Calgary Civic Election: Mayoralty Poll #4 - The Heat is On

[Byrns]

Wow, am I ever sorry to search the #yycvote hashtag. It's like the usenet of old...

[frinkprof]

Nevermind, misread.

[Kelekin]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Does that cost include the new security measures (improved cameras, new cameras, bike patrols) or the opportunity cost of selling the park n' ride land to development interests?

Wish I could tell you. I'm hoping to get to talk to some of the candidates tomorrow about a myriad of things. Also likely taking minutes (since I type 160 WPM. If anyone has any questions for them I can hopefully get one or two answered.

[bcb]

Does anyone know if there is a credible candidate to run against Pincott in my ward, 11? The guy is practically a socialist...
In his neighborhood communiques, he has even referred to himself as 'councilor' as opposed to 'alderman'. No doubt trying to secure the feminist sympathy card.

[c.t.ner]

Originally Posted by Byrns

Wow, am I ever sorry to search the #yycvote hashtag. It's like the usenet of old...

Yeah. As much as I champion Twitter, the hash tag has slowly disintegrated into a bit of a gong show. You can still find some great information like DJ Kelly's coverage of the mayoral forum this afternoon and some of the uproar over the Herald Article earlier today.

But over the past few days with the insane amount of spamming done by the Hawksworthy camp and some of the low balling rhetoric done by memebers of all teams, it's become more difficult to find the great nuggets of information that was flowing earlier in the campaign.

The problem with it being a hashtag is that it's an open collection of information and there is no way to check and balance the content. There are people on there with little credentials in the community, spreading vile information. You can't unfollow someone contributing to a hashtag. So there is no way to filter them out. It's a shame because good online communities need some sort of self policing, the #yycvote needs a good dose self policing. Unfortunately, it's far easier said than done.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by The Goon

Hey First Lady, is that you driving the Sierra with the sign in the back?

Yes. Sorry for the delay.... been kinda busy....

[stevinder]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

But over the past few days with the insane amount of spamming done by the Hawksworth camp and some of the low balling rhetoric done by memebers of all teams, it's become more difficult to find the great nuggets of information that was flowing earlier in the campaign.

I snapped at these idiots a while ago:

@TeamHawkesworth Do you mind giving it a F***ING rest for a while please? Seriously, go eat or get laid or something. #yycvote

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

Yeah. As much as I champion Twitter, the hash tag has slowly disintegrated into a bit of a gong show. You can still find some great information like DJ Kelly's coverage of the mayoral forum this afternoon and some of the uproar over the Herald Article earlier today.

But over the past few days with the insane amount of spamming done by the Hawksworthy camp and some of the low balling rhetoric done by memebers of all teams, it's become more difficult to find the great nuggets of information that was flowing earlier in the campaign.

The problem with it being a hashtag is that it's an open collection of information and there is no way to check and balance the content. There are people on there with little credentials in the community, spreading vile information. You can't unfollow someone contributing to a hashtag. So there is no way to filter them out. It's a shame because good online communities need some sort of self policing, the #yycvote needs a good dose self policing. Unfortunately, it's far easier said than done.

Another problem is people like Connelly, Burrows and others not understanding the concept of the hashtag and posting what they had for lunch, what they're watching on television, what they did with their families last night, etc.

[c.t.ner]

Originally Posted by stevinder

I snapped at these idiots a while ago:

@TeamHawkesworth Do you mind giving it a F***ING rest for a while please? Seriously, go eat or get laid or something. #yycvote

That was you! Epic. One of the best tweets in a long time. Congrats.

[stevinder]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

That was you! Epic. One of the best tweets in a long time. Congrats.

Thanks....I've been firing off a couple of zingers in reaction to the inane things the candidates have tweeted. Had a discussion with Joe Connelly yesterday about his "endorsement" by a Globe & Mail columnist.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

She wrote a rather lengthy letter in the community magazine thing that explains that she will go to bat for "our needs and what we care about". She spent a large chunk of article detailing how she will fight the Shawnee Slopes development, which is really the ONLY thing she is going for right now, other than the common points every alderman is doing (scrapping park and ride fees, transparency in council, etc).

I want to vote for an alderman who sees Shawnee Slopes for what it is (an overpriced golf course, not a green space the community can use) and not just catering to those living on the edge of the course. It's very frustrating.

Upon being elected for the first time, DCU pledged to run for two terms and then move on from municipal politics allowing some new blood to be given a chance. This is her 4th go if the article I read is correct. I cannot give her my vote.

I agree Mazrim, Shawnee Slopes getting bulldozed is not my major concern. I like the fact that Sandy (he's a dude) Jenkins is putting the SW ring road and other transportation issues at the top of his platform.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

The problem with it being a hashtag is that it's an open collection of information and there is no way to check and balance the content. There are people on there with little credentials in the community, spreading vile information. You can't unfollow someone contributing to a hashtag. So there is no way to filter them out. It's a shame because good online communities need some sort of self policing, the #yycvote needs a good dose self policing. Unfortunately, it's far easier said than done.

Actually you can "unfollow" people when you search hashtags.

For #yycvote just search:

#yycvote -teamhawkesworth

The result is the #yycvote stream without the annoying Team Hawkesworth tweets. You can add as many as you like to this.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Upon being elected for the first time, DCU pledged to run for two terms and then move on from municipal politics allowing some new blood to be given a chance. This is her 4th go if the article I read is correct. I cannot give her my vote.

I wasn't aware of this...guess she enjoys the position too much to let go.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

So how does a Ward 9ian find out who I should vote for? I've recieved almost nothing to my house promoting the different candidates, which is pretty disappointing.

That's odd, Gian Carlo-Carra has been making a pretty good effort at getting his message out. I saw him going door to door on Sunday.

[First Lady]

Best sign in Ward 4.

[Madman]

Was this the best picture the Herald could really find of Nenshi? It looks like he just got goosed.

[firebug]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I feel the same about Ward 12.

If someone can't be bothered to let me know they are running, except having a sign about the failed Guinness Book of World Record attempt for the most people hugging at one time, then I don't know that I want to vote for them.

Yeah, it seems a pretty sorry lot to pick from.

My understanding is we will have all 5 candidates present tonight at the McKenzie Towne Hall open house.

Could be a reasonable venue to find some differences between them.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Originally Posted by bcb

Does anyone know if there is a credible candidate to run against Pincott in my ward, 11? The guy is practically a socialist...
In his neighborhood communiques, he has even referred to himself as 'councilor' as opposed to 'alderman'. No doubt trying to secure the feminist sympathy card.

I live in Lincoln Park, and am quite familiar with Mr. Pincott. Every time I hear him speak or read his literature, the same feeling washes over me......he's that guy in a meeting that drones on and on, refers to people as "resources" and is constantly dropping terms like Paradigm, ROI, Value-Add. Yet at the end of the meeting, nothing has been accomplished and he's contributed nothing (or next to nothing). In my experience, these guys are usually the ones that are in waaaaay over their head.

The Candidate Listing for Ward 11 is:
Frisch, Wayne E.
Knight, Olga
Maxim, James Michael
McCutcheon, Ernest Stephen
Pincott, Brian S.

I've gone looking for info on all of them, but only two of them actually have any significant visibility. Pincott and James Maxim....

James Maxim: http://www.calgaryward11.com/

Maxim is certainly credible, having been involved in municipal and provincial affairs (committees, etc) for decades. I gotta be honest.....I'll be voting for Maxim for three key reasons and one bonus reason:

1. He is familiar with the political landscape.
2. He has experience working on public committees.
3. His overall mindset appears to be reasonably thought out and consistent.

Bonus Reason: He is not Brian Pincott.

[Slava]

^ At the forum and driving around for my own campaign in ward 11 I think that Maxim has a strong following building. I've met Wayne Frisch as well and he seems like a great guy. He might be hard to find because he isn't accepting donations from corporations at all and has hand-made his signs.

In all I've talked with Maxim, Frisch and know a few people working on the Pincott campaign as well. I do think that Pincott is in trouble there, but I'm not taking a side in that ward.

To me it looks like Ward 11 and Ward 14 are two that could see the incumbents out, but I don't know about all the others (ward 1 jumps to mind as a good chance as well).

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Madman

Was this the best picture the Herald could really find of Nenshi? It looks like he just got goosed.

That's a pet peeve of mine. It seems like publications like to find the crappiest pictures of people they don't like. The sun is the worst for this. They'd use a picture of someone puking with the flu if they could get their hands on one.