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Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois
It'll be interesting to watch this unfold. The mayor is overplaying his hand and might see this backfire, though probably not before the election.
Developers served them up a boogeyman and the mayor an his handlers have done a great job framing their agenda about old rich guys and poor city cost, but they are walking a fine line.
The more specific they get on the 'subsidy' the more people will pay attention and poke at it, and eventually he's going to have to talk about the brass tacks. The worst case scenario for the mayor is the developers signal they are ok with the 5k provided the city commits to delivering the rec centres and fire halls and whatever else gets lumped in. Then he either has to move his target or lose his boogeyman. And then the change agenda gets much more difficult.
Maybe he has polling numbers that make him nervous about who is going to be elected, but I think he'd be better off closing his lips.
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I like Nenshi, but I am not a fan of the mayor getting involved in councillor races. Say Druh loses. How toxic will the relationship be between him and new councillors? It could be a contentious four years.
I also think that the $4-5k 'subsidy' is a red herring. We're talking a miniscule percentage of a new house here. The amount of money is basically insignificant and honestly who cares if that new house in Skyview Ranch costs $355k instead of $350k? You could pass it all to the consumer and barely see a blip in costs or change the market significantly. This is again where it becomes a 'be careful what you wish for' situation I think. Put that through and you can't complain about sprawl or needing to fund fire stations or whatever else. Its a politically motivated way to attack the so-called slate.