Ongoing YYCCC (Chu + Farkas) Transgressions Threat

[GGG]

Are you willing to cut the police budget and when they tell you they will cut officers as a result of proposed cuts what will you do?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by RobWard11

Hello all, as my name indicates, I am Rob Ward. I am running in Ward 11.

I was told about this thread by a friend and thought I would post just to give a little info on myself and what is being said.

In the last comment, I was labelled as "cookie-cutter copy of Bertram, DeFraine, and Jamieson". I just want to explain how I am actually quite different from the others.

Bertram has told residents, at their doors, that he is pro-gun. I am definitely not that.

Defraine is running a campaign of basically saying he is "Farkas 2.0", including even copying Farkas and the UCP's signs. Farkas himself won't endorse him. As my webpage explains, I am not affiliated with any political parties, unions, special interest groups, or other candidates. I work for the residents, and that's it.

Jamieson is quite self-explanatory based on what people have already discussed in this thread. See these two links:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/com...e_for_ward_11/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/com...il_candidates/

So you're thinking, "great Rob, but how are YOU different?"

I base everything on feedback, data, and facts from people. For example, I talk about finding efficiencies with the city. Why do I say this? Because I have sat down and talked with numerous employees, managers, and department heads at the city. The common thing I hear back is, "we know there is waste, I have ideas on how to improve, but nobody listens or wants to hear about it." THAT is what I want to help change. I want to champion these ideas and innovative thinkers to improve our city and deliver our core services better.

I am not running a campaign of brainless "lower taxes for all!" catchlines. That is overly simple and used by people that don't actually know the inner workings of the city, budgets, and service lines and are simply looking for a job and will say whatever it takes to get elected.

Yes, City Council does need change. This thread title proves that the argumentative, divisive, clique-filled council we currently have needs to improve. I am about working together collaboratively to get things done on time, on budget, and without the distractions of arguing, cliques, and division within Council.

I talk about YOU the resident a lot, because that is who I would be working for, YOU. We have seen it so much in Council, members working for the interests of parties, special interest groups, unions, or other political candidates. People have said they are sick of Council working for the needs of others and not the residents. That is why I am not aligning with outside groups and that is why I put emphasis on working for YOU, the resident.

I talk about fiscal responsibility because the employees themselves have told me there is room for improvement. I am sure you yourself have seen examples of wasted money at City Hall. Many departments are currently run on a "spend it or lose it" budget mentality. This needs to change. I want to reward innovative thinkers who come up with ways to save money and do things more efficiently.

Lastly, yes, it is time to end the divisiveness and cliques at City Hall. I have watched many Council meetings over the last two years and it can be downright embarrassing to see the grandstanding and arguing amongst members of Council. Growing up my dad always said, "sometimes you have to work with people you don't get along with or you don't agree with. It doesn't matter, you have a job to do, get it done."

That is how I will operate at City Council. I want to get things done on time, and on budget. My job is to be a professional and represent the residents of my Ward, and that is what I will do.

Simply put, I can assure you I am much different than the other candidates and I invite you to check out my differences here: https://www.robward11.ca/whyrob

To anyone who actually read all of this, thank you! If you have questions I would love to answer them. GO FLAMES GO!

Apologies for asking, but we have so many candidates in Ward 11 and I haven’t done much research; are you the candidate that has Common Sense Calgary and all those petitions and such about refunding taxes, or stopping the green line or things like that?

[RobWard11]

Originally Posted by GGG

Are you willing to cut the police budget and when they tell you they will cut officers as a result of proposed cuts what will you do?

We need to reallocate funds so that officers can focus on what they do best, fighting and investigating crime. I know officers personally and they will willingly admit they are not trained well enough to handle mental health crises. We made a step in the right direction with allocating funds to help with this, and the police were completely on board with that.

[RobWard11]

Originally Posted by Slava

Apologies for asking, but we have so many candidates in Ward 11 and I haven’t done much research; are you the candidate that has Common Sense Calgary and all those petitions and such about refunding taxes, or stopping the green line or things like that?

Good question! (Ugh... that sounded like Shandro... )

I do not do any petitions because they are a gimmick at best. The only reason a political party or candidate does petitions is to expand their contact list so they can call, text, or email you with targeted issues to encourage you to support them. I have never sent out a petition or survey. I want people to support me based on my character, experience, and desire to work hard for the residents.

I do not KNOW who that is, but my guess would be Jamieson as that is old-school political party tactics, which Chandler loves.

[Fuzz]

I'm not in Ward 11, but I just want to say it's nice to see candidates try to reach out in alternate ways, and put themselves in the firing line.

[RobWard11]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'm not in Ward 11, but I just want to say it's nice to see candidates try to reach out in alternate ways, and put themselves in the firing line.

Thank you, FIRE AWAY! I'm ready to take shots like Mike Smith with Russell and Barrie in front of him!

[MegaErtz]

Originally Posted by RobWard11

Hello all, as my name indicates, I am Rob Ward. I am running in Ward 11.

I was told about this thread by a friend and thought I would post just to give a little info on myself and what is being said.

In the last comment, I was labelled as "cookie-cutter copy of Bertram, DeFraine, and Jamieson". I just want to explain how I am actually quite different from the others.

Bertram has told residents, at their doors, that he is pro-gun. I am definitely not that.

Defraine is running a campaign of basically saying he is "Farkas 2.0", including even copying Farkas and the UCP's signs. Farkas himself won't endorse him. As my webpage explains, I am not affiliated with any political parties, unions, special interest groups, or other candidates. I work for the residents, and that's it.

Jamieson is quite self-explanatory based on what people have already discussed in this thread. See these two links:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/com...e_for_ward_11/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/com...il_candidates/

So you're thinking, "great Rob, but how are YOU different?"

I base everything on feedback, data, and facts from people. For example, I talk about finding efficiencies with the city. Why do I say this? Because I have sat down and talked with numerous employees, managers, and department heads at the city. The common thing I hear back is, "we know there is waste, I have ideas on how to improve, but nobody listens or wants to hear about it." THAT is what I want to help change. I want to champion these ideas and innovative thinkers to improve our city and deliver our core services better.

I am not running a campaign of brainless "lower taxes for all!" catchlines. That is overly simple and used by people that don't actually know the inner workings of the city, budgets, and service lines and are simply looking for a job and will say whatever it takes to get elected.

Yes, City Council does need change. This thread title proves that the argumentative, divisive, clique-filled council we currently have needs to improve. I am about working together collaboratively to get things done on time, on budget, and without the distractions of arguing, cliques, and division within Council.

I talk about YOU the resident a lot, because that is who I would be working for, YOU. We have seen it so much in Council, members working for the interests of parties, special interest groups, unions, or other political candidates. People have said they are sick of Council working for the needs of others and not the residents. That is why I am not aligning with outside groups and that is why I put emphasis on working for YOU, the resident.

I talk about fiscal responsibility because the employees themselves have told me there is room for improvement. I am sure you yourself have seen examples of wasted money at City Hall. Many departments are currently run on a "spend it or lose it" budget mentality. This needs to change. I want to reward innovative thinkers who come up with ways to save money and do things more efficiently.

Lastly, yes, it is time to end the divisiveness and cliques at City Hall. I have watched many Council meetings over the last two years and it can be downright embarrassing to see the grandstanding and arguing amongst members of Council. Growing up my dad always said, "sometimes you have to work with people you don't get along with or you don't agree with. It doesn't matter, you have a job to do, get it done."

That is how I will operate at City Council. I want to get things done on time, and on budget. My job is to be a professional and represent the residents of my Ward, and that is what I will do.

Simply put, I can assure you I am much different than the other candidates and I invite you to check out my differences here: https://www.robward11.ca/whyrob

To anyone who actually read all of this, thank you! If you have questions I would love to answer them. GO FLAMES GO!

Thanks so much for taking the time to sign up and make a post on here. A+ for citizen engagement.

Where do you stand on reintroducing fluoride into the drinking water in Calgary? We've voted on this twice before and both times it was overturned by council after the anti-fluoride lobby got into their ears. You say you base everything on feedback. Will you commit now to respecting the will of voters if they vote to reintroduce fluoride into the drinking water supply in Calgary?

[RobWard11]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

Thanks so much for taking the time to sign up and make a post on here. A+ for citizen engagement.

Where do you stand on reintroducing fluoride into the drinking water in Calgary? We've voted on this twice before and both times it was overturned by council after the anti-fluoride lobby got into their ears. You say you base everything on feedback. Will you commit now to respecting the will of voters if they vote to reintroduce fluoride into the drinking water supply in Calgary?

100% I will! Most people don't know this... the fluoride ballot vote is NON-BINDING. What does that mean? If the majority of residents voted "YES", council could STILL overturn it by a majority voting "no".

I will respect the majority vote and vote the same way.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by RobWard11

I talk about fiscal responsibility because the employees themselves have told me there is room for improvement. I am sure you yourself have seen examples of wasted money at City Hall. Many departments are currently run on a "spend it or lose it" budget mentality. This needs to change. I want to reward innovative thinkers who come up with ways to save money and do things more efficiently.

Nenshi campaigned on and implemented the Zero-Based Review program specifically to address this sort of thing. Why do you think it's still an issue and how would you do things differently?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by RobWard11

100% I will! Most people don't know this... the fluoride ballot vote is NON-BINDING. What does that mean? If the majority of residents voted "YES", council could STILL overturn it by a majority voting "no".

I will respect the majority vote and vote the same way.

Why would you vote with the majority on an issue the public has no expertise on.

Shouldn’t the decision process be

Is there empirical data showing water supply fluoridation works - yes
Is it safe - yes
Is the cost benefit payoff - yes

Then implement regardless of what constituents think. Fluoridation is not an opinion based decision there is the science backed position and the non science backed one.

What types of decision would you follow data over the public’s wants and ideas?

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by SebC

Nenshi campaigned on and implemented the Zero-Based Review program specifically to address this sort of thing. Why do you think it's still an issue and how would you do things differently?

I'd point out the SAVE program too, which is ongoing. Had hundreds of employee and leader submissions. Best opportunities for savings against a council target of about $75 million are being implemented now.

https://www.calgary.ca/cfod/save.html

[RobWard11]

Originally Posted by GGG

Why would you vote with the majority on an issue the public has no expertise on.

Shouldn’t the decision process be

Is there empirical data showing water supply fluoridation works - yes
Is it safe - yes
Is the cost benefit payoff - yes

Then implement regardless of what constituents think. Fluoridation is not an opinion based decision there is the science backed position and the non science backed one.

What types of decision would you follow data over the public’s wants and ideas?

I am pro fluoride, and talking with people, I am confident the vote will go that way.

I would always look to expert opinion on matters I don’t know much about. Generally speaking, the public tends to go in line with expert, fact based, opinions.

[MarchHare]

Hi RobWard11,

I was a City of Calgary employee until a few months ago when I voluntarily resigned to pursue another career opportunity in the private sector. What you are saying above does not jive with my experience as a former City employee at all.

For example, this...

I base everything on feedback, data, and facts from people. For example, I talk about finding efficiencies with the city. Why do I say this? Because I have sat down and talked with numerous employees, managers, and department heads at the city. The common thing I hear back is, "we know there is waste, I have ideas on how to improve, but nobody listens or wants to hear about it."

...is exactly the opposite of my personal experience. I know I'm only one person and this is anecdotal, but I was personally in budget planning meetings with Directors and one GM over the last 2-3 years where the message was, "We cannot absorb another budget reduction while still maintaining the same level of service. If council asks us to further decrease our budget, they must understand their decision will result in these specific proposed service reductions." Also, as a City staffer, I was always encouraged to submit ideas on how savings could be achieved to enable the public service to operate more efficiently. The SAVE Program, as Bunk mentioned above, is one recent high-profile example of this. The idea that any, let along many City employees would tell you that nobody wants to listen to their cost-saving ideas is laughable (unless, I suppose, they were simply bad ideas that were quite rightly dismissed by management, and employees mistook "management didn't implement my bad idea" with "management doesn't want to listen to me.")

Also, I never personally saw any DeptID Owner, Manager, Director, or GM who had a "spend it or lose it" budget mentality. Again, purely from my own anecdotal experience that obviously could have differed in other City Business Units/Departments outside my line of sight, literally nobody had that mentality.

Frankly, I seriously doubt you've actually talked with many City employees contrary to your claims, and if you did, they almost certainly would not have said those comments. I guess it makes for a nice political soundbite for a candidate running for office to say that you will "cut the fat" and "eliminate waste" so you can reduce taxes while still maintaining the same quality of public services, but that kind of facile, childish slogan doesn't accurately reflect the reality of municipal government.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by RobWard11

I talk about fiscal responsibility because the employees themselves have told me there is room for improvement.

What are your thoughts on paying current employees Overtime Vs Hiring more employees?

[RobWard11]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Hi RobWard11,

I was a City of Calgary employee until a few months ago when I voluntarily resigned to pursue another career opportunity in the private sector. What you are saying above does not jive with my experience as a former City employee at all.

For example, this...



...is exactly the opposite of my personal experience. I know I'm only one person and this is anecdotal, but I was personally in budget planning meetings with Directors and one GM over the last 2-3 years where the message was, "We cannot absorb another budget reduction while still maintaining the same level of service. If council asks us to further decrease our budget, they must understand their decision will result in these specific proposed service reductions." Also, as a City staffer, I was always encouraged to submit ideas on how savings could be achieved to enable the public service to operate more efficiently. The SAVE Program, as Bunk mentioned above, is one recent high-profile example of this. The idea that any, let along many City employees would tell you that nobody wants to listen to their cost-saving ideas is laughable (unless, I suppose, they were simply bad ideas that were quite rightly dismissed by management, and employees mistook "management didn't implement my bad idea" with "management doesn't want to listen to me.")

Also, I never personally saw any DeptID Owner, Manager, Director, or GM who had a "spend it or lose it" budget mentality. Again, purely from my own anecdotal experience that obviously could have differed in other City Business Units/Departments outside my line of sight, literally nobody had that mentality.

Frankly, I seriously doubt you've actually talked with many City employees contrary to your claims, and if you did, they almost certainly would not have said those comments. I guess it makes for a nice political soundbite for a candidate running for office to say that you will "cut the fat" and "eliminate waste" so you can reduce taxes while still maintaining the same quality of public services, but that kind of facile, childish slogan doesn't accurately reflect the reality of municipal government.

Thanks for the input. I’m not sure what to tell you, I’ve talked with people in waste, parks and rec, police, fire, corporate comms, transit, and more. Some are now retired, some are still working. I’m not saying there is mass excessive waste, but some of these people had great ideas. When I asked them why they don’t do things that way they commonly said, “they don’t care”.

So, now that I have this info from you I will read this to them and see what they say. Genuinely, thanks for the info!

[81MC]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Not to rag on you as it sounds like an honest mistake, but it sucks how misinformation like this can do real damage. How many forum members in ward 9 might have seen her name with the CSC connection and wrote her off without any further thought? Hell the only reason I did some research is because of a personal connection, and now I realize that I don't even know as much about the candidates in my ward as I do about Withers. I'm gonna have to try to fix that

If it’s any consolation, I believe that most CPers interested enough to be checking in on this thread would be conscientious enough to not take one line from a random poster as fact. I hope.

That said, totally understand. It’s a weird world when without any malicious intent a poorly thought out statement could have such repercussion.

[RobWard11]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

What are your thoughts on paying current employees Overtime Vs Hiring more employees?

Does it save money to pay them overtime? If so it’s something to look into. There are other factors to consider such as quality of work/burnout. If the overtime employees are burnt out and exhausted, work suffers. These are the kinds of things we need to look at. The simpleton answer is “cut, cut, cut…. Don’t hire more people”, but, if it actually saves, why wouldn’t you?

It’s difficult as an outsider to know the specific answers to a question like that, I don’t have access to all the information. Some companies it makes sense to hire more, some it doesn’t.

[Ozy_Flame]

Here's an article on Rob Ward from LiveWire Calgary yesterday:
Work for the citizens: Rob Ward vies for Ward 11 seat on Calgary city council

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Here's an article on Rob Ward from LiveWire Calgary yesterday:
Work for the citizens: Rob Ward vies for Ward 11 seat on Calgary city council

On the issues described in the article, i am in 100% agreement with Rob's answers. obviously the move from platform to policy and implementation is ripe for differences; but these are candidates that understand the issues facing the city (specifically the oncoming tax issues we face) and are not willing to pander to the save calgary crowd.

Well done Rob! while i am not in your riding, i will be rooting for you!

[DownInFlames]

I was just in the office of a prominent home-builder and I noticed they had a couple of Gary Bobrovitz lawns signs leaning against a wall. That’s not a huge red flag that he’s in the developers’ pockets but it does raise questions. I get the feeling he could win on name recognition so hopefully he’s not.

I still haven’t chosen a candidate. Every one makes their platform so vague it’s tough to really know what they stand for.