Calgary developer’s caught with pants down - Nenshi white knight or not?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Barnes

He is asking that CHBA recant their statements which he believes are false. He is not looking for an apology.

I don't have time to pull it up but this is really false, in the Sun they printed the correspondence between Nenshi's assistant and the CHBA asking for a verbal, written and web posted apology to the mayor. It was worded in a way that I don't blame the CHBA for taking a bit of a hard line against the Mayors office.

In short form they wanted an apology that would be approved by the Mayor, this apology would then be verbally read out at the next CHBA gathering, sent to every member in a letter correspondence and posted on the front page of their web site.

Nenshi wants way more then just a recant.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

I don't think 2012 stats alone are the correct ones to look at in the context of this debate. The housing starts that are occurring now are in development plans that were completed and approved long before Nenshi's and Stanley's time. Rather contrast those stats with what the planning department is up to these days and Stanley's comments that 'maybe only 2 plans actually get started in the next 10 years' and it becomes obvious why an industry that's made a lot of money on slapping up single family homes in record time is having a cow.

Very good point, and to speak to the bolded part perhaps that is Stanley's way of asking for the builders to step their game up? I'm just hypothesizing here, but he knows that there will always be greenfield development in Calgary, and by throwing down comments like that perhaps he is hoping to see them elevate their game.

Now choosing to do this via a public talk may not have been the best forum...

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Because there is obviously more to the issue than someone openly mocking another.

Nenshi has been banging the drum for upward building for years now, and that would put a bite in homebuilder profiteering in what is basically a huge network of terribly laid out neighborhoods blobbing out like a fat guys arms pooling on a recliner.

If you're even close to standing with the Home Builder's Association on this, you're completely out to lunch, stand to gain peripherally from it via work contracts, or are some kind of Randian uber-capitalist.

Again, where are you getting this from? I've only commented on Nenshi's approach and the way he is handling this conflict.

Unmitigated outward growth (and mocking those who support the man trying to contain it by calling them "hipsters" OH GOD YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SCARY) is unsustainable. It's ludicrous. Driving to Cranston is infuriating. In-city commutes should not exceed an hour.

??? I don't even use the word hipster. Sure you aren't confusing someone me with someone else?

[mykalberta]

I love it how people think that people vote for municipal politics like they would Provincially or Federally. It wasnt vote splitting that won the election, it was that the other 2 candidates were complete dead fish. The next election should prove this point to everyones satisfaction.

I think this stems from some of the changes the City is trying to get pushed through with differing tax rates for higher density buildings and the one time infrastructure fee for new homes and the home builders association thinks that will put a squeeze on their very lucrative cookie cutter suburban building plans.

The City and the builders have different goals. The Home Builders want to make money and dont really care what the economics of a City are how building down to the edge of Okotoks, Cochrane and Airdie has always been an economically un-sustainable effort with the current fees in place.

The difference is this time there is a Mayor who doesnt need the support of the largest lobby in the City to run for re-election. This scares the Home builders as they have no way to leverage and manipulate this mayor like they did the last one and other other 2 candidates that ran against in the last election.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Very good point, and to speak to the bolded part perhaps that is Stanley's way of asking for the builders to step their game up? I'm just hypothesizing here, but he knows that there will always be greenfield development in Calgary, and by throwing down comments like that perhaps he is hoping to see them elevate their game.

Now choosing to do this via a public talk may not have been the best forum...

I think the 'up your game' part comes in the area development plans themselves where the planning department sets how the areas are developed as opposed to slowing the amount of area plans developed. That might be best illustrated by the new 'keystone' Area plan slated to take place north of Stoney Trail that calls for communities that look much different than the current suburbs going up.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Again, where are you getting this from? I've only commented on Nenshi's approach and the way he is handling this conflict.



??? I don't even use the word hipster. Sure you aren't confusing someone me with someone else?

Oh I'm sorry, did you not link to your husbands article where he uses the ridiculous statement

Naheed Nenshi took Calgary’s mayoral throne in the 2010 municipal elections thanks to a vote-split by the center-right and an impressive galvanization of the normally electorally apathetic hipster population of Calgary.

to describe his mayoral win?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

I think the 'up your game' part comes in the area development plans themselves where the planning department sets how the areas are developed as opposed to slowing the amount of area plans developed. That might be best illustrated by the new 'keystone' Area plan slated to take place north of Stoney Trail that calls for communities that look much different than the current suburbs going up.

The Seton development down south is another good example of a strong development plan being put into action.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Unmitigated outward growth (and mocking those who support the man trying to contain it by calling them "hipsters" OH GOD YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SCARY) is unsustainable. It's ludicrous. Driving to Cranston is infuriating. In-city commutes should not exceed an hour.

We tried driving thruogh Cranston at Christmas to get to a relative's house. It was a complete disaster - how the hell do you get around neighborhoods like that? Why do they design them like windy mazes from spaghetti-like infrastructure planning? I'm pretty sure the developer is messing with people's minds and calling it 'smart' - I think they were all on mushrooms.

An efficient grid system, those neighborhoods are definitely not. I'll never attempt to venture into those neighbourhoods again, unless I feel like bringing a compass and engaging in hilarious drunk urban orienteering.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

The difference is this time there is a Mayor who doesnt need the support of the largest lobby in the City to run for re-election. This scares the Home builders as they have no way to leverage and manipulate this mayor like they did the last one and other other 2 candidates that ran against in the last election.

I think this is actually the bigger issue than this being just what Rollin Stanley says. I view home builders associations the same way I view the taxi cab associations. It's pretty obvious based on what's gone on over the past decades that clearly both of these groups have enjoyed undue and possibly maybe even a corrupt influence over city politicians in the past and only now are they having that curtailed. Hence why every other week there's an article in the local news about them having a cow about changes.

[Tinordi]

Home builders finding they have no leverage over a popular mayor who wants to change the suburban unsustainable speak plaguing the city.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

I think this is actually the bigger issue than this being just what Rollin Stanley says. I view home builders associations the same way I view the taxi cab associations. It's pretty obvious based on what's gone on over the past decades that clearly both of these groups have enjoyed undue and possibly maybe even a corrupt influence over city politicians in the past and only now are they having that curtailed. Hence why every other week there's an article in the local news about them having a cow about changes.

This pretty much hits the nail on the head. We've gotten so used to the idea that building out is the only option, we haven't stopped doing it since the 50s. That's going to build up a huge amount of lobbyist control concentrated in one place.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Oh I'm sorry, did you not link to your husbands article where he uses the ridiculous statement



to describe his mayoral win?

Which century are you living in?

Are you seriously saying I must think exactly like my husband?

Or are you just suggesting I can't "think for myself"?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Which century are you living in?

Are you seriously saying I must think exactly like my husband?

Or are you just suggesting I can't "think for myself"?

For christ sakes First Lady, stop this bullcrap. You have an annoying habit of posting links to your husbands writings then distancing yourself from them. You are linked to him because yeah, you're married and because no one else on Calgarypuck is going to link to that guys blog.

If you don't want to associate yourself with his thoughts, don't post them.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Which century are you living in?

Are you seriously saying I must think exactly like my husband?

Or are you just suggesting I can't "think for myself"?

Then why even post it if you don't agree with it? The guy doesn't say 1 thing that anyone with half a brain who hasn't been paying attention to the issue doesn't know.

He's just an old man yelling at clouds and not saying anything other than change is bad, money is good, and #### you you crazy mayor guy who thinks he can change stuff, Alberta doesn't change. We elect old white people for everything, so it must be "hipsters" who brought in this crazy young, educated mayoral candidate to try and grind against the machine.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Which century are you living in?

Are you seriously saying I must think exactly like my husband?

Or are you just suggesting I can't "think for myself"?

I don't know....if he can't make you agree with everything he says then he probably isn't fit to govern!

[Bunk]

Calgary’s Petulant Purple Peacock is pouting.
Posted on February 24, 2013

Naheed Nenshi took Calgary’s mayoral throne in the 2010 municipal elections thanks to a vote-split by the center-right and an impressive galvanization of the normally electorally apathetic hipster population of Calgary.

Alright. That's a lot of hipsters.

Nenshi has since enjoyed something of a love-in from national left-leaning media outlets such as the CBC and Toronto Star since then but the realities of his role as the mayor of a major city are beginning to cut through the limelight for Nenshi and they are clearly getting on his nerves.

Calgarians seem to like him to with an 88% approval rating. The guy eats, sleeps, breathes the mayoral role. He loves the job.

The thin veneer of Nenshi’s support of free enterprise and citizen choice really faded away when notable planning extremist; Rollin Stanley was sought and hired to pursue an extremely questionable and ideologically driven obsession with increasing city density in Calgary despite the wishes of citizens who are increasingly moving out to the suburbs.

The Mayor does not hire General Managers at the City. That's the job of City Manager. The Mayor works with whomever is in leadership positions in Administration.

Taxpayers have already seen the cost as settlements have been paid to planners displaced by the new density driven specialists.

If he's referring to Stan Schwartzenberger. His departure had absolutely nothing to do with Rollin Stanley's hiring, or anyone else's. Mr. Schwartzenbeger was replaced by the former Director of Assessment - not even a planner - but someone viewed as an effective senior manager.

Nenshi is now discovering that despite his density agenda, citizens and businesses are simply moving to the suburbs or even out of the city to escape the urban congestion of his creation.

The City has a growth plan (The Municipal Development Plan) that seeks to shift some future growth to established communities. I didn't know in two years the Mayor had the power to completely reshape the urban landscape in Calgary. Is he suggesting Imperial Oil moved to Quarry Park because of the Mayor?

Nenshi wants to increase taxation powers, set up a charter and drag neighboring municipalities into His municipal fifedom. Finding himself halted by provincially elected officials, mobile citizens and those developers that Nenshi so clearly despises, Mayor Nenshi is now beginning to lash out in a way that can only be described as childish.

The Charter is not about more taxation powers necessarily. The Mayor, backed by Council would like a rebate on the taxes Calgarians send to the Province and Federal Government. For instance, he's said, let municipalities have 1% of the existing provincial income tax for capital projects. Failing that, Calgary should have more control over its own destiny. It's the province that mandated the creation of a Calgary Metropolitan Plan, and that long precedes the Mayor. Calgary and all the surrounding towns have all agreed to that vision. It's the rural municipalities that are not joining in. The Mayor has said, he wants the Province to solve the issue - he's agnostic whether they're in our out in the end, he just wants resolution.

Nenshi has called new developments “crap” and has been unapologetic in using city bureaucracy to hinder legitimate city expansion that does not fall within his personal utopian visions.

While some developers think the 'crap' comment was directed at every developer, that's simply not true. In context, it was directed at one very specific commercial project. The mayor has consistently praised developers who are innovating and doing thoughtful projects. Mattamy's Cityscape, Walden, Mahogany, Keystone, etc.

When developers dared to speak up and address this at a dinner, Nenshi went off the handle and is now trying to ban developers from city planning activity.

The tone and condescending arrogance in the letter sent from Nenshi’s office to Calgary developers is simply stunning. From the Sun:

The letter demands “a written apology, satisfactory to our office, be sent to each of your members” and posted on its website, the CHBA must also acknowledge they have been an active and supportive participant in City initiatives and they must “commit to working with the City and other industry partners in a constructive and
respectful manner.”

Honestly Nenshi just who the hell do you think you are? You differ with the views expressed at a dinner and pull this sort of stunt? These are Calgary business leaders who represent the interests of the hundreds of thousands of Calgarians who have utterly no interest in living in your crowded downtown dream. As other Councilors are pointing out, you probably don’t even have the authority to ban these important people from city committees anyway.

The Mayor does not take issue with someone with differing views. In fact, the CHBA itself has one of the strongest critics of how the City does things - that's Amie Blanchette, their point person for working with the City on its initiatives. She's their chief lobbyist. If you read the letter, you'll see that it praises Amie for her very thoughtful approach. While she's strongly, strongly critical, she's constructive and works with integrity. Our office (me specifically) fought for her inclusion on the influential Transforming Planning Working Group.

The issue is that their President made misleading statements that the City was putting a freeze on suburban development. This has absolutely no basis in fact. The President also rebuked the City's planning process (totally fair), but also failed to even acknowledge that they were a key partner in helping the biggest ever effort to fix the problem. It was just more blame game, which Amie herself led the charge to say needed ending. Participation in these initiatives comes with certain expectations that are clearly laid out and agreed to, and his speech or subsequent statements did not model this behavior.

Nenshi had better learn quickly that not everybody shares his vision and business indeed does have the right to vocalize that view. While it is unlikely that Nenshi will be unseated in this fall’s election, he still indeed is only one vote on council and may find himself regularly defeated in votes if he does not lose this growing thin-skinned Messiah complex.

Again, the Mayor takes absolutely no issue with people disagreeing with him or the City. However, if you want to participate as a partner, you should do so respectfully (as they agreed to do) and not mislead their membership with disingenuous statements that damage that relationship.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

For christ sakes First Lady, stop this bullcrap. You have an annoying habit of posting links to your husbands writings then distancing yourself from them. You are linked to him because yeah, you're married and because no one else on Calgarypuck is going to link to that guys blog.

If you don't want to associate yourself with his thoughts, don't post them.

Ahh I get it. Don't like the link; take it out on the messenger.
And actually others have linked to his blog before.

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Then why even post it if you don't agree with it?

To generate discussion. Mission accomplished.

The guy doesn't say 1 thing that anyone with half a brain who hasn't been paying attention to the issue doesn't know.

Then call him out on it. Go to his blog and point out the inaccuracies.

He's just an old man yelling at clouds and not saying anything other than change is bad, money is good, and #### you you crazy mayor guy who thinks he can change stuff, Alberta doesn't change. We elect old white people for everything, so it must be "hipsters" who brought in this crazy young, educated mayoral candidate to try and grind against the machine.

Hey come on; he's not that old.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Then call him out on it. Go to his blog and point out the inaccuracies.

I'm pretty sure you can't reason with someone who believes the old boys club in Alberta are the best politicians we've got. Likely, they need medication, a jacket with straps, and some kind of device that gives them empathy for people they aren't related to.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

I'm pretty sure you can't reason with someone who believes the old boys club in Alberta are the best politicians we've got. Likely, they need medication, a jacket with straps, and some kind of device that gives them empathy for people they aren't related to.

LOL No worries.

Looks like Bunk has pretty much posted the entire blog post and has more intelligent responses than you likely could have mastered.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Then why even post it if you don't agree with it? The guy doesn't say 1 thing that anyone with half a brain who hasn't been paying attention to the issue doesn't know.

He's just an old man yelling at clouds and not saying anything other than change is bad, money is good, and #### you you crazy mayor guy who thinks he can change stuff, Alberta doesn't change. We elect old white people for everything, so it must be "hipsters" who brought in this crazy young, educated mayoral candidate to try and grind against the machine.

Good to know that when discussing an issue on CP moving forward, that anything one posts has to conform precisely and entirely with their opinion.

From FL's original link, she was doing nothing more than posting weekend blogs pertaining to the subject being discussed and yes her hubby was the author of one of those pieces...but now that means she has to take ownership for someone else's opinion?

Also Im loving the whole "up in arms" reaction to anyone who questions Nenshi's actions here or elsewhere and those that dare are labelled as "out to lunch" and the ultimate irony of in Alberta we only "elect old white people"...when discussing Nahid Nenshi.

Pure entertainment for me and Im a guy that actually has admired the way the guy has gone about his business until this (what will turn out to be) minor transgression.