Calgary Civic Election Discussion

[corporatejay]

I am aware of that land, and I'm also aware that the sarcee reserve and the city have been negotiating for that for a long time and seem to be constantly stonewalling.

Also, look at the anderson extension, the 37th street extension, the back road linking woodbine/evergreen and access to james mckevitt. I think it's a pretty good track record.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I am aware of that land, and I'm also aware that the sarcee reserve and the city have been negotiating for that for a long time and seem to be constantly stonewalling.

Also, look at the anderson extension, the 37th street extension, the back road linking woodbine/evergreen and access to james mckevitt. I think it's a pretty good track record.

Its an incomplete road... all that accomplished is getting people from Evergreen and Bridlewood to the Anderson Road/14th Street/Glenmore cluster######, which is already beyond capacity. James McKevitt is a mess as well. All they did there was cut up 146th Ave and force people to either drive through the community of Evergreen to get to Macleod Trail, or take an unchanged 146th Ave W to an unmarked 37th St to Hwy 22x, which features a very messed up intersection with Macleod (and a very dangerous one). I will give her credit for doing away with that one lane bridge (who in their right mind builds a single lane bridge??)

The natives aren't going to go for it. Forget that option already. People in Oakridge knew it was coming, its nothing they sprung on these people. They've been given cheaper property tax rates for years (at least that was the case in the 1990s when my family planned to move there), time to pay the piper. Build on the land that is civic owned and be done with it. If that leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many, put up tolls to get to and from the reserve and recoup some money from the citizens travelling to the reserve for the casino or cheap gas... or simply refuse to connect 37th to Bullhead Rd or to the road adjoining Eaglestone Casino to the city unless the Federal Government pays for it.

[Draug]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I seriously hope not everyone is going to blame the Mayor for the almost unheard of growth we have experienced.

Hopefully people will realize that the City of Calgary (as a corporation) is having the same staffing problems that every other company in this city is having. It's not like we don't have a major road other than Deerfoot because we have Bronconnier as our Mayor... We could have had Rudy himself as our Mayor and that still wouldn't change the fact that there just aren't enough people to do all the work that needs to be done, as fast as it needs to get done.

Do people want to fire the CEO of Burger King just because some of the Calgary locations can't find enough employees to keep their drive-thrus open?

I absolutely am going to blame him. He isnt getting the job done. To me, it is as simple as that.

If he cant handle the rapid growth, he has to go. The growth isnt going to be subsiding.

To take transportation as an example, I had a dialog with a transportation planner in this city a few months ago. The proposals he had were ridiculous. In no way were they a solution. Did you know that there is actually a ban on building new roads into the core of the city? Or, that the city has a limit on parking that can be built downtown? New buildings can only have parkades that hold 50% of its tennants, and no new invidually operated parkades can be built. Driving downtown is a poor option as a result.

Taking public transit is even a worse option. It is full to capacity. The train only services a small part of the city. They have left no viable option to commute into downtown in this city.

To me, the transportation fiasco this city has is a reason enough for the current administration to get the boot. If you could recover the lost man hours that so many waste each day commuting, you COULD man all of those BK Drive thrus!

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

you all can thank mayor Al Duerr for that. his 9 years was a joke and bronco has been playing catch up ever since.

Ah, good old Al "sit on the fence" Duerr. Exactly what did he accomplish in nearly a decade as mayor? Nothing memorable...

All he did was sit there and watched as the city grew.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Draug

To take transportation as an example, I had a dialog with a transportation planner in this city a few months ago. The proposals he had were ridiculous. In no way were they a solution. Did you know that there is actually a ban on building new roads into the core of the city? Or, that the city has a limit on parking that can be built downtown? New buildings can only have parkades that hold 50% of its tennants, and no new invidually operated parkades can be built. Driving downtown is a poor option as a result.

Those seem like solutions to get less people to drive into the downtown. I am not sure how having more parking would lessen our traffic problem. It would just cause more people to drive into the core.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by urban1

Its sad the amount of apathy thats shown towards civic politics in Calgary. Everyone complains about everything from infratstructure, roads, transit, community centres, urban planning, rec facilities, recycling, and even the consider the slow implementation of the smoking ban.

Yet so few voters turn out to vote and no one wants to get involved to run as a candidate. This city has grown and changed so much over the past 5 years and i dont believe a lot of the current elected civic politicians are up to job of handling the challenges this city now offers.

New blood would offer some new ideas and maybe some improvements for this city.

I totally agree with this! Are you involved in one of the campaigns, or running?

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Bronco is a great mayor, he inherited a city with 850,000 people in it and the infrastructure for a city of 500,000.

you all can thank mayor Al Duerr for that. his 9 years was a joke and bronco has been playing catch up ever since.

EDIT: Also, Alnoor's West LRT by 2010 is ridiculous. There is no way he can have that done by then. Expropriation of all that land would take almost that long.

Agreed.

I wouldn't say Bronco was great but he did okay given what he inherited, I love my overpasses and anyone who doesn't get along with the current Premier gets a check mark on my ballot.

That Alnoor is just beyond shady, no thanks.

I just browsed all the candidates website and platforms and Sandy Jenkins is the only one who sound remotely coherent out of the rest of them. Those of you who won't vote Bronco might as well consider him.

[Slava]

I will almost surely be voting for Sandy Jenkins. I don't mind Bronco...but he needs to understand that he has some opposition out there! (I guess this could turn out like the Eddie Murphy skit where white guys are voting for Jesse Jackson!)

[SeeGeeWhy]

The reality is that no mayor in the past 50 years has had a reasonable plan to cope with the boom and bust type growth and recession (hyper-cyclical?) that this city is destined to experience many times over.

Bronco, although he may be "fighting the fires" that Duerr left behind, is compounding his own problem without a well-thought out plan for the expansion of this city.

WAH! We need more roads and interchanges! WAH! Give the money you promised Provincial Government!

Yay! We can buy enough land to put our city limits at the backdoor of Chestermere! I am the greatest mayor ever!

I am sorry Dave, but acquiring more land for your friends to step in and develop, and whining until you get funding for deferred road projects is not making this city better in the long run.

For that reason alone he is getting the boot. He has washed over so many other more serious problems in his tenure that I cannot promote his work in good conscience.

The sad thing is that none of the other candidates seem much better suited than the incumbent to handle our problems so I don't know how it is going to shake out.

[Draug]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Those seem like solutions to get less people to drive into the downtown. I am not sure how having more parking would lessen our traffic problem. It would just cause more people to drive into the core.

Because getting less people to drive downtown is NOT a solution. You need more roads into downtown and more parking for when people get there.

The alternative is transit, which is already over full, and doesnt service enough people. Transit is not a solution for some people, especially in this city where it is horrible.

Providing two terrible options is not a solution to a problem. How about they City's Administration provide at least ONE good solution?

[SteveToms]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

I think I heard on CBC this morning that there will be a mayoral debate at Mount Royal next Tuesday... but I'm not sure about the details.

Note to self: Either a) skip school to avoid that, or b) avoid that area where debate is by a long ways way!

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

If that leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many, put up tolls to get to and from the reserve and recoup some money from the citizens travelling to the reserve for the casino or cheap gas... or simply refuse to connect 37th to Bullhead Rd or to the road adjoining Eaglestone Casino to the city unless the Federal Government pays for it.

Ah yes. I've always maintained that this is the way to get it done (Stoney Trail/Sarcee Southwest extension) with the native groups. I'm all for them doing what they wish with their land, however when they fail to reasonably negotiate yet still expect city of Calgary maintained connections to reserve roads (that lead to a casino where our gambling and smoking addicted citizens are expected to dump boatloads of cash they can't afford) I draw the line. Punative tool boths for everyone entering the city from those roads.

[Caged Great]

In my ward, Ward 6, the two main guys are Joe Connelly and Craig Burrows. Burrows is not a good alderman and that's pretty much all I can say on that. If you're in Ward 6 vote for Joe.

[Da_Chief]

Vote Zhao!

the guy is in some of my engg classes, would be awesome to have a fellow engineer in training as the next mayor.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Ah, good old Al "sit on the fence" Duerr. Exactly what did he accomplish in nearly a decade as mayor? Nothing memorable...

All he did was sit there and watched as the city grew.

I blame Ralph 1st for balancing the budget partly via axing capital grants to the cities. What's the City to do without the cash?

[Addick]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Hopefully people will realize that the City of Calgary (as a corporation) is having the same staffing problems that every other company in this city is having. It's not like we don't have a major road other than Deerfoot because we have Bronconnier as our Mayor... We could have had Rudy himself as our Mayor and that still wouldn't change the fact that there just aren't enough people to do all the work that needs to be done, as fast as it needs to get done...

A lack of man-power at City Hall is a poor excuse for the problems that this city faces, these problems stem from the city’s planning paradigm and growth management strategy. Bronconcrete and his predecessors are all to blame for this.

Originally Posted by Draug

To take transportation as an example, I had a dialog with a transportation planner in this city a few months ago. The proposals he had were ridiculous. In no way were they a solution. Did you know that there is actually a ban on building new roads into the core of the city? Or, that the city has a limit on parking that can be built downtown? New buildings can only have parkades that hold 50% of its tennants, and no new invidually operated parkades can be built. Driving downtown is a poor option as a result.

Not building roads into the core is one of the only good things this city is doing for itself. Widening highways and building more roads to ease congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity. Here's a simple explanation why the city can't just build roads in an attempt to ease congestion:

Originally Posted by Draug

Because getting less people to drive downtown is NOT a solution. You need more roads into downtown and more parking for when people get there.

The alternative is transit, which is already over full, and doesnt service enough people. Transit is not a solution for some people, especially in this city where it is horrible.

Providing two terrible options is not a solution to a problem. How about they City's Administration provide at least ONE good solution?

You brought up two problems yet you have been stressing the need for a solution to just one; automobile traffic. What about transit? It is the better option and in the long run the easier and cheaper!

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Count me in the anyone-but-Bronco camp. All he knows how to do is tax and whine.

He's also a political bully IMO. With no formalized opposition in city hall i think the mayor should be a consensus builder, not a my way or the highway guy.

But I'm jaded

Not building roads into the core is one of the only good things this city is doing for itself. Widening highways and building more roads to ease congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity.

More like buying tighter shirts while pumping up on steroids.

The go plan that decreed no more roads and parking more restrictive than Seattle or Vancouver was designed to a) accomodate something like 100,000 commuters by 2020 and b) get to < than 50% car travel into downtown. I don't recall the exact targets but thats close. We're already well beyond the people and ahead of the car use targets. And more people are moving in. There's simply no outlet for it. It's a dangerous game of chicken.

[rubecube]

I'll definitely be voting for Jenkins. I have no clue who I want as Alderman. My choice is between Craig Burrows and a bunch of people who haven't presented their platforms.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I'll definitely be voting for Jenkins. I have no clue who I want as Alderman. My choice is between Craig Burrows and a bunch of people who haven't presented their platforms.

Vote Joe Connelly (He's going to be presenting his platform early next week as far as I know)

[Ashartus]

From what I've seen of the Ward 6 platforms, I tend to agree that Connelly is looking like the best of the bunch. Of the other candidates, one withdrew, one used to work in Rob Anders' office (enough said there), and another doesn't seem to have a platform beyond getting rid of corporate political donations (no disagreement from me on that, but you need a bit more to be an alderman). And of course Burrows, who definitely won't be getting my vote.