Calgary Civic Election Poll #2: Who do you support for Mayor? - Page 20 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

First Lady · 09-03-2010, 11:31 AM

Did anyone else get a four question survey call recently on civic election issues?

octothorp · 09-03-2010, 12:20 PM

I'm very curious to see how Nenshi uses the social media to get out the vote. That's where Obama absolutely killed; can that transfer to a Canadian municipal election?

Ozy_Flame · 09-03-2010, 02:04 PM

We can only hope so.

Nenshi is, in a very grassroots fashion, turning himself into a Calgary icon alongside a budding politician. He's doing everything right to win the younger crowds, and reaching out to the older ones.

Plus, he's the only candidate to hold a Masters degree in Public Policy from the JFK School of Government at Harvard. That counts for something.

Bunk · 09-03-2010, 02:31 PM

This article from DJ Kelly in Metro highlights the Facebook trends. Nenshi's on a trajectory in support online that isn't even close to being matched. As of right now, he's pretty much caught McIver in 'likes' only a dozen or so back - may even surpass him by tonight.

http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/loca...-facebook-wall

Whether he'll be able to catapult himself into the thick of the race on the back of his substantial online base remains to be seen.

kermitology · 09-03-2010, 02:36 PM

I just watched Barb Higgins' thoughts on the planning and development sector of city hall, proving to me that she has no idea what's actually going on in city hall. She wants to streamline the departments, make sure that things don't get held up by city hall.

There's just one problem with that. Bronconnier already implemented pretty harsh timelines (ie they counts weekends) on the planning department, instituted the CPAG business office to babysit the planners and make sure they're meeting their timelines, but the biggest holdup is typically with the applicant. So the planners get trouble from CPAG because the application isn't meeting the timelines, but they're waiting for a response from the applicant.

How exactly do you streamline that?

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 09-03-2010, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunk

This article from DJ Kelly in Metro highlights the Facebook trends. Nenshi's on a trajectory in support online that isn't even close to being matched. As of right now, he's pretty much caught McIver in 'likes' only a dozen or so back - may even surpass him by tonight.

http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/loca...-facebook-wall

Whether he'll be able to catapult himself into the thick of the race on the back of his substantial online base remains to be seen.

My worry is that it's much easier to click "Like" than it is to get off your duff and vote.

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 09-03-2010, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

I just watched Barb Higgins' thoughts on the planning and development sector of city hall, proving to me that she has no idea what's actually going on in city hall. She wants to streamline the departments, make sure that things don't get held up by city hall.

There's just one problem with that. Bronconnier already implemented pretty harsh timelines (ie they counts weekends) on the planning department, instituted the CPAG business office to babysit the planners and make sure they're meeting their timelines, but the biggest holdup is typically with the applicant. So the planners get trouble from CPAG because the application isn't meeting the timelines, but they're waiting for a response from the applicant.

How exactly do you streamline that?

Ugh. Her campaign really is kind of embarrassing, isn't it?

peter12 · 09-03-2010, 02:50 PM

I'm voting for the Communist, Sister Devine.

Ozy_Flame · 09-03-2010, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

I'm voting for the Communist, Sister Devine.

Amen comrade. I wish she didn't enter the race, because otherwise I'd vote for Nenshi, but now I have no other choice but to vote for her.

peter12 · 09-03-2010, 02:58 PM

Seriously, the Higgins campaign is a joke.

What is really pissing me off is how low-level this campaign has been. The Toronto mayoral campaign is a firestorm of controversy and intrigue, but here in Calgary, we're all asleep!

We're a new city with a bunch of money, too many huge roads, a sprawl that must be an eyesore all the way out in space and one of the most vibrant, young populations in Canada. What is there NOT to care about!?

SebC · 09-03-2010, 03:33 PM

What I find interesting here is that at one point I believe Higgins and Nenshi were tied at around 65. Higgins has stalled. All the new votes are for Nenshi.

Bunk · 09-03-2010, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

Seriously, the Higgins campaign is a joke.

What is really pissing me off is how low-level this campaign has been. The Toronto mayoral campaign is a firestorm of controversy and intrigue, but here in Calgary, we're all asleep!

Yeah, but would you really want ROB FORD as a leading mayoral candidate in Calgary? good god, he's a maniac. He make Ric McIver seem like a happy pinko commie. Calgary's race is more tame, but the slate of candidates is much better.

First Lady · 09-03-2010, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunk

Yeah, but would you really want ROB FORD as a leading mayoral candidate in Calgary? good god, he's a maniac. He make Ric McIver seem like a happy pinko commie. Calgary's race is more tame, but the slate of candidates is much better.

What makes Rob Ford a maniac?

shermanator · 09-03-2010, 06:35 PM

Nenshi talks more about the Airport Trail tunnel, why it is necessary to build the tunnel now as opposed to later, and rags on Dial-A-Bob's misinformation on the tunnel as well.

Quote:

For several weeks now, Ald. Bob Hawkesworth has staked his campaign on one issue – opposition to the airport tunnel, the same tunnel he voted for repeatedly, most recently last September.

But in his press briefing, released today, he has gone too far. Every paragraph contains at least one significant misstatement or factual error.

First, the cost of the project. No one except Ald. Hawkesworth has ever suggested that the tunnel itself will actually cost $500 million. Estimates for the tunnel have ranged from $40 million to $198 million, with roughly $175 million being the consensus estimate at City Hall. It’s worth noting that a report presented to Ald. Hawkesworth in July said that the cost to not build the tunnel is $350 million, which the City has already budgeted. So the incremental cost of the tunnel is $150 million not the $500 million he claims.

http://www.nenshi.ca/new/2010/204

Slava · 09-03-2010, 08:23 PM

Column in the Herald that cuts to the heart of the matter. While most of the candidates are talking about vague concepts, there is another option out there:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/La...435/story.html

Byrns · 09-03-2010, 10:50 PM

Quote:

I chatted with Kent Hehr, the Calgary Buffalo MLA who's running for mayor, a couple of weeks ago at a cafe on the Red Mile. This was right after I heard how shamefully he'd been treated at last month's Chinatown street festival, when he was marooned in his wheelchair beside the stage, and none of the candidates or others onstage made a move to help him or to rectify the situation. Instead, he was forced to sit at ground level, hidden and ignored.

I'd like my mayor to speak up if he's being ignored. What happens if he's "ignored" at some other conference? Is he just going to moan about being ignored when it's over?

Slava · 09-04-2010, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Byrns

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I'd like my mayor to speak up if he's being ignored. What happens if he's "ignored" at some other conference? Is he just going to moan about being ignored when it's over?
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You must be kidding? The guy is in a wheelchair and gets left off the stage. You expect him to make a scene out of this? I think that no matter what side you're on or who you intend to vote for you can realise that nit making a big deal out of this (and not expecting special treatment as a disabled individual) and doing so politically are two different things.

Kent has shown that he isn't afraid to stand up for what he thinks. Just because some organizers fail to accommodate a man in a wheel chair doesn't diminish that fact.

ben voyonsdonc · 09-04-2010, 08:54 PM

Is Bob Hawkesworth showing in the poll twice...or is it just the rum talking?

ben voyonsdonc · 09-04-2010, 08:58 PM

BTW, Nenshi blows me away with his absolutely incredible understanding of Calgary's municipal politics...my vote is with him at this moment.

kermitology · 09-05-2010, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shermanator

Nenshi talks more about the Airport Trail tunnel, why it is necessary to build the tunnel now as opposed to later, and rags on Dial-A-Bob's misinformation on the tunnel as well.

http://www.nenshi.ca/new/2010/204

So.. In frustration of trying to understand how it could cost $500M to dig a hole, I asked Bob Hawkesworth on twitter, since he's the only guy who keeps saying that number. His response was the refer to the literature on his website regarding the tunnel and the petition.

So I read through all the documents, and guess what I found?

Basically the same thing as Nenshi: The tunnel option costs $500M today, $620 in net present value. BUT it includes the exact same upgrades to surrounding majors and intersections as the current strategy of no tunnel, which makes up 345/480NPV, meaning that the tunnel itself would cost at most around $150M. But if we wait until it's needed, then it costs 1.1B in additional funding, assuming that the city would even be able to shut down the new runways to facilitate boring the tunnel.

So in conclusion: I don't see any way in which Hawkesworth isn't incompetent in this matter. He's fear mongering, because he either doesn't understand the issue, or he has no idea how to compute the costs of things, which really wouldn't surprise me considering how council has acted this term.