Almost a year in Nenshi's job approval at 86%

[MoneyGuy]

I'll be seeing Nenshi Friday. I'll be sure to tell him you guys approve of him.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

Bingo. As Agent86 mentioned voter apathy at the municipal levels is always an oddity. It effects pretty much every element of citizens daily lives, but when it comes to voting with an incumbent mayor (and this tends to be the trend in Calgary) it's almost impossible to unseat the sitting mayor. If I recall correctly, Al Deur, Bronconnier and Klein all won re-elections in the 80-90% regions.

That's why last year's election was so important, because it basically means that Nenshi will be in the mayor's office until he decides to step down. It'll either take a scandal of epic proportions or a series of really embarrassing policies to unseat him. Even if MacIver was in the Mayor's seat it would be almost impossible to unseat him. It's also why alderman such as Dru Farrell (which based on most of the civic related discussions seams to be a target of much frustration with most Calgarians) can still retain their seat.

Yes and no, I would think it was a pretty close call for Druh in this last election. Even John Mar fought pretty hard for ward 8, and spent a ridiculous amount of money against Zak Pashak. So it did show that some of the incumbent aldermanic seats definitely faced threats of losing.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

I'll be seeing Nenshi Friday. I'll be sure to tell him you guys approve of him.

Tell him how much we talk about civic matters here, and to sign up.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

So if you don't support Nemshi then you're a racist?

Gotcha George, I hear that we're at war with West Eurasi again and East Eurasia are our allies.

I forgot to green

[bubbsy]

here in TO, with extreme hatred for the mayor on a daily basis as he threatens/makes severe cuts, the lovefest for the CGY mayor is growing.

think it's a bit unfair, as the two positions aren't comparable, but still.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by Thor

I forgot to green

You didn't need it, CC just didn't pick up on it

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by fotze

Anyone remember other Calgary mayor ratings in the past, I seem to remember them high as well.

Yeah, I believe both Klein and Duerr had very high ratings until they left. It was really only Bronco who's ratings dipped and may have influenced his longevity.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

here in TO, with extreme hatred for the mayor on a daily basis as he threatens/makes severe cuts, the lovefest for the CGY mayor is growing.

think it's a bit unfair, as the two positions aren't comparable, but still.

I can't remember who (peter12) said he wished (peter12) that the Calgary Mayoral race was as exciting as the Toronto one, because of Rob Ford. \

Calgary's race turned out to be a great one, for the right reasons. Ford is a major turd.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Tell him how much we talk about civic matters here, and to sign up.

He may very well "lurk" here too (when he first met me a few years ago he knew me by my name and reputation on SSP), but if not we've got Bunk who definitely facilitates a lot of conversation here (and on SSP) to the mayor and many others in the office.

[c.t.ner]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Yes and no, I would think it was a pretty close call for Druh in this last election. Even John Mar fought pretty hard for ward 8, and spent a ridiculous amount of money against Zak Pashak. So it did show that some of the incumbent aldermanic seats definitely faced threats of losing.

I agree it was a close call for both Druh and Mar. But both still won their seats again by over a 1,000 votes. (Druh by 1,000 and John by 2,500)

http://newsroom.calgary.ca/pr/calgar...10-176891.aspx

But in a sense this was an usually high turn out for municipal politics which was helped by an open mayoral race (which always garners more headlines) and a strong grass roots youth movement from the Nenshi camp (which probably propelled more young Calgarians to vote which is a strong demographic for both wards). But even with both of those factors they still won by a decent margin. If Druh decides to stay on during the next election, I don't expect her to face that big of a challenge.

[bizaro86]

His high approval rating doesn't really surprise me, but I have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed (or maybe just underinformed) about what they have done since the election.

The only things I can think of are approving the tunnel and scrapping the park n ride fee. And one of those was political pandering, I get that you had to do it once you promised you would, but it's bad policy. (The $3 fee is reasonable and justifiable).

I would welcome an update on progress that I may have missed.

(Not to take away from that approval rating. I voted for him, and would again if an election were held today...)

[Thor]

Originally Posted by red sky

You didn't need it, CC just didn't pick up on it

In his defense he´s really really old.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by red sky

You didn't need it, CC just didn't pick up on it

Sorry, it was late, I did pick it up, but I had the overwhelming urge to bust Thor's chops over it anyways.

On the Nenshi approval ratings one thing that he's been succesful at is seperating himself from the rest of the City Council. Something that Bronco failed to do.

If you did a poll asking about the approval rate of the municipal government, the results would probably be a lot different.

I'm not sure that Nenshi's popularity is due as much to his policies as it is his personality.

And the color of his skin

[darklord700]

Please Nenshi, no more mentioning of the penny tax. It's stupid.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Slava

I don't know what his approval rating was, but I think Bronconnier won re-election with something like 92% of the vote or something absurd.

2001: First elected with 28.3% of the total votes.
2004: Got 82% of the vote, however, no real credible opposition. (Oscar Fech placed second with 5.5% of the vote) & only 18% voter turnout.
2007: 61% - Alnoor Kassam second at 17%

Duerr had some reelections in the 90% range.

List of Calgary Elections.

[Ozy_Flame]

While I do think he's made strides in the last year, I think a high approval rating comes from simply posting on Facebook on social media and 'connecting' with the common man. Comes across as an honest effort of transparency, which people like.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Please Nenshi, no more mentioning of the penny tax. It's stupid.

Frankly, I think it's a great idea. The herald article was saying that it would raise $350 million each year for the city, and if that's the case, it would be stupid not to.

I'd support even 2% extra, but it wouldn't really be needed if 1% brings in $350 million a year.

Sales tax is a much better way for the city to bring in funding than property tax.

[Ozy_Flame]

X92.9 was complaining that it was a 20% hike in the GST.

Their stupid "Here's the Thing" segment is getting really old, really fast.

[You Need a Thneed]

In light of the approval rating, and the perception of Nenshi, is looks really weird to look back at the 2004 Municipal Election when Nenshi placed fourht in ward 3 alderman voting, a position that Helene Larocque took. She may have been one of the worst alderman in history according to some, and as an incumbent, placed LAST in the 2007 election (third of three).

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

X92.9 was complaining that it was a 20% hike in the GST.

Their stupid "Here's the Thing" segment is getting really old, really fast.

Probably the same people who complained that the drop in GST from 7 to 5% was barely noticable.