Next Municipal Election - Oct 27, 2014 - contenders

[HighwayStar]

^^^ Thanks both for the above info... I figured that was the case and would have gone in anyway.

I've lived in my current place for 3 years and am NOT on the list. The 4 letters I got were for people who I can guarantee have not lived in the place for 9 years (at least).

Guess I was commenting on the "Messy Ottawa Election" phrase... how much money is wasted chasing non-existant voters... and ignoring valid ones

[1overcosc]

Municipal electoral registeries tend to be poorly maintained compared to the federal & provincial ones. I got a call the other day from my mother--I got a voter card for my childhood home in Russell Township--even though I haven't lived there since I was 17

[JeffB]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

My bigger concern is if I can even vote at all.... I receive 4 (FOUR!) separate letters from the Ottawa Elections Commission, which appeared to be voter registration cards. Trouble was... none of them were addressed to myself.

As long as you have proper id and proof of residence, you can vote. They will have someone at the polling station who can help you get added to the list, and it doesn't take more than a couple of minutes.

[J.OT13]

I too am not on the voting list, even though I lived in the same house for 3 years. My mother however, who's only been living in the house for 2 years, is on the list.

[JeffB]

What do people here think about the option of ranked ballots?

I'm conflicted about them. There is probably a lot of merit to be had, but when it is hard to find one candidate you like, ranking a bunch of candidates you don't care for seems like an odd task. I'm also concerned that it feeds into this city's attitude that "If we just put in the right process, you will get the results we want."

[Dado]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

New library passes for vision in Ottawa

Andrew Cohen, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: October 14, 2014, Last Updated: October 14, 2014 7:49 PM EDT

[...]

Mayor Watson is honest, diligent and tireless. He is decent and progressive. The city seems to be his life – and he gives himself to it, every day, magnificently and magnanimously. No one cares more about public service.

But his view of the library is consistent with virtually everything he does. Whether it’s light rail with no station at Confederation Square or the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park with no international design competition, he can never summon much imagination.

That makes him perfect for Ottawa, which imagination left some time ago. Jim Watson’s Ottawa remains a city without an idea of itself. Institutionally, it is simply unable to think big. It is always about value, not values.

Inspiration lives somewhere else. This failure of vision not only retards a real central library, which every big city in Canada already has. It afflicts transit, parks, cycling, buildings, the arts.

[...]

Ottawa needs a civic revolution but does not know how to start one.

[...]

For now, though, Jim Watson has no real opposition. Everything’s fine in the capital of complacency.

Andrew Cohen is a professor of journalism and international affairs at Carleton University. Email: [email protected]

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...y-renovation-passes-for-vision-in-ottawa

That basically sums up "Jim Watson's" Ottawa all too perfectly.

There's no drive to do anything much better, nor any apparent desire to turn ourselves into a city fit to be a capital. Our mayor should be pushing to unshackle us from all sorts of dubious provincial legislation and policies (running the gamut from planning to environment to elections to transportation to alcohol to electricity). A lot of this stuff makes no sense anymore province-wide, and the rest definitely makes no sense for a national capital located on a provincial border and economically, socially and geographically disconnected from the rest of the province. But no, Watson was (and still is) apparently happy with this state of affairs when he was Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, having already been mayor of the old City of Ottawa.

And then there's no one else on the ballot who would do any better. Indeed the closest contenders seem to regard Ottawa as little more than the seat of Carleton County rather than the capital of Canada.

[1overcosc]

I don't think I've ever seen a mayor be a stronger personification of their city than Jim Watson is of Ottawa. The man is almost literally Ottawa's soul & mindset in the form of a single human.

[Norman Bates]

I'm not sure that's a complement.

[Chris-R]

Originally Posted by Norman Bates

I'm not sure that's a complement.

Perhaps not, but when you look at who tends to run against him, it's not contenders with big vision, it's people who find Watson's bland-oatmeal delivery and modest vision to be too exciting and ambitious. The sort with a self-flagellating reflex and a taste for gruel.

So yeah, I'd say he hits that Median Ottawa Voter™ just fine.

On the other hand, I'd like to see the Citizen give Cohen a break. At least on municipal issues, he's a one-note crank whose idea of a great Ottawa is a federally-funded Drapeau-era Montreal.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Norman Bates

I'm not sure that's a complement.

My intention: it's a complement to him as a politician, and an insult to him overall and to Ottawa.

[Urbanarchit]

Wow, so from what I gathered one of the candidates in Rideau-Vanier this happened last night:



He's a part of the Property Owner's Slate, and apparently likes to talk about pot a lot. I don't know what rules or laws there are in municipal elections, but discriminatory slurs like that should be an automatic ban from the election, in my opinion. There's no place for them.

[1overcosc]

Interesting. Having gotten to know the Rideau-Vanier candidates, I would have thought it would be Vinette who would be the one to say that kind of thing. Oldham just seemed like a... erm.. 'harmless hippie' when I saw him at the first debate, whereas Vinette definitely seemed like a bit of a grouchy/bigoty/'pajamas' type. People's true colours come out I guess.

I wonder if that comment would constitute hate speech. I wonder if there's any provisions in the Municipal Act or some other provincial legislation dealing with the issue.

The 3 main candidates who actually stand a chance are Fleury, Aubin, and Catherine Lefaivre. Lefavire & Aubin are very similar (it's hard to separate them at times), so they may split the vote between the two and Fleury will be re-elected. Although Lefaivre seems to have definitely won the sign war, at least in my corner of the ward.

[1overcosc]

On the topic of the 'Property Owners Slate'... I'm very confused by their name. The 3 things they want are...

-An end to the green bin
-Restoration of weekly pickup
-End of the hydro dividend

... none of which are specific to property owners, or have anything to do with property rights issues. All 3 things would actually lead to an increase in property taxes, funnily enough. (Weekly pickup = more cost, end to green bin = expensive contract buyout, end of hydro dividend = less non-property tax revenue).

That brings out another odd thing about this election: it's the fiscal conservative types that want a restoration of weekly garbage pickup (which costs $$$) and the liberals that want to retain biweekly (saves $$$). Odd that it's the fiscal conservatives that want to spend more money on something.

[Urbanarchit]

Here's a follow up to my previous post. Apparently it happened after the debate, not during, and he was high during it.

City Hall Blog: Rideau-Vanier debate gets personal
Matthew Pearson More from Matthew Pearson
Published on: October 16, 2014Last Updated: October 16, 2014 10:04 AM EDT
Mathieu Fleury, Marc Aubin and Catherine Fortin LeFaivre are running in Rideau Vanier.

Mathieu Fleury, Marc Aubin and Catherine Fortin LeFaivre are running in Rideau Vanier.
Ottawa Citizen
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There’s no question the race in Rideau-Vanier ward is one of the most competitive in the city, but a longshot candidate’s attacks against incumbent Mathieu Fleury during a debate in Lowertown on Wednesday night were much more personal than what we’ve seen so far.

David George Oldham called Fleury a “bad councillor” and said, on several occasions, that he “disgusted” him.

Regardless of the question, Oldham often used his allotted time to attack Fleury, despite reminders from the moderator to answer the question.

Oldham also told the audience that residents should be nice to each other and take care of their own issues instead of calling their city councillor (even though he paid $100 to enter the race to ostensibly become a councillor).

When an audience member challenged Oldham about his behavior after the debate had ended and people were milling around, the candidate called the man a homophobic slur and then left.

Oldham is one of 15 candidates who belong to the “property owners slate” — a group campaigning on a promise to restore weekly garbage pickup and kill the city’s green-bin program if they become councillors.

He’s the only urban candidate to join the slate, which also pledges to send Hydro Ottawa’s profits back to its customers rather than giving them to the city government as a dividend and to end the spreading of sludge from the city’s sewage plant as fertilizer on farm fields.

Not long after entering the race, Oldham told the Citizen he was concerned about parking and the high cost of OC Transpo bus fares. He also said he wanted to clawback councillors’ salaries and, though he offered no specific example at the time, said he would respond to constituents in a “more timely and appropriate manner” than Fleury has.

With the election less than two weeks away, it’s no surprise that candidates are starting to sharpen their swords.

Fleury’s leading challengers Marc Aubin and Catherine Fortin LeFaivire do this by focusing on the incumbent’s record and what they would do differently if elected. We’ve not seen those kind of details from Oldham.

Voters in Rideau-Vanier have one more chance to see the candidates square off. The final debate will be Friday at 7 p.m. at the Sandy Hill Community Centre (250 Somerset St. East).

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/city-hall-blog-rideau-vanier-debate-gets-personal

[Dado]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

On the topic of the 'Property Owners Slate'... I'm very confused by their name. The 3 things they want are...

-An end to the green bin
-Restoration of weekly pickup
-End of the hydro dividend

... none of which are specific to property owners, or have anything to do with property rights issues. All 3 things would actually lead to an increase in property taxes, funnily enough. (Weekly pickup = more cost, end to green bin = expensive contract buyout, end of hydro dividend = less non-property tax revenue).

But you've missed the best part, the fourth thing they want: to end a program that spreads human "sludge" on farmland.

That is, the Property Owners slate wants to end a program that sees two market participants engage in what they both see as a mutually-beneficial trade so as to restrict what other property owners can do on their own property.

Oh yes, and if the program is cancelled, we'll need a new landfill sooner, too, likely in the rural area somewhere.

[silvergate]

Should be the angry old white men slate

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

it's the fiscal conservative types that want a restoration of weekly garbage pickup (which costs $$$)

"are you willing to support a tax increase to return to weekly pickup?"

To which I would answer... "sure.. just make it the exact amount my taxes went down when weekly pickup was taken away".

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

"are you willing to support a tax increase to return to weekly pickup?"

To which I would answer... "sure.. just make it the exact amount my taxes went down when weekly pickup was taken away".

That's equal to $10.

Garbage collection is funded by a special fee collected on top of property tax, the actual property tax money itself doesn't fund it. That fee was previously $93. When biweekly collection came, it was cut to $83.

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

That's equal to $10.

Garbage collection is funded by a special fee collected on top of property tax, the actual property tax money itself doesn't fund it. That fee was previously $93. When biweekly collection came, it was cut to $83.

Well if it only costs $10... why not start 'er up again !!!

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by defishel

Wow, so from what I gathered one of the candidates in Rideau-Vanier this happened last night:



He's a part of the Property Owner's Slate, and apparently likes to talk about pot a lot. I don't know what rules or laws there are in municipal elections, but discriminatory slurs like that should be an automatic ban from the election, in my opinion. There's no place for them.

That will get him MAYBE 1% of the vote. Sure in the rural areas those anti-gay views have significant support, but it won't get him anywhere in an urban ward, especially a downtown ward.