2013 Calgary Municipal Election Thread

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Slava

Carter must be involved in the election in some way, because I got his 'poll' this evening.

Ah so that was his company, got the call last night too.

Personally I am enjoying him going beast mode all over the Sun and other candidates.

Even if his company was hired to do some polling it could still be fair to say that he doesn't have a horse in this race and is just swinging for the bleachers (and it is damn entertaining).

[c.t.ner]

Originally Posted by Slava

Carter must be involved in the election in some way, because I got his 'poll' this evening.

Total speculation, but I pretty sure that H+K is involved in at least one campaign (gut instinct says Druh's campaign), so it wouldn't surprise me to hear that he's releasing a poll through his company for the election.

[tete]

I got that call last night as well.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

Total speculation, but I pretty sure that H+K is involved in at least one campaign (gut instinct says Druh's campaign), so it wouldn't surprise me to hear that he's releasing a poll through his company for the election.

its funny because listening to that call made me wonder if it was really for the mayor or for an aldermanic candidate (after I sat and thought about it for a while). The questions were more about whether he would influence your choice at alderman, so Druh makes total sense in that case.

I do wonder if she's in trouble? It was close last time and if Alexander splits off her voters it could be Taylor to get that conservative voter push? I'm sure someone is more familiar with that ward than me though!

[Bigtime]

Slava, I am worried about exactly that. Alexander is too similar to Druh and could easily cause vote splits and let Taylor get the win in 7.

[1stLand]

Jon Lord will become the new Mayor.

There are plenty of people in this city that do not support the current Mayor.

Nenshi doesn't have McIver & Higgins to split the vote of the Far Right.

I hope Nenshi wins. If he doesn't then I will be sad.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Slava

I do wonder if she's in trouble? It was close last time and if Alexander splits off her voters it could be Taylor to get that conservative voter push? I'm sure someone is more familiar with that ward than me though!

A likely scenario. I don't think Carter's working for her though.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

...Alexander is too similar to Druh and could easily cause vote splits and let Taylor get the win in 7.

Wouldn't that be sweet.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Wouldn't that be sweet.

Nope. It would be very vanilla, much like the type of city Taylor looks interested in creating.

[NuclearPizzaMan]

Originally Posted by 1stLand

Jon Lord will become the new Mayor.

There are plenty of people in this city that do not support the current Mayor.

Nenshi doesn't have McIver & Higgins to split the vote of the Far Right.

I hope Nenshi wins. If he doesn't then I will be sad.

83% approval rating. Seems unlikely that he loses.

If Druh, BigRed, or Mar got booted (or dare I hope, all 3!) that would be awesome.

[Tyler]

Despite what many people think, Druh is very good for Calgary. Losing her would be a big loss.

Having a few councilors around who actually DO want to spend money, beautify the City, and make it a better place is a good balance to have in council.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Despite what many people think, Druh is very good for Calgary. Losing her would be a big loss.

Having a few councilors around who actually DO want to spend money, beautify the City, and make it a better place is a good balance to have in council.

The only loss would be for the developers that have lined her campaign pockets with donations. Walking through Hillhurst/Sunnyside and seeing the developer signs is like reading a photocopy of Farrell's donation list.

It's hard not to think a conflict of interest is at play when certain candidates are so heavily financed by some sort of developer whether it be inner-city or suburban. It's great she stands against suburban developers making sure they pay their fair way but what about inner-city developers? Condo's place an incredible strain on ageing infrastructure in these old communities and the developers don't always pick up their fare share.

That said, better the devil you know than the devil you don't?

Not picking on Druh directly, the election financing rules are in need of a serious reform. With campaigns in the 100's of thousands it's hard for anyone to compete without getting the development industry behind them.

Art's, bridges, festivals and even everyone's beloved food trucks are generally insignificant issues in the grand scheme of things. Calgary is booming and expected to grow by 50% in the next 20 years. The steps council takes toward development are increasingly important to ensure Calgary handles this growth gracefully. It would be nice to see the interests of the citizen's, present and future, and not the interests of the development industry drive these decisions.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Slava

Carter must be involved in the election in some way, because I got his 'poll' this evening.

They must be blanketing the city, got that fake poll too. It was pretty obvious.

[Bigtime]

A fake poll?

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

A fake poll?

Pretty much, they talked about the developers and the evil Manning Centre trying to oust our mayor and replace his vision for the city with their agenda. Does this make you more or less likely to reelect Nenshi. When they listed the candidates they specified that Nenshi was the incumbent. The questions were all leading.

[Bigtime]

So it is just like every other poll (questions designed to give the results *they* want so they can use it for their purposes).

[Jacks]

You would have to hear it for yourself, it was very pro Nenshi. You are a big Nenshi supporter so I'm not going to argue it any further.

[Bigtime]

I did hear it, I got the call last night too.

I felt it was more geared to the councillors than Nenshi though.

[K1LLswitch]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Slava, I am worried about exactly that. Alexander is too similar to Druh and could easily cause vote splits and let Taylor get the win in 7.

I'm in ward 7......not a fan of Druh, but don't know anything about the other two. Is there a debate or something that can educate me?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by K1LLswitch

I'm in ward 7......not a fan of Druh, but don't know anything about the other two. Is there a debate or something that can educate me?

I think there is a debate this coming week, I want to say Thursday but I may be wrong.