Ottawa Municipal Election 2010

[Dado]

I think this is right, but does anyone know about the remaining three?

Running for re-election on Council (16)
Running for Mayor (2)
Not running (3)
Unknown (3)

Mayor Larry O-Brien
Councillor Georges Bédard
Councillor Michel Bellemare
Councillor Rainer Bloess
Councillor Glenn Brooks
Councillor Rick Chiarelli
Councillor Alex Cullen
Councillor Diane Deans
Councillor Steve Desroches
Councillor Clive Doucet
Councillor Eli El-Chantiry
Councillor Peggy Feltmate
Councillor Jan Harder
Councillor Diane Holmes
Councillor Peter Hume
Councillor Gord Hunter
Councillor Rob Jellett
Councillor Christine Leadman
Councillor Jacques Legendre
Councillor Maria McRae
Councillor Bob Monette
Councillor Shad Qadri
Councillor Doug Thompson
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson

[Ciemny]

Ive heard the interview on CFRA with Cullen. He really got upset when asked if he would run for the NDP in next years provincial election even if he won his ward seat. He accused "you media types" of trying to drag out some story....but never did he say he would NOT run.

Even if this was (god forbid) my favorite candidate I would be tuned away from voting for hi if I found out his heart was not into the job and he might bail in a year. Its selfish and self serving but that seems to be expected from most politicians.

[adam-machiavelli]

I sent this around to a few local print media outlets. But it was never published:

*Real Council Reform Should Return Power Back to the Citizens*

Mayoral candidate Jim Watson recently pondered reforming city council by creating a smaller council and dividing the city into boroughs. All Mr. Watson’s proposal does is concentrate power into the hands of an even smaller group of career politicians, with little difference of opinion between each, and create an extra level of government that would have no real power.

Any reform that happens to Ottawa’s City Council should benefit the city’s wide variety of voters because ultimately, it is them who elected officials must serve. Real council reform should be based on New Hampshire’s House of Representatives –a legislature consisting of 400 members (for a state with a population slightly more than greater Ottawa), each of whom are paid an annual honourarium of $200 for their service to the state and represent a diverse cross section of the state’s population. Even though each representative only takes on a small role (as opposed to a few politicians taking on many responsibilities –each amassing quite a lot of power), collectively they work as hard as any other legislature.

This system has many advantages that lead to more and better input from many different citizens in legislation. The first advantage is that because the work is divided amongst so many people, being a Representative is a part-time job. Therefore, members don’t seek to become career politicians. They are primarily interested in serving the public good. The second advantage is despite such a low wage, the risk of influence peddling and bribery is minimal because due to the large size of the legislative body, each member only has a relatively small amount of influence.

With a similar amount of resources as required to maintain the current council, such a system of representation could be implemented in the City of Ottawa to replace the small, inward-looking bunch of current politicians who are no different from those of the past, and will be no different from those of future councils under the current council model.

An adaptation of the New Hampshire model for Ottawa would be as follows:

The Council

The council would be comprised of about 200 councilors, meeting two or three times per month –as is the current frequency of meetings. There would be no government or opposition, just members elected to represent their constituents. But unlike the current system, instead of a mayor, there would be a Speaker of the Council whose role would be to manage the operation of City Council and act as its external spokesperson. The speaker would be elected by a majority vote by councilors, much like a provincial or federal legislative speaker. Council would typically meet in the evenings or on weekends, to make it easier for people who work during the day to attend meetings (this applies to councilors, observers, and presenters).

Representation

Multiple councilors would represent individual constituencies (districts) of 30,000 to 50,000 people. Given the total number of councilors, each councilor would represent about 3,000 people. Multi-member districts balance representation of geographic and non-geographic (such as income, ethnicity, and ideology) constituencies, and encourage councilors with different perspectives to work together on common issues.

Election

Councilors would be elected every four years by single-transferable vote. In other words, voters would rank as many candidates as they wanted running in their district. Through a system of quotas, the most preferred candidates equal to the number of councilors for the district would be elected to City Council. Assuming current levels of voter turnout, a typical quota might be 1,000 votes. Allowing people to be elected with so few votes keeps campaign costs low, allowing more people to be able to afford to run for elected office.

Administration

Due to the higher number of councilors and part-time nature of their work, council’s administrative resources would be divided amongst more elected officials. This division would include councilors from the same constituencies sharing staff and smaller individual office budgets. The Speaker’s Office would manage council business with help from the Clerk’s Office.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of City Council would not be much different from the current council, but would also include hiring city managers (There would be five managers and a C.E.O. responsible for different departments, elected by majority vote), attending committee meetings, holding office hours to meet with the public or other officials, and seeking advice from city staff for creating policies and by-laws. Councilors would be expected to devote six hours per week to their public responsibilities.

Remuneration

Each councilor would receive an annual honourarium of $600, as well as have their travel expenses covered. Urban councilors would receive a bus pass or a bike, while rural councilors would receive money to cover gas expenses or a rural bus pass.

Reforming Ottawa’s City Council in a manner similar to New Hampshire’s House of Representatives would bring a greater diversity of opinions to City Hall, allow a greater number of citizens to participate in the decision-making process, and take self-interested career politicians out of public affairs -leading to policies and by-laws with better public input, more public support, and ultimately more public faith in democracy and government.

[reidjr]

Adam
With your plan ottawa would have the most council in north america.More then new york/la/toronto/chicago etc.Those citys much bigger have much smaller council and out side of some cases run much better then ottawa.

[adam-machiavelli]

You're comparing apples and oranges. This council would not operate like a typical city council. It would be made up of a very large and diverse cross-section of the city and paid just an honorarium to fulfill their civic duties. It works very well in New Hampshire. That state has one of the highest rates of public confidence in government in North America.

[reidjr]

Originally Posted by adam-machiavelli

You're comparing apples and oranges. This council would not operate like a typical city council. It would be made up of a very large and diverse cross-section of the city and paid just an honorarium to fulfill their civic duties. It works very well in New Hampshire. That state has one of the highest rates of public confidence in government in North America.

Thats the thing new hampshire which is a state has the same system all across.For something like that to work here you would have to have it all acrosse ontario not just one city.

[adam-machiavelli]

It doesn't need to be all across Ontario. But if it came to pass, I, along with many other people who don't see their views reflected by current politicians would be very happy.

[waterloowarrior]

From Mayor O'Brien's speech

Second, with the LRT project on the right track we now we need to turn our attention to roads. Nos routes sont aussi importantes.

A city the size of Ottawa will always need roads for personal and business travel. I will continue to work to make the City an auto friendly place to live. There will be no moratorium on roads with me as Mayor.

As your Mayor I will start negotiations with the Province of Ontario for the planning of a ring road around Ottawa that will ease congestion in the core of the City.

[eternallyme]

A distant ring road seems like overkill at this point. The traffic drawn off it would not solve any traffic issues at all on the Queensway. The AADT's of highways near the city boundary:

417W at Arnprior - about 17,000
7 at Carleton Place - about 19,000
416 at Kemptville - about 22,000
417E at Limoges - about 24,000
174 at Rockland - about 15,000 (a guess?)

It is likely that a very large chunk of the traffic on all those routes are destined for Ottawa (as commuters or commercial traffic) and not driving through without stopping. There would be little benefit for a distant ring road. The through traffic on 417, for instance, would only warrant 2 lanes if all Ottawa-bound traffic was removed. AADT's on all those routes need to be over 30,000 (if not over 40,000) to warrant a distant ring road.

One that might work would be one connecting the existing suburban areas, by upgrading existing routes. That would draw more potential traffic.

[lrt's friend]

A ring road, another lame brain idea from our mayor that will go nowhere. Just how many billion will such a road cost? From a mayor advocating no tax increases, he really knows how to spend our money.

And then, he says we need an auto friendly city, while at the same time planning to spend billions on transit. Does he not realize that a road building scheme will compete with his transit plan?

Something tells me that his idea is to further cement the 2 car suburban culture and leave transit mainly to those who live within the minimal reach of his LRT Phase 1 plan.

So much for the concept of smart growth. A ring road will only accelerate suburban or even exurban sprawl. Smart growth is truly dead with O'Brien.

[c_speed3108]

I am curious what exactly he means by "a ring road". The original ring road plan is mostly already built. All it really needs is building or improving a few small roads like Trim and the Innes-Huntclub connector.

The main legs of the ring road plan like Hunt club, Innes, etc already exist.

This promise needs a map!

[Cre47]

If Hunt Club and Innes would be ring roads, that would be some really slow ring roads.

But O'Brien probably forgot to look at the potential cost of all of this. Assuming he wants to clear the downtown area, that ring road would have to pass beyond the suburbs connecting at the 417 twice and once on the 416 and the 7. Therefore it would start between Arnprior and the 417/7 junction, crossing the 7 west of Stittsville, passing the 416 south of Manotick, then back to the 417 near the Prescott & Russell line and then eventually north to near Rockland at the 174. But even with the ring road, unless he wants to add a massive string of employment areas along the corridor (which would likely mean moving quite some federal workers), downtown congestion will remain the same. Oh actually, since it might encourages even further sprawl in Kanata, Orleans and Barrhaven, it might be worse.

So this looks like just some pure fantasy and the chances to see that happening are smaller then the chances that downtown Ottawa would be hit by an F5 tornado or gets heavily damaged by an earthquake (like in New Zealand last weekend).

As for the cost, let's not talk about that, we know it will be much higher then the LRT/BRT network planned.

[adam-machiavelli]

That's one campaign promise I hope doesn't get fulfilled.

[waterloowarrior]

Sun: Andy Haydon to run for mayor

[DubberDom]

I'm on the opposite side on this "Ring Road", we need to plan for this now. Only 20% of commuters use public transit, that means 80% use roads and/or walk-bike. The $3Billion LRT-to-nowhere scheme only benefits those 20% that are already adequately served right now

The main justification for the ring road is to flow cross-town traffic away from the core, which will also serve to benefit commerce as well (think trucks!).

I had to drive to Manotick for a breakfast meeting this week from Orleans, there is no efficient route to get the except using the 417 through Downtown adding to traffic... how dumb is that?? Every other city of Ottawa's size has an outer ring road.

In order to make it worthwhile, I think the ring road should be built along the edge of the suburbs to maximize its usage. Starting with 417-416 cross connection would be a great start.

Most people on this board are Public Transit fixated, I get that, but I'm sure that in 20 years of so, the way we live and work will change so much that these LRTs investments will seem misplaced...


This is how the Ring Road should look...



On first phase, you would only need grade separation from 416 to 417. You may only need a single lane at first from Highway 7 to bypass and one lane from 417 to Frank Kenny. There is no way to get a direct connection to Orleans due to the Mer Bleue Bog. The NCC would obviously be the big hurdle in this plan.

This would link up a direct Airport access from Stittsville/Kanata West to Orleans east, further reducing traffic along the parkway and Hunt Club.

I'm sure all you urbanists will be up in arms over my idea, bash away!!

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by DubberDom

I had to drive to Manotick for a breakfast meeting this week from Orleans, there is no efficient route to get the except using the 417 through Downtown adding to traffic... how dumb is that??

If you are taking the Queensway to get from Orleans to Manotick then you are really not using your noodle. A combination of Frank Kenny and Mitch Owens will get you there much faster.

A half serious idea for a ring road would not involve NCC land, especially the Greenbelt, otherwise, it's just like something dreamed up by this guy

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Sun: Andy Haydon to run for mayor

Surreal. No doubt, every possible transit angle will be covered in this election. No one will be able to say that there is no choice. This will be like the Super Bowl of municipal elections.

Faced with the prospect of finally becoming a real big city with a real rapid transit system, the electorate is:

1- reminded by a grumpy old man that we really don't deserve any better than buses, and we ought to be scolded for thinking otherwise. (May he be ridiculed and soundly defeated, and may we all have fun listening to him embarrass himself)

2- assured by a human-shaped piece of plastic wearing glasses that there should be absolutely no cost overruns, that we really should sharpen our pencils even more, and how dare we dream of subways when we're just, after all, Ottawa. Trains, ok, but hey, one century at a time here folks. Keep'em on the street. (May he treat this as another guy treated zero-means-zero: do it to get elected, then face reality)

3- tantalized (or offended) by the swagger of a private sector self-made man with good ideas, too much impatience, and an ability to say clumsy things - who also happens to be the sitting chief, the one who will have given Ottawa its first subway, Lansdowne, and worked hard on other great projects like a new central library, but then goes to say that we should be a "car-friendly city" and "we should reopn the urban boundary debate". Huh?

4- rightfully and righteously reminded that we all belong to mother earth, that we should all recycle, and that we should give the suburbs a train ride even though they don't have the density to justify the expense and even if it means that the downtown traffic jams will continue forever. May his ideas serve to remind us that we are all good inside and full of good intentions deep within.

Now, can I please have a candidate that can schmooze like #2, dream like #3, implement like #1 and apply the principles of #4 the right way without making us take 10 steps back every time we want to evolve?

[Umpaidh]

Hey DubberDom, I don't want to get into the particulars of your job and where it takes you, but it sounds like these meetings in Manotick aren't an every day occurrence. For your next meeting, you might consider taking this route. It would add 5 minutes to your trip, although really, when you include the traffic through the core, it would probably be quicker.

Also, it should be noted that the Strandherd/Armstrong bridge is currently being build just south of where you showed a bridge crossing the Rideau, which would help with the ability to get to the airport from the east and west.

I don't think the number of people who skirt around the city is large enough to make the idea of the ring road useful, and I can say this from experience (yes, which is anecdotal, my apologies). I live in Barrhaven and commute to Stittsville everyday, and my girlfriend commutes to just south of Orleans everyday. In the past two years, neither of us has ever had issues with traffic.

Also, what would be the cost of this road? It looks to be around 40km long, and for example, the 416 from Century road to the 417 (21km) was completed for $200 million between 1990 and 1997. When you include inflation, plus a bridge (Strandherd/Armstrong will cost $48 million for the bridge alone), the cost of this ring road gets pretty high, especially when it will only help a fraction of the population.

[DubberDom]

I took the Mitch Owens route to go back home... OMG, what a disaster, it actually took 10 minutes longer.

You guys are underestimating the actual demand for that 416-417 cross route. Try going from Orleans to Colonnade, Airport, Barrhaven or 416 from Orleans in rush hour

Anyway, I know I will not get support from this board since most readers are ideological urbanists who fail to understand that approximately 500,000 Ottawa residents live outside the Greenbelt

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Umpaidh

Hey DubberDom, I don't want to get into the particulars of your job and where it takes you, but it sounds like these meetings in Manotick aren't an every day occurrence. For your next meeting, you might consider taking this route. It would add 5 minutes to your trip, although really, when you include the traffic through the core, it would probably be quicker.

I'm pretty sure this would be much faster.

We definitely don't need a ring road. We need the Strandherd Bridge to be built yesterday, but that should do us for years to come.

How many people are driving through Ottawa? I don't think there's that much Montreal-Pembroke traffic...