Young voters elected new Calgary mayor

Personaly this municipal election has made me more pissed with much of the media (and I didn't think that even possible??). Why can't Calgary vote for someone with good policy ideas and leave it at that?!?!

If you read the article, it is pretty accurate. Without the young, engaged at the beginning, you can't have the choice amongst three at the end. That the choice worked out in the end had nothing to do with policy, but all to do with hard work, superior voter-id and gotv. here is a link that works for the story

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Oh oh, I think it's time Gillian Steward went to see her doctor as I think she may have something like dementia. For those who don't know her, she is a former editor of the Herald who now freelances for papers that like to showcase the foibles of Calgary/Alberta. According to her, the only reason Nenshi won was because of all you 20 somethings since all us "old-timers" appear to love the same-old, same-old. The best part of her article is that "Coral Springs" appears to be a "tough Calgary neighbourhood".

Steward: Young voters elected new Calgary mayor

Personaly this municipal election has made me more pissed with much of the media (and I didn't think that even possible??). Why can't Calgary vote for someone with good policy ideas and leave it at that?!?!

The conservative elite that governs the city and province? Wow... So did she just kind of forget every mayor we have had most of our lives?

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Why can't Calgary vote for someone with good policy ideas and leave it at that?!?!

Because her preferred candidate did not win.

[Bigtime]

As I was walking home from city hall an older lady (late 40's or 50's) asked me where I was coming from. I told her I was leaving the swearing-in ceremony, at which point she decided to tell me that it was all ceremonial and the NWO would take over things from here as usual.

Apparently the NWO is very ingrained in Calgary due to the oil companies. I was too tired but I totally should have asked her if it was NWO Black & White or Red & Black, la razza!

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by shreddog

For the most part, Toronto has had good government under Miller however Miller was seen as governing too much for select special interest groups (E.g. unions, artists, DT developers, “black turtle-neck wearing, latte sipping elites, etc) and not enough for “joe six pack” taxpayer

If there's anything my years have taught me about people, it's that EVERYONE is a "special interest group". It's just that every OTHER "special interest group" is in the wrong, naturally. Joe sixpack becomes a special interest group as soon as you find out what he cares about.

We're all a tribe of one when you dig deep enough.

Note: this also correlates with my beliefs towards the nonsense phrase "silent majority".

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by Sir.Humphrey.Appleby

If you read the article, it is pretty accurate. Without the young, engaged at the beginning, you can't have the choice amongst three at the end. That the choice worked out in the end had nothing to do with policy, but all to do with hard work, superior voter-id and gotv. here is a link that works for the story

I'm sorry, but I humbly disagree. The participation of youth (still heresay really since without numbers there is no real proof - though personally I do believe that the voter levels in the sub-30 crowd were higher this election) did not foster choice. I was involved in the Nenshi compaign quite early and while there were many "youthful" events, there were just as many - early on - that looked like a prep-H fan club meeting. He was successful because he offered policies that appealed to a large segment of the population. While the methods used to energize the voting public were important, if in the end the policies were empty or too shallow, the votes would have either gone to another or stayed at home. Anecdote alert!! Of all the over 40 crowd that I personally introduced to Nenshi and his policies, most (all??) voted for him because of said policies, including some voters who weren't even aware he existed previously.

This will prove to be a contested debate no doubt for many poli-sci wonks, but in the end I believe that even if you manage to bring out the entire population, if what you're selling is just vapourware, the bodies won't mean bunk.

PS. I fixed the link - thanks!

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by freeweed

If there's anything my years have taught me about people, it's that EVERYONE is a "special interest group". It's just that every OTHER "special interest group" is in the wrong, naturally. Joe sixpack becomes a special interest group as soon as you find out what he cares about.

We're all a tribe of one when you dig deep enough.

Note: this also correlates with my beliefs towards the nonsense phrase "silent majority".

Yes, everyone is a SIG - the point is not to overtly isolate any such that your opponent can use it to their advantage - my view on this is to make everyone equally gruntled - not too happy nor too mad.

Anyway, I still thought it interesting how "lame" the municipal election was in TO - very much a race to the lowest common denominator (dollars) and who could best protect them.

No doubt the context is very relevant (the garbage strike didn't help either) but "urban evolution" got painted as an expensive luxury under Ford (regardless of truth or not) and has been pushed back as far of the "public" is concerned. Now if Ford can deliver on any of his subway claims, he'll be viewed as second coming.

Funny how the results in Calgary make me wish we had the American model of the super-mayor whereas Ford's win makes me happy with our super-councillor model for the mayor.

All I can say is to hell with those Chinesse and their damn proverbs - May you live in interesting times!

[Wooster]

Very interesting and encouraging that 5 of the 6 newcomers to council have Master's degrees.

http://communities.canada.com/calgaryher...r/archive/2010/10/25/master-council.aspx

[Witty Nickname]

Did anyone get pics of the ceremony?

[mersar]

Originally Posted by Witty Nickname

Did anyone get pics of the ceremony?

Nope, where Bigtime, Rusty and myself were watching from the Atrium you couldn't see much of the later part as we were at the very back of the crowd, the actual swearing in was done in council chambers and getting in there was by invite only so we watched it on one of the TV's they setup in the atrium..

That said, Global has the full webcast up on their web site if you wanted to see it.

[Ramsayfarian]

Naheed on Stroumboulopoulos

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html?ID=1625373693

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

Naheed on Stroumboulopoulos

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html?ID=1625373693

Wow! There was an invite by CNN and he was also on CBC's Mansbridge One on One. What is the country's fascination with him? I don't think Bronco got this level of exposure when he became Mayor!

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

What is the country's fascination with him? I don't think Bronco got this level of exposure when he became Mayor!

Is this a rhetorical question? There are tons of reasons to be fascinated with him. He's fascinating.

[YYCguys]

Oh I fully agree Rusty, he is indeed a very fascinating individual. I live in Airdrie but was very interested in the Calgary race and especially in NN. I was just wondering how he managed to gain not only cross Canada, but also American, notoriety. I don't remember any other Mayor getting that kind of publicity.

[MichaelS]

A key theme to this election was making sure new growth pays for itself. I think a lot of this was spurred by the Financing Municipal Infrastructure report that went to council on July 19th. I don't know how to link to the report, but if you go to here: http://publicaccess.calgary.ca/lldm01/livelink.exe?func=ccpa.recentagenda and search for FCS2010-20 it should come up.

In the report it proposes several new methods of raising funds to pay for infrastructure. What are some of your guys ideas on this? Should we just jack up acreage assessments and have developers (who will pass it on to new home buyers) cover the big difference? Should we look to new sources of revenue, potentially requiring changes to the MGA? I am curious to hear some of your thoughts on this subject.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

Oh I fully agree Rusty, he is indeed a very fascinating individual. I live in Airdrie but was very interested in the Calgary race and especially in NN. I was just wondering how he managed to gain not only cross Canada, but also American, notoriety. I don't remember any other Mayor getting that kind of publicity.

Seriously? I don't want to come off in attack mode here, so bear with me, but... have you even *read* any of these articles?

He's:

1) the first muslim mayor of any major city in North America

2) at a time when muslims face more persecution and discrimination than at any other time in modern history

2a) look up that whole "9/11" thing in case you're forgetting

3) in "ULTRA CONSERVATIVE CALGARY" - or so Global News put it tonight

4) not 2 years after Barack Obama did a similar thing, on a larger scale, in the US, campaigning as a populist with a mandate of "positive change"

Nenshi, regardless of whether he ends up being a good mayor or not, will be the most discussed mayor in Calgary's history for a long time to come. He's way bigger news than Ralph Klein, Mel Lastman, and um, who the heck else can anyone remember as a Canadian mayor from a city they don't live in?

Nenshi is famous (world famous, by some definitions) because of who he is. He's very talked about in Canada because of that, plus how he won. Underdog stories are always good media fodder. Let's face it, he came out of nowhere (for most people) and was barely polling 10% a week before the election!

Deserved or not, he's going to get tons of attention right now. He's the first in many ways, he did it differently than most, and the combination just screams "media darling". I said it a few weeks before the election, but his entire campaign had me saying "Obama" over and over again. The media attention since his win just cemented the idea in my head. No, he's not getting the Peace Prize anytime soon, but he's Obama in microcosm.

Plus, he's just an all-around congenial, non-stuffy politician. When was the last time any city had a mayor like this?

[mooky]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Calgar...n+council+budget+boss/3728638/story.html

I'm glad Gian-Carlo Carra is on the land-use and planning committee. That's a plus in my books.

[srperrycgy]

Originally Posted by mooky

I'm glad Gian-Carlo Carra is on the land-use and planning committee. That's a plus in my books.

Of course, that positive is tempered by the fact that Andre Chabot is now the chair of the same committee.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by MichaelS

A key theme to this election was making sure new growth pays for itself. I think a lot of this was spurred by the Financing Municipal Infrastructure report that went to council on July 19th. I don't know how to link to the report, but if you go to here: http://publicaccess.calgary.ca/lldm01/livelink.exe?func=ccpa.recentagenda and search for FCS2010-20 it should come up.

[...]

I am curious to hear some of your thoughts on this subject.

There is actually a thread about Developer Contributions. I've also uploaded easily accessible copies of the FMI Summary and Report, both of which can be found in the other thread.

Originally Posted by mooky

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Calgar...n+council+budget+boss/3728638/story.html

I'm glad Gian-Carlo Carra is on the land-use and planning committee. That's a plus in my books.

Brilliant!

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by Riise

There is actually a thread about Developer Contributions. I've also uploaded easily accessible copies of the FMI Summary and Report, both of which can be found in the other thread.

Thanks for the link. Don't know how I missed that thread.