Winnipeg - Of Interest

[bussche]

Originally Posted by esquire

I like the idea of reining in spending on police and fire services... salaries and pensions are sky high and something needs to happen before Winnipeg residents are all forced to take second jobs to pay the tax bill.

But defunding the police? No way. This city would be like a Mad Max movie if you eliminated or halved the police force.

If you compare the year over year increases during Katz time as Mayor to Bowman's budgets, Bowman has done a pretty good job of reigning that in. He also tried to get rid of pensionable overtime for the Police.

Defund the Police isn't the same as Abolish the Police. I think a good strategy to defund them would be to stop giving their budget year increases and instead direct the money saved towards social services. Although it's not that simple as the services that would reduce the need for Police are provided by different level's of Gov't (Mental Health, etc)

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by bussche

Defund the Police isn't the same as Abolish the Police. I think a good strategy to defund them would be to stop giving their budget year increases and instead direct the money saved towards social services. Although it's not that simple as the services that would reduce the need for Police are provided by different level's of Gov't (Mental Health, etc)

It seems like no matter how many times this is repeated, some people simply refuse to get it. However, I think by keeping attention on the size of the current police budget (and the need to avoid endless police budget increases for the sake of a "safety" that never seems to come about with more officers on the force), the message might gain more traction.

[bussche]

Originally Posted by pspeid

It seems like no matter how many times this is repeated, some people simply refuse to get it. However, I think by keeping attention on the size of the current police budget (and the need to avoid endless police budget increases for the sake of a "safety" that never seems to come about with more officers on the force), the message might gain more traction.

It doesn't help when the WPA releases scare mongering propaganda to influence public opinion around election time.

Bowman didn't give the Police budget as much of an increase as they wanted during his first term, so the WPA put out a video of kids in a closet hiding from an intruder, calling 911 and getting a busy signal.

Almost seems like extortion, doesn't it?

https://globalnews.ca/news/4428835/m...ear-mongering/

[bussche]

Originally Posted by joshlemer

Here's hoping Matt Allard throws in his hat. He's the most outspokenly pro-densification, pro-active transportation, pro-urbanist councillor by a wide margin. For instance, he supports local groups like YIMBY Winnipeg and champions initiatives like the recent change to incorporate induced demand effects in the calculus for all future infrastructure projects.

Agreed, I like the open and honest way he communicates with his constituents too. He makes posts on social media explaining his reasoning in detail.

My councillor is Cindy Gilroy and she might as well not exist.

[Danny D Oh]

I know Morantz wants the mayor chair bad, but you'd think it would be hard to risk a seat in Ottawa and the pension that comes with that. Although there is a high probability of a Federal election before fall 2022 and he might need a job.

Browaty is so comfortable in that council seat, I bet he stays in it for another 20 years if the residents of NK don't vote him out.

RFO almost seems too obvious as a candidate from the centre-left but haven't heard much about him since he lost his federal seat.

I think we'll see at least one or two of the zombies of Winnipeg politics throw themselves into the race, Steeves, Diack (with major support from the WPA and maybe even UFFW), Havixbeck, Bokhari (in Bowman's footprint).

It's always interesting when there's a race without an incumbent, you'd think more people would run but who knows. It is not a great job in this political climate and with this Provincial government basically determining that they have no role in terms of investing into Winnipeg (or municipalities generally). Anyone who has a decent job probably would not be interested.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by bussche

If you compare the year over year increases during Katz time as Mayor to Bowman's budgets, Bowman has done a pretty good job of reigning that in. He also tried to get rid of pensionable overtime for the Police.

Defund the Police isn't the same as Abolish the Police. I think a good strategy to defund them would be to stop giving their budget year increases and instead direct the money saved towards social services. Although it's not that simple as the services that would reduce the need for Police are provided by different level's of Gov't (Mental Health, etc)

Exactly. Freezing the budget for 5 years even would "decrease" it by about 10% on inflation alone. Let them figure out of they want attrition of jobs or salaries – it's been proven there's no correlation regarding police spending and crime.

And regarding the money still going to the government for other services – GOOD, it's proven that mental health services are a lot more effective than policing for a good chunk of what becomes crime.

It's the same thing me with the nurses unions for example – always complaining about nursing "jobs" being lost, but never say a thing about the quality of healthcare. Certain parts of the healthcare restructuring have been effective at getting more efficient. I get unions are just a mafia that only care about "jobs" and growing their membership, but it sucks how much that influences things. And that's why our healthcare sucks.

Originally Posted by bussche

It doesn't help when the WPA releases scare mongering propaganda to influence public opinion around election time.

Bowman didn't give the Police budget as much of an increase as they wanted during his first term, so the WPA put out a video of kids in a closet hiding from an intruder, calling 911 and getting a busy signal.

Almost seems like extortion, doesn't it?

https://globalnews.ca/news/4428835/m...ear-mongering/

Yes. Considering WPS is a taxpayer funded organization (that's supposed to protect use) they shouldn't even be legally allowed to influence politics like this.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by pspeid

It seems like no matter how many times this is repeated, some people simply refuse to get it. However, I think by keeping attention on the size of the current police budget (and the need to avoid endless police budget increases for the sake of a "safety" that never seems to come about with more officers on the force), the message might gain more traction.

I've heard it plenty of times but I simply don't believe it, quite frankly. The ACAB activists who promote defunding the police and want to stick it to them live in a different universe from the average Winnipeg citizen who simply wants adequate police services at a reasonable cost.

[EdwardTH]

Originally Posted by esquire

I've heard it plenty of times but I simply don't believe it, quite frankly. The ACAB activists who promote defunding the police and want to stick it to them live in a different universe from the average Winnipeg citizen who simply wants adequate police services at a reasonable cost.

What about the ones who don't want to "stick it to" anyone but want a healthy chunk of that funding to go into housing, anti-poverty and addictions initiatives because
a) they have a brain and know the evidence shows that's how you reduce crime
b) they actually care about people

I know b) will be a foreign concept for most on the forum but try to use your imagination.

[drew]

The police priorities in a place like Winnipeg should be actual boots on the ground.

There is a reason that organizations such as the Bear Clan are successful. They are on the ground, visible and active.

The WPS seems to have all but given up on cops actually walking the beat. Downtown they have basically surrendered that responsibility to cadets.

I would like to see them redeploy the existing forces in such a way that they are more present and engaged in the communities that need them (Downtown, North End, etc.).

And yes, the WPS salaries definitely need a bit of a haircut. They shouldn't have any issues recruiting even if the pay is $10k less a year (a 5 year wage freeze would likely accomplish this).

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by Danny D Oh

I know Morantz wants the mayor chair bad, but you'd think it would be hard to risk a seat in Ottawa and the pension that comes with that. Although there is a high probability of a Federal election before fall 2022 and he might need a job.

Browaty is so comfortable in that council seat, I bet he stays in it for another 20 years if the residents of NK don't vote him out.

RFO almost seems too obvious as a candidate from the centre-left but haven't heard much about him since he lost his federal seat.

I think we'll see at least one or two of the zombies of Winnipeg politics throw themselves into the race, Steeves, Diack (with major support from the WPA and maybe even UFFW), Havixbeck, Bokhari (in Bowman's footprint).

It's always interesting when there's a race without an incumbent, you'd think more people would run but who knows. It is not a great job in this political climate and with this Provincial government basically determining that they have no role in terms of investing into Winnipeg (or municipalities generally). Anyone who has a decent job probably would not be interested.

Dayna Spiring's name has been floated in a CBC article today. Of course I have absolutely no idea is she has any interest in the job, but she certainly is a recognizable presence with a pedigree in promoting the positives of the city. Don't know how she would approach budgets and taxation issues.

I guess to me those will be issues 1 & 1a for any potential mayor: in favor of positive growth/development & "sensible" budgeting/taxation (for me "sensible"= willing to look at all options for increasing revenues, including raising taxes if necessary).

Oh the fun we'll have with conjecture for the next 2 years!

[esquire]

Based on my experiences so far, I have learned not to expect much from a mayor. The best I can hope for is to have a mayor who sets a positive, forward looking tone for the city the way that Glen Murray did, and does not engage in outright corruption. Give me someone like that and they can have my vote.

[bomberjet]

Maybe Glen will run after losing the federal green party leader nomination.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Maybe Glen will run after losing the federal green party leader nomination.

Wouldn't be bad, IMO

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by pspeid

Dayna Spiring's name has been floated in a CBC article today. Of course I have absolutely no idea is she has any interest in the job, but she certainly is a recognizable presence with a pedigree in promoting the positives of the city. Don't know how she would approach budgets and taxation issues.

I guess to me those will be issues 1 & 1a for any potential mayor: in favor of positive growth/development & "sensible" budgeting/taxation (for me "sensible"= willing to look at all options for increasing revenues, including raising taxes if necessary).

Oh the fun we'll have with conjecture for the next 2 years!

Agree with this. Coming out of COVID, focus needs to be on growing (back) local business, and finding creative ways to spend taxes more efficiently (aka create and actually implement an infill strategy, curb sprawl). And yes, increase certain taxes where needed in areas Winnipeg is behind Canada.

[Danny D Oh]

Originally Posted by pspeid

Dayna Spiring's name has been floated in a CBC article today. Of course I have absolutely no idea is she has any interest in the job, but she certainly is a recognizable presence with a pedigree in promoting the positives of the city. Don't know how she would approach budgets and taxation issues.

I guess to me those will be issues 1 & 1a for any potential mayor: in favor of positive growth/development & "sensible" budgeting/taxation (for me "sensible"= willing to look at all options for increasing revenues, including raising taxes if necessary).

Oh the fun we'll have with conjecture for the next 2 years!

Spiring already has the right job. Can't see why she would want to leave that to be mayor. To me that's not even a lateral move, it's backward.

[Danny D Oh]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Agree with this. Coming out of COVID, focus needs to be on growing (back) local business, and finding creative ways to spend taxes more efficiently (aka create and actually implement an infill strategy, curb sprawl). And yes, increase certain taxes where needed in areas Winnipeg is behind Canada.

Yeah they need to cut some costs and invest in other areas, but truly what needs to be done is better navigation of the municipal-provincial intergovernmental relationship. The city is not going to tax itself into the infrastructure it needs. The money needs to come from higher levels of government largely.

IMO Bowman simply gave up on working with this current government on Broadway.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Danny D Oh

Spiring already has the right job. Can't see why she would want to leave that to be mayor. To me that's not even a lateral move, it's backward.

Agreed. I have long advocated for higher wages for city council positions so we actually get good candidates. Running a city should be an attractive job, but it really isn't for most.

Originally Posted by Danny D Oh

Yeah they need to cut some costs and invest in other areas, but truly what needs to be done is better navigation of the municipal-provincial intergovernmental relationship. The city is not going to tax itself into the infrastructure it needs. The money needs to come from higher levels of government largely.

IMO Bowman simply gave up on working with this current government on Broadway.

I don't really think you can put the blame squarely on Bowman. This is the one area where I actually liked what he did. The province was awful and tried to just bully the city (and mostly did, successfully) into huge cutbacks and taking power away. I commend Bowman for standing up to Pallister and fighting back instead of just rolling over and taking it. It's pretty clear with this government they don't care what anyone has to say anyway, so the outcomes were likely written long before.

[buzzg]

The city launched a new website! It's likely just a re-skin of the existing one but it's much cleaner and is finally responsive and mobile friendly. Been saying we need this for 10 years, looked so outdated before.

Seems to be mostly just top-level pages for now. Once you get into the more data/feature-heavy pages it reverts to old design, but I'm sure they're working through it.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Matt Allard would be pretty good.

Good at what? Allard is a joke!

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Good at what? Allard is a joke!

What makes him a joke exactly. I like his stance on proper urban development. Remember, he's the one who stood up to the stupid st b nimby crowd on the 825 tache project which sadly didnt come to fruition. But at least he has a spine