MF YYC Politics - there, I mega did it

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Torture

Gondek, Farkas, Davison rematch. Yaawwwwn. I hope Brian Thiessen adds something new to the conversation.

Ward 7 too - Wong vs Heather Mcrae again + a few others to spice things up. yay?

I think that Thiessen is a non-factor. I'm guessing that at this point only the extremely engaged have ever heard of him. I realise that it's early and you can look back to 2010 and see a similar thing with Nenshi, but I think that things were very different at that point and there was no incumbent running.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think that Thiessen is a non-factor. I'm guessing that at this point only the extremely engaged have ever heard of him. I realise that it's early and you can look back to 2010 and see a similar thing with Nenshi, but I think that things were very different at that point and there was no incumbent running.

I think you're right. Especially with Farkas entering the race that rematch is going to suck up all the oxygen in the room.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Torture

Ward 7 too - Wong vs Heather Mcrae again + a few others to spice things up. yay?

We've got that Mike with a Y that some on here know, but it will most likely be a battle between Wong and McRae, and Wong will definitely lose this time around.

[MegaErtz]

I hope every incumbent running again loses, as they all voted for the terrible arena deal. We'll be paying for that one in higher property taxes for decades, regardless of what they'll say about the province backstopping the whole deal. Farkas is ironically enough the one guy who was against the arena deal from the start.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://livewirecalgary.com/2025/02/...ys-next-mayor/

Thats no way to speak of your future Mayor.

Think of it this way...at least Gondek won't be a hard act to follow...?

[GGG]

I think the question with Farkas is will he release his donor list prior to the election like Nenshi used to or hide it. It will be very easy to see if his list lines up with the typical Conservative PACs or the more liberal PACs or more independent people.

If he is backed by conservative PACs I’m out.

[TorqueDog]

^Yeah. I'm hoping his recent ... friendship? (for lack of a better word) ... with Nenshi has rubbed off in a positive manner.

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

I feel like a massive softie but I like to believe that intelligent people do have the capacity to change.

Not only that, we repeatedly harp on people who blatantly ignore when guys like Trump say all the terrible, idiotic nonsense they're going to do out loud and claim that somehow "No, they won't *really* do that" only to discover in short order that yes, when people tell you who they are, you should believe them. I think it works the other way around too; you have to at least consider it possible that if someone claims to have changed their mind that they mean it.

Farkas was who he was his first go-around in council and in the mayoral race, and he wasn't shy about it. To the extent that a person can genuinely experience personal growth (and to the extent anyone can believe someone vying for political office claiming to have done so), we have to at least consider the possibility that he's the better person and the improved candidate that he appears to be thanks to some reflection and life experience. We'd be doing ourselves a bit of a disservice to not to. Plus, he wasn't entirely awful... just... well, he was a net-negative.

That's not to say we need blindly believe everything or give him a pass on stupid sh-t, but I'm interested to see how his positions and approaches have evolved since.

[Amethyst]

I was very anti-Farkas last election, but I'm definitely considering him this time. I've been following him on social media for awhile and agree with / don't mind what he's saying most of the time.

Is he so diabolical it's all an act? That seems a bit of a stretch. And a lot of the "freedom" type folks are big mad at his announcement, so that makes me think it's genuine. I met someone who knows him through Big Brothers/Big Sisters, so I need to pick her brain some more.

Far from a decision yet, but the chance I could possibly vote for someone I absolutely hated last time is wild.

[Tyler]

People need to remember that the Mayor's job is not the same as a Councillor.

As a Councillor, you benefit from ward-specific selfishness, getting in the papers and being a contrarian. That gets you visibility, Rick Bell articles and votes.

The Mayor is a consensus builder. The Mayor needs to have a vision that will outlast their tenure and benefit the city as a whole - not just a specific ward. The Mayor has to be uncomfortable being unpopular in order to do the right thing for Calgary.

Jeromy has shown that he has none of those intangibles. Don't be fooled.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by GGG

I think the question with Farkas is will he release his donor list prior to the election like Nenshi used to or hide it. It will be very easy to see if his list lines up with the typical Conservative PACs or the more liberal PACs or more independent people.

If he is backed by conservative PACs I’m out.

I don’t know about funding, but Farkas’ base of electoral support is old people in the suburbs. He validates all their grievances.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Tyler

People need to remember that the Mayor's job is not the same as a Councillor.

As a Councillor, you benefit from ward-specific selfishness, getting in the papers and being a contrarian. That gets you visibility, Rick Bell articles and votes.

The Mayor is a consensus builder. The Mayor needs to have a vision that will outlast their tenure and benefit the city as a whole - not just a specific ward. The Mayor has to be uncomfortable being unpopular in order to do the right thing for Calgary.

Jeromy has shown that he has none of those intangibles. Don't be fooled.

And condescending posts don't usually convince people of your point.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

And condescending posts don't usually convince people of your point.

You found that post...condescending?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t know about funding, but Farkas’ base of electoral support is old people in the suburbs. He validates all their grievances.

It will be interesting to where he some down on universal residential zoning. I’m out on anyone who doesn’t support it

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t know about funding, but Farkas’ base of electoral support is old people in the suburbs. He validates all their grievances.

The Mount Royal folks I know who aren’t geezers seem to like him too.

Actually met him because I know his sister. Talked for a bit and I made a crack that he can be pretty controversial and seemed completely unaware that he was seen as a polarizing fella. Nicely asking what I meant by that. He was actually surprisingly nice, assumed he’d be like gargamel or something.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by GGG

It will be interesting to where he some down on universal residential zoning. I’m out on anyone who doesn’t support it

I’ll be shocked if he does support it.

[getbak]

This is what he says is the city's top priority on his website:

Housing you can afford

Calgary’s housing shortage is hitting people hard – from young families struggling to afford rent, established parents who see no future for their adult children to make it on their own, to seniors being priced out of their neighbourhoods. I’ll cut red tape, unlock more affordable housing options, and support a greater variety of housing so that you can decide what works best for you and your family.

I'm not sure how you can say you're going to do all those things and be against blanket rezoning.

I'm still skeptical, but I guess we'll see what happens when the campaign kicks off.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by getbak

This is what he says is the city's top priority on his website:

I'm not sure how you can say you're going to do all those things and be against blanket rezoning.

I'm still skeptical, but I guess we'll see what happens when the campaign kicks off.

You can say you’ll do all of those things while pursuing re-zoning on a case-by-case basis with community input.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

You can say you’ll do all of those things while pursuing re-zoning on a case-by-case basis with community input.

Which means not really doing any of them, or at best really slowly with a lot of red tape and wasted expenditure/resources (council meetings aren't cheap) to end up approving 99% of applications.

[fotze2]

I as just in Marda loop. Hollleeee crap it’s a zoo of people. Cannot park in the Safeway. A lot of the construction on the roads is near completed. We have a condo on 33rd.

It’s not even close to how packed it’s gonna be when the co-op and the high rises and the 47 condo buildings go in.

They might just need to close 33rd to traffic at some point.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

You found that post...condescending?

I found it to be a resoundingly content-free argument, so it's easy to dismiss with as much confidence as it was delivered with. [shrug]