Calgary Civic Election: Ward 6 Discussion

[Ducay]

And Brent, what do you think of Plan-It?

[Brent.Mielke]

Glad to comment more...and by the way, I tell my kids I'm not bald, I just have short hair.

re: TJ Brodie...his play shows he's probably getting close to earning a spot, but with the stack of defencemen they have on contracts, I'd doubt he'll start with them. I'm just glad the Flames are actually developing some youth and enthusiasm for future years.

re: Ward 6, I think with Ward 6 right now, we see several candidates that are less well known on the city-wide front, but have been working in one way or another to deal with the massive hang-over created by the expansive growth phase from the last 10 years. We also have several candidates that are parachuting in from other wards simply because there's no incumbent.

I won't disparage the other candidates, but can tell you that I've been taking a leadership role on a lot of the issues that our ward is facing. West LRT, transit, ring road, plus all of the land-use apps in my community (Springbank Hill) and many others around the ward. Many of the issues we face require nuanced solutions that won't be obvious unless the candidate has been involved in the community and ward.

Several of the other candidates have been facilitators of development, professionally, while I've tried to take a more collaborative approach through my efforts with the community association. The City, the residents and the development industry all have different needs, and quite frankly haven't been working well together. We need a more balanced model. No one is asking to be over-represented, they just want an equal and meaningful opportunity to participate.

I do tend to take a moderately conservative viewpoint on spending but I also recognize that most people I've talked to want front line service expanded, and as long as we can provide the service efficiently, they're not afraid of taxes going up a bit to get it. I ask two basic questions when considering an initiative: 1) how does it affect the functionality of the city & 2) how does it affect the affordability? If the answers are reasonable, then lets move forward with it.

On the city-wide issues, I consider myself to be open-minded. Good ideas aren't the exclusive domain of the political right or left and Council has given up on a lot of good ideas over the past few years simply because of who proposed them, rather than merit. I've been posting on my blog my solutions since April on a lot of the bigger issues, which is linked from my website. I think you'll find that most of the posts focus on creating a template for transparency that ultimately leads to better decision-making. Have a look and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to give me a call or email.

re: Plan-It, I do have some issues with some components of Plan-It. On my blog, I talked about how we need to remember that Calgary is not an island, so if we restrict the supply of the single-family home we risk having all of that development moving just west of 101st Street (outside of the city). If that happens, then all those residents will be using our streets and infrastructure, while paying taxes to a different municipality. So, our solutions require some balance, and we have to remember that it's a 60 year plan, and we're not going to implement it all in year 1. We do want to create momentum towards those ultimate goals though. A lot of people focus on housing density, but really the issue is about affordability...ensuring that Calgary has enough of a tax base to support the services we want. I've talked to quite a few developers, and what they want is exactly what I mentioned above, and that is an equal opportunity to offer some creative solutions.

Thanks again,
Brent.

[frinkprof]

^Brent, one more thing. This may be a couple years off and not as immediate as other issues, but what sort of timeline are you envisioning for the extension of the West LRT route to Aspen Woods, and are you familiar with the plans (routing, reserved right of way and station location, etc.)?

[red sky]

Drove by a big Richard Pootman sign that had been spray painted to read as Richard Poo. The next day I drove by the same sign and the 'ric' were spray painted white which now read as "hard Poo". I giggled like the immature adult I am.

[Ducay]

Thanks for the thorough breakdown Brent.

One more question for you: What are the key "policies" where you differentiate yourself from your competitors, and why do you support your position?

[Brent.Mielke]

re: Aspen LRT...The right of way crosses over to the north side of 17 Ave just past the 69 Street station, and then continues straight across to west of 85 Street (just west of the drainage pond at the intersection). From there it bends north-west to the station at Aspen Stone Blvd/ Aspen Hills Drive area. That's the only station planned beyond what they have already under construction. I'm not sure what the plan is for grade, whether it's trenched or above-ground, but undoubtedly that'll be the subject of future discussions with the community.

Ultimately, I think the construction could be tied in with the ring road completion. It would be nice to finally finish our transportation infrastructure projects on the hill. I'm not sure where that fits in the current infrastructure priority list, but from my conversations with the City transit planners, they're certainly in no rush right now to move forward with it. If we adopt the Chabot/Stevenson financing proposal for the airport tunnel, that will tie up our remaining unallocated infrastructure dollars from the Province through 2018. As well, with the Province's current budget woes, it's unlikely we'll see much progress on the ring road planning for the next few years. Ron Liepart walks away from me every time I mention it to him.

Brent.

[Brent.Mielke]

Re: policy differences, I'll reply to that tonight. Have to hit the pavement for some meetings and door-knocking.

[Misterpants]

Hey Brent, just curious how you found out about this site/thread?

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Misterpants

Hey Brent, just curious how you found out about this site/thread?

Probably heard about it from Carter the lurker...LOL

Good to see you here Brent.

Cheers,
Jane (aka First Lady)

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Probably heard about it from Carter the lurker...LOL

Good to see you here Brent.

Cheers,
Jane (aka First Lady)

Either that or Google Alerts. As well, it's well known that lots of organizations, staffers and other people of interest lurk on both CP and SSP. Journalists, developers, aldermen, mayoral candidates, etc.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Brent.Mielke

re: Aspen LRT...The right of way crosses over to the north side of 17 Ave just past the 69 Street station, and then continues straight across to west of 85 Street (just west of the drainage pond at the intersection). From there it bends north-west to the station at Aspen Stone Blvd/ Aspen Hills Drive area. That's the only station planned beyond what they have already under construction. I'm not sure what the plan is for grade, whether it's trenched or above-ground, but undoubtedly that'll be the subject of future discussions with the community.

Ultimately, I think the construction could be tied in with the ring road completion. It would be nice to finally finish our transportation infrastructure projects on the hill. I'm not sure where that fits in the current infrastructure priority list, but from my conversations with the City transit planners, they're certainly in no rush right now to move forward with it. If we adopt the Chabot/Stevenson financing proposal for the airport tunnel, that will tie up our remaining unallocated infrastructure dollars from the Province through 2018. As well, with the Province's current budget woes, it's unlikely we'll see much progress on the ring road planning for the next few years. Ron Liepart walks away from me every time I mention it to him.

Brent.

Correct. I knew this already, but in talking with some other candidates (beyond Ward 6: aldermenic candidates from other wards and mayoral candidates), it seems many aren't up-to-speed on the details of lots of projects, both current and future. Kudos for being informed.



Red is the reserved right of way, blue is the station location, while parking, bus loops, shelters, etc. are just NW of it.

[1stLand]

Brent Mielke seems to me like he is the best representative for Ward 6.
He has my vote.

I came to this conclusion after reviewing all of the candidate's websites.

The most important issue for me in Ward 6 is transportation infrastructure.
Seems to me like Brent is the only one that has a good grasp of the issues and would like to see the SW ring road move forward sooner than later.

I dont see the Aspen extension happening anytime soon......not sure if we need it right now.

Does anyone know when the LRT is getting extended to Rocky Ridge?

[frinkprof]

^2014. Originally 2012, but the timeleine changed when the province restructured the MSI funding grants.

[stevinder]

Originally Posted by 1stLand

Does anyone know when the LRT is getting extended to Rocky Ridge?

Opening in 2014.

[REDVAN]

I recently moved to ward 6... but my driver's licence is still ward 13. I was censused in ward 6 in April, but due to personal situations (possible break up with my gf) I might be moving back with my parents for a bit into ward 13. SO where do I vote? I severely dislike Dianne C-U because she spends too much time worrying about city issues and not enough on ward 13, the fact she doesn't even live in that ward, and that she failed as a provincial politician so basically ward 13 is her second priority. So I want to vote for someone other than Dianne C-U, but Sandy Jenkins isn't really the type of guy I want to vote for (Weakerthans concert at the Den during last election....), but I also want to vote in ward 6 where I hope to continue to live.

I read somewhere (forget where...) but they stated Miekle should win based on platform and so-forth, and that he seems to be the strongest candidate. At that point in time the only signs I had seen out were Pootmans (great name, decent looking campaign, but I just don't know...) so I had no idea who was even running.

The more I investigate, I am leaning towards Miekle.

My main issue with ward 6 is that I live in Glenbrook, which quite frankly, is the poorest part of the ward. I am a professional person who is currently unemployed, so I guess I classify in that poor demographic. The remainder of the ward (to the west) are richie-riches whose concerns might not be the same as me, so the alderman will not be catering to my needs.

[Bunk]

Mielke passes the frinkprof test!

[SteveToms]

Brent for or against airport tunnel?

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

My main issue with ward 6 is that I live in Glenbrook, which quite frankly, is the poorest part of the ward. I am a professional person who is currently unemployed, so I guess I classify in that poor demographic. The remainder of the ward (to the west) are richie-riches whose concerns might not be the same as me, so the alderman will not be catering to my needs.

I agree with the split-demographic issues. I thought when they redrew the ward 6 boundries they were going to take everything east of sarcee out, but alas, they left those communities south of 17th Ave....(and only took out WestG/Rossc/WildW

Sarcee-west is a lot of younger families with transit, parks, etc as the main issue.

Sarcee-eastwards (Glenbrook, etc) are a lot of older folks with different priorities (lower taxes, fees).

Quite the dichotomy between the two general demographics.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Mielke passes the frinkprof test!

Haha. Yeah I must say I was pretty much quizzing him

Really though, is it so much to ask that those who wish to act as our representatives do their homework on basic facts surrounding issues and plans? Sadly, some have not.

[stevinder]

Walked up 17th this evening and there is no shortage of signs up for all the W6 candidates. Happy I'm in W8.