MF YYC Politics - there, I mega did it

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Her and Farkas both running independent

So that makes my decision easy. Either Gondek or Farkas.

#### all the parties.

[keenan87]

Still going with Davison. Seems like he gets a bad rep even though he has spent the past 4 years rebuilding his career in non-profit..

His plan also aligns with me:

1. Safer communities
2. Affordability
3. Jobs and Innovation
4. Infrastructure and transit
5. Transparent government

After speaking with him on a few occasions, he seems passionate and wants to do better for Calgary. He has also not aligned himself with any parties yet.

[TorqueDog]

Davison has the support of Craig Chandler based on the greasy f-ck’s Facebook page, and thus, the “A Better Calgary” party by proxy, although not officially listed as their mayoral representative.

So while he hasn’t aligned himself with a party, the fact that Craig Chandler is aligning himself with Davison means he won’t get my vote.

I’m not voting for Gondek again, huge voter’s remorse from me on that pick although I maintain it was a better vote than 2019 Farkas. At this point, I’d rather give 2025 Farkas a try.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Still going with Davison. Seems like he gets a bad rep even though he has spent the past 4 years rebuilding his career in non-profit..

His plan also aligns with me:

1. Safer communities
2. Affordability
3. Jobs and Innovation
4. Infrastructure and transit
5. Transparent government

After speaking with him on a few occasions, he seems passionate and wants to do better for Calgary. He has also not aligned himself with any parties yet.

The problem with Davison is that he is a Murray Edwards patsy. I have also liked my conversations with him but his actions in council always seemed to follow "WWMEW" more than what was best for the ward he was meant to be representing.

Looking at Gondek, I really dislike the blanket rezoning of Calgary. It feels thoughtless and opportunistic and benefits developers more than the citizens. For that reason alone I would consider dumping Gondek but I am not sold on the alternatives. Considering the rise of the parties, keeping Gondek as mayor may help offset the gong show the party system is about to bring.

I don't see Farkas as the guy, yet. I kinda hope that he loses the mayor race again and then pivots to provincial NDP. I think he could win a "blue" Calgary riding, like Calgary Bow, where he would be able to relentlessly attack Demetrios' record and win the riding. Following that I think he would be a solid Minister in a Nenshi cabinet.

[GGG]

You know that blanket rezoning doesn’t mean that everywhere can have an 8 plex on it. All of the development rules still apply. There also have been very few re-zoning applications ever rejected by the city.

Re-Zoning becomes a costly time consuming process that is unnessary within the current developement process.

Anyone not for blanket re-zoning immediately loses my vote.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GGG

You know that blanket rezoning doesn’t mean that everywhere can have an 8 plex on it. All of the development rules still apply. There also have been very few re-zoning applications ever rejected by the city.

Re-Zoning becomes a costly time consuming process that is unnessary within the current developement process.

Anyone not for blanket re-zoning immediately loses my vote.

Alright....Jetsons houses. Look at all that wasted airspace we're not using! Floating houses. Get it done and problem solved.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Davison has the support of Craig Chandler based on the greasy f-ck’s Facebook page, and thus, the “A Better Calgary” party by proxy, although not officially listed as their mayoral representative.

So while he hasn’t aligned himself with a party, the fact that Craig Chandler is aligning himself with Davison means he won’t get my vote.

I’m not voting for Gondek again, huge voter’s remorse from me on that pick although I maintain it was a better vote than 2019 Farkas. At this point, I’d rather give 2025 Farkas a try.

Craig Chandler, I'm not sure why people would associate themselves with that guy.

At this point I am really struggling to identify a candidate I want.

[edslunch]

Not thrilled with the choices and I hate the idea of parties. Probably will go with Gondek rather than another rookie mayor. Hopefully she has learned a few things.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Not thrilled with the choices and I hate the idea of parties. Probably will go with Gondek rather than another rookie mayor. Hopefully she has learned a few things.

She does run the council meetings very well, even if that doesn't lead to her getting her agenda passed. Nenshi was all about a "free for all" style of meeting, watch Gondek and she keeps things moving along at the proper pace and shuts down meandering Councillors that frequently lose the plot of what is in front of them(Wong).

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

She does run the council meetings very well, even if that doesn't lead to her getting her agenda passed. Nenshi was all about a "free for all" style of meeting, watch Gondek and she keeps things moving along at the proper pace and shuts down meandering Councillors that frequently lose the plot of what is in front of them(Wong).

I don't think "runs an effective meeting but doesn't get anything done" is that big a compliment.

[Point Blank]

My sister knows a few people who are in politics, and she said that Farkas has approached a lot of progressive staffers from the Nenshi era and seems to have genuinely shifted his perspective. She said while she may not necessarily trust Farkas, she does trust the people he’s approached and who might be working for him.
I’m still not entirely convinced and may still go with Gondek because she seems at least well intentioned.
Anything to keep Sharp and all political parties out of the races.

[Fuzz]

I'd be interested to know how Farkas intends to manage the provincial government. That would be telling as to his long term ability to help Calgary. Hopefully the debates can dig into this, as it's going to be one of the biggest issues for Calgary going forward. Centralized control and meddling in city business.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I don't think "runs an effective meeting but doesn't get anything done" is that big a compliment.

Yeah, and Nenshi got a ton of things accomplished over his time as mayor, so his 'free-for-all' meeting style doesn't really seem to be a detractor from his style. On the other hand, "well-intentioned but ineffective" is probably the best way to sum up Gondek's term, and that counts both "can't execute on good ideas" and "champions stupid ideas that won't solve the problems for which they are proposed as solutions".

[Torture]

I mean, Gondek either accomplished nothing or she got the boogeyman of blanket zoning across which will DeSTRoY oUR CiTY so which one is it?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Torture

I mean, Gondek either accomplished nothing or she got the boogeyman of blanket zoning across which will DeSTRoY oUR CiTY so which one is it?

The Feds basically made the cities do blanket rezoning. You can tell, because all the big cities did it at the same time. So I don't think Gondek should really get either credit or blame for that.

Personally, I'm kind of an old-school fiscal conservative (I favour balanced budgets and fiscal discipline, not whatever the UCP is doing), and so I think blanket rezoning is a good policy as it makes more efficient use of our existing infrastructure.

[Bigtime]

https://bsky.app/profile/adammacvica.../3lxuhbbiidk2m

The A Better Calgary Party says it will not be running a mayoral candidate in the upcoming election, and will be holding a vote of its members to endorse former councillor Jeff Davison, who is running as an independent candidate in the mayoral race.

[TorqueDog]

Knew that was coming sooner or later after Chandler the Hutt said he was behind Davison.

[Bigtime]

Davison currently doing the "Jonah Hill cut it off" gif expression.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

https://bsky.app/profile/adammacvica.../3lxuhbbiidk2m

So really Davison is their candidate but they're hoping he will pick up voters that won't vote for their party?

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Yeah, and Nenshi got a ton of things accomplished over his time as mayor, so his 'free-for-all' meeting style doesn't really seem to be a detractor from his style. On the other hand, "well-intentioned but ineffective" is probably the best way to sum up Gondek's term, and that counts both "can't execute on good ideas" and "champions stupid ideas that won't solve the problems for which they are proposed as solutions".

Were Gondek's actions even "well-intentioned"? Nearly everything she did was reactive political virtue signaling theatre meant for social media grandstanding.

Cancelling Canada Day fireworks to be sensitive to Truth and Reconciliation

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...-day-1.6848864

Boycotting of Hannukah citing pro-Israel messaging as reasoning.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...23dd0d66e.html

As a city calling for a legal challenge of Quebec's Bill 21

https://globalnews.ca/news/8463522/c...axpayer-money/

15 cent single use bylaw implemented and repealed after severe backlash.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10230952/...ew-city-bylaw/

Gaslighting about Calgary Transit safety by travelling chaperoned for a couple blocks downtown on the C-Train.

https://calgary.citynews.ca/2023/06/...ransit-safety/

More recently, there's the Marda Loop construction fiasco that became a PR nightmare with businesses suing the city for 75$ million, only to be gaslit again.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/artic...op-businesses/

That's not counting the CSEC debacle and voicing the dirty laundry on Twitter and just the top of my head of notable ones (city declaring climate emergency doesn't fall in that list even though it certainly could).

I can't really think of much that she has had a hand in that I could go and think "good job, this was made better by her involvement". That is a stark contrast from Nenshi, who for good or worse, was very active and I thought was a very good effective mayor.

It's always felt like she's been campaigning for a federal political job using her position to do so, not acting as a municipal mayor or in the best interest of Calgarians. It's also debatable on if housing rezoning is overall more beneficial.

Edit: on the positive, I think last year's city main water emergency was handled relatively well considering the circumstances.