2010 Mayors Race

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Leon Kennedy

Calgary will never host the winter olympics again. Has any country ever hosted the winter olympics twice? Even the summer olympics, with london, athens, etc, it takes a hundred years before your city will even be considered again. This guy is a joker looking for some cheap headlines before he fades off into obscurity.

Yes, and because of that Calgary shouldn't even try.

Thank God you're gone.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by llama64

Most academics are - and I worry it won't translate well with 90% of the voting population.

Nenshi is smart. Too smart for politics in my opinion. He should be working as a consultant/advisory/critic for the City of Calgary - not as a political icon.

But... so far he's by far the best choice as far as I can tell. Hehr hasn't released much info so far but he's likely middle of the road. The rest of the pack are also rans with the exception of MacIver who epitomizes Calgary in the last century rather then the Calgary of today.

I fully agree with the bold statement, and begrudgingly agree that Hehr has been slow to reveal his credentials and vision and that it might hurt him in the long run. To be fair, Nenshi's entire career has been built to give him a head start in a race like this.

When Hehr announced his candidacy, I was hoping that there would be an announcement shortly after about hiring Nenshi as an advisor on policy. Now I am concerned the two will split votes. I am hopeful that a strong campaign from both will bring out some interesting conversation and issues for Calgarians to think about when heading to the polls.

[mykalberta]

Hehr is the Liberal MLA in the wheel chair correct?

I would have to hear him speak before I would consider him. I dont know him but I would guess he gets alot of sympathy votes which will be hard to beat. Its not as if he has been in politics a long time, I wonder if he looked at mayor and said that might be an easier gig than keeping his seat in the next election.

I dont see alot on his wiki page that would make me even consider him. I have read alot about Nenshi and heard him speak and while he "might" be a flaming Liberal, he would be good for Calgary IMO - so long as he doesnt see my donation as a stepping stone to Provincial or Federal politics.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Hehr is the Liberal MLA in the wheel chair correct?

I would have to hear him speak before I would consider him. I dont know him but I would guess he gets alot of sympathy votes which will be hard to beat. Its not as if he has been in politics a long time, I wonder if he looked at mayor and said that might be an easier gig than keeping his seat in the next election.

I dont see alot on his wiki page that would make me even consider him. I have read alot about Nenshi and heard him speak and while he "might" be a flaming Liberal, he would be good for Calgary IMO - so long as he doesnt see my donation as a stepping stone to Provincial or Federal politics.

I honestly believe that when people vote, they vote for entirely selfish reasons (mostly monetary) and this won't be an issue, if anything it just makes him an identifiable candidate in a large pool.

[Slava]

^^As far as Hehr releasing policy and Nenshi advising him it's a bitof a long story there that I can't get into on a public board. Let me just say that I'm also afraid that they will be splitting votes as well though.

[frinkprof]

^Do you have a timeline on when Hehr might be releasing his policies/platform?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

^Do you have a timeline on when Hehr might be releasing his policies/platform?

I will get a definite date and post it here. I can just say that there was a setback in this area which has dragged the process on, but this was already supposed to be done. As soon as I know though I will post it.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Slava

^^As far as Hehr releasing policy and Nenshi advising him it's a bitof a long story there that I can't get into on a public board. Let me just say that I'm also afraid that they will be splitting votes as well though.

Is this history such that neither would drop out and endorse the other if it's apparent that one is ahead and losing votes to the other?

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by llama64

Most academics are

Don't be silly. Academics are just silly, stupid people and a drain on everyday hard-working Canadians' tax-dollars, what with their logic and argumentation and knowledge and advanced inquiry. We would be better off if we didn't inquire and didn't develop expert knowledge of anything. We ought to live off the trades, we really only need a roof to live under, a chick to bang and have our kids, and some food on the table. Oh, and cheap macrobrew beer.

We ought to silence the chattering classes and fight for the Ordinary, Everyday Canadian.

*pounds chest*

[Slava]

Originally Posted by SebC

Is this history such that neither would drop out and endorse the other if it's apparent that one is ahead and losing votes to the other?

No, not at all. There is no animosity or anything like that. I know for a fact that Kent called Naheed the day he announced to wish him the best and welcome him to the race. I selfishly hope that Naheed will see the light and come and endorse Kent as the race moves along!!

In all honesty I think that the field will swell to about 15-18 and as some have trouble raising money or find that their support just isn't there we will see a few drop out and endorse another candidate. It is still 4 months until election day, so it's a long road and a lot can happen in that period.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Azure

Vancouver turned a 100 million dollar profit IIRC.

Considering the facilities they got out of the deal, I'd say thats pretty damn good.

I was talking about the bid itself being a waste of money because there is no way they award you the olympics in 2022. I'm 100% for another olympics in Calgary, even if it were to lose a bit of money.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by llama64

Most academics are - and I worry it won't translate well with 90% of the voting population.

Nenshi is smart. Too smart for politics in my opinion. He should be working as a consultant/advisory/critic for the City of Calgary - not as a political icon.

But... so far he's by far the best choice as far as I can tell. Hehr hasn't released much info so far but he's likely middle of the road. The rest of the pack are also rans with the exception of MacIver who epitomizes Calgary in the last century rather then the Calgary of today.

That's the danger with academics. But actually listening to Nenshi he doesn't seem to fall into the trap of other academics who make a run at politics. He seems to have the ability to boil down, let's say, less sexy yet very important topics like governance into a clear and and very understandable terms. His acadamic background as a lecturer is clearly serving him well in being able to effectively communicate verbally.

In my mind he is exactly the kind of leader Calgary needs right now. Calgary's going through a transition where it needs to start managing itself in totally different ways as it deals with very different issues at different scales than it did as a city of 500,000. Nenshi understands this fact, and more importantly understands what needs to be done the change how things are done. The current procurement policy allegations are just a symptom of a larger problem of really outdated ways of doing things. Calgary has been suffering from the fact that many of the people in charge aren't truly effective governors or managers for an organization like the City.

I've met and like Hehr, but watching him in the first few days of his campaign, even his basic understanding of Civic issues seemed to be lacking. Small example, but he doesn't actually understand what TOD stands for. He was calling it Transportation-Orientated Development. Anyone that followed processes like Plan It or has a basic understanding of urban planning knows that it's Transit-Oriented Development. Sounds minor, but it doesn't inspire a huge amount of confidence.

McIver on the otherhand often shows up to Council without a true understanding of the issue. You see him asking ridiculous questions to administration to simply understand what's going on, rather than have prepared himself in advance. As a result he ends up making these ridiculous and hasty stands against different issues going through council. I cringe at the thought of him attempting to manage such a large and complex organization.

[Bunk]

For those in ward 1, thought I'd pimp Chris Harper - candidate for Alderman. Would be a great choice to oust the dinosaur that is Dale Hodges.

http://www.harperonside.com/

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Bunk

McIver on the otherhand often shows up to Council without a true understanding of the issue. You see him asking ridiculous questions to administration to simply understand what's going on, rather than have prepared himself in advance. As a result he ends up making these ridiculous and hasty stands against different issues going through council. I cringe at the thought of him attempting to manage such a large and complex organization.

Interesting. My buddy was on the board for the one of the Leisure Centres; McIver was extremely helpful in keep it afloat.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Bunk

That's the danger with academics. But actually listening to Nenshi he doesn't seem to fall into the trap of other academics who make a run at politics. He seems to have the ability to boil down, let's say, less sexy yet very important topics like governance into a clear and and very understandable terms. His acadamic background as a lecturer is clearly serving him well in being able to effectively communicate verbally.

+1 on that which is why he gets my vote.

I first heard about him from his columns in the Herald which I cant honestly say that I never disagreed with what he was saying. His columns were always written such that you could see that he had a complete understanding of the issues. I also like the the fact that he grew up here, mostly educated here so he knows the problems that Calgary is facing.

His plusses are background, education, minority status, vision, and history.

His negatives are his appearance, minority status, and education

If he joins with someone else than I will need to find someone else to vote for.

[Ducay]

I just hope we get someone in my riding that will break us out of the Joe Connolly / Rob Anders funk we're in.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Interesting. My buddy was on the board for the one of the Leisure Centres; McIver was extremely helpful in keep it afloat.

He is generally effective at working with constituents.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Ducay

I just hope we get someone in my riding that will break us out of the Joe Connolly / Rob Anders funk we're in.

LOL. Yeah the west side of Calgary seems plagued by awful politicians. Brent Mielke is probably your best choice in my opinion. http://runwithbrent.ca/

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Bunk

He is generally effective at working with constituents.

Well, actually, neither the friend nor the leisure centre are part of his ward. The board really needed some help with the city paper pushers and McIver was the only one that would help them.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Bunk

McIver on the otherhand often shows up to Council without a true understanding of the issue. You see him asking ridiculous questions to administration to simply understand what's going on, rather than have prepared himself in advance. As a result he ends up making these ridiculous and hasty stands against different issues going through council. I cringe at the thought of him attempting to manage such a large and complex organization.

I actually disagree. This is the way I see it.

McIver often knows the issues as well as, if not better than many of his colleagues on council. His asking of questions is done in a way to set up his grandstanding diatribes. He plays dumb and cherry-picks questions he already knows the answers to in order to get things on the public record. He then uses the answers to the carefully-chosen questions as a means to support his argument, or to be the contrary to his argument.

His stands are indeed often ridiculous, but not hasty.