The Dinger on Day 1.
The mayor, at his 17th hour on the job, says he is up for a good revolution.
Naheed Nenshi says he wants a thorough going-over of council’s pay and perks early in the new year and he wants Calgarians to have a say on the matter.
He talks about wanting to get next year’s tax hike into the neighbourhood of 4%, without actually naming the number.
He waxes poetic about how much he has in common with Toronto’s mayor-elect, Rob Ford, the pull-no-punches, pinch-the-pennies character who rides to victory Monday vowing to stop Hogtown’s city hall gravy train.
He is “extremely confident” the council will get along and change plenty.
Alas, when you look at the council, only one seatwarmer gets the boot, the other usual suspects win another three years on the taxpayer payroll and the majority of newbies are NOT candidates who pledged to shake up the big blue playpen.
So it doesn’t surprise, on a day where everyone is supposed to love everyone, when Ald. Gord Lowe, Bronco With A Beard, is elected by a committee of aldermen as the city’s budget boss — again.
Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart opposes Lowe but loses.
Though the vote is secret and behind closed doors it is reported to be a 4-3 split with Dale Hodges, Brian Pincott, Lowe and rookie Ald. Richard Pootmans opting for the same-old, same-old.
But Nenshi still sounds the right syllables Tuesday.
He wants a group, members still to be determined, to “examine from soups to nuts how we think about the pay and perks all council members including myself receive and to have that discussion in a very open way.”
“It’s time for a refresh, it’s time for the public to have their point of view on this again.”
Nenshi says when it comes to staffing his own office he suspects he “will be able to lead by example.”
He talks about possibly keeping his beat-up Corolla over a swanky Mayormobile.
“I don’t know,” says Nenshi, to the question of whether he’ll opt for his old car.
“I kind of like my Corolla. We’ll see how we can make this work.”
The mayor of 17 hours wants less business done behind closed doors, both council biz and the to-and-fro of the city’s many boards and commissions.
“We are living in a more open world,” he says.
Nenshi adds when it comes to a tax hike around 4%, what the folks downtown call their inflation rate, “moving in that direction is something that makes a lot of sense to me.”
Please note the city inflation rate is higher than the Calgary inflation rate of less than 1% in part because wages have gone up at the city during this recession while, at many businesses, they have not.
Nenshi even phones mayor-elect Ford Tuesday. Nenshi says he shares much with the T.O. big man.
“I’m sure mayor-elect Ford is going to do a fantastic job,” predicts the mayor of this city.
“He and I share a lot of common interests in reform of city council, reform of city hall, reform of bureaucracy and removal of red tape.”
With those words, Nenshi disappoints all those terribly trendy Torontonians who can’t stand Ford and have been wishing Nenshi would be their pied piper of progressivism.
It is 17 hours into a three-year term.
Some things will be hard to change. Pincott still tells us how auditing works. Little Johnny Mar is now a big-time committee chairman and on the police commission another term.
Big Red says she has no problem with Lowe as finance committee kahuna, her tongue firmly planted in her cheek. As a registered nurse she also knows how to control her gag reflex.
Naturally, the Calgary Police Commission shamelessly rolls out its survey finding the cops need even more money, just before budget time. You don’t say.
And the playpen still makes CIA headquarters look like the Welcome Wagon.
Nenshi’s office is asked for a clarification of one of the mayor’s answers.
The individual from his office who gave this scribbler their number doesn’t bother to get back until 8 p.m.
They say it’s because this columnist should not have phoned the number they gave but should have phoned a go-between line who would have contacted them to contact your humble scribe.
It’s all in some press release.
Ah,0 yes. This purple revolution thing is not going to be easy.
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Good thing they brought croissants, I heard we may have a winter shortage!
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