Ongoing YYCCC (Chu + Farkas) Transgressions Threat

[woob]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

He’s a populist.

Bingo. All drama, no substance. Hmmm, where have we seen this before and the result with a disaster? Hmmmmm.

[OldDutch]

I would never vote for Farkas, but also am not sold on Gondek. I find she pulls grand standing speeches and finger wags quite a bit. Maybe someone can tell me why she would be better than Nenshi? I am honestly not clear on what she brings outside what I mentioned.

To block Farkas I would vote her, but that isn’t a good spot to be in.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by timun

Um, wat? Farkas brings it up more than anyone so that he can position himself as the "I don't play identity politics like some 'woke' librul" candidate far more than Nenshi or anyone else on council actually gives a toss about it.



You know they went down this year, right? The City has eliminated about 600 jobs in the last two years. There are fewer people working for the City now than at the beginning of Nenshi's second term as mayor, even though population has grown by about 20% since.

What does Farkas propose cutting to balance said budget, if they continue to cut taxes? If Farkas really gives a crap about taxes how come he has consistently voted against any cuts to police, fire, transit and roads, even though these make up over 80% of the City budget? He says he'd take it from "public art and bike lanes"; do you know how much money the City actually spends on public art and bike lanes? A pittance compared to police, fire, roads and transit...



I'll give him that, he is very conscientious about reaching out to and being receptive to feedback from constituents. He's a populist; doesn't mean he's 'good'.



You know why Nenshi seems arrogant and condescending, like he's "the smartest person in the room"? Because with respect to the rest of city council, he is. If you've ever been to a council meeting you'd see it.

Not to say I would vote for Nenshi—I was incensed that he gave CSEC tons of money for the new arena and pushed so hard for the Olympics, when he positioned himself as the candidate that wouldn't be a pushover to these influences—but Farkas is a boob. A vapid Manning-Centre-trained populist with no concrete policy ideas, just a bunch of hot air about cutting taxes.

I get it. And for this reason I might not want farkas leading a provincial party in a majority government. But as the mayor, he gets one vote, so how many bad ideas are really going to get done?

But Farkas as mayor sends a message to city hall and the other councilors that Calgarian's want to see real savings and are voting to prioritize efficiency. Farkas changes the mandate from Nenshi.

I love the way the city seems to run from the outside. City employees are great to deal with, efficient and effective. I'm not a hater.

But I can't help but know that with Nenshi at the helm, there wont be same urgency to find further efficiencies and cuts. I've been told by a few people in the know that there is a lot of bloat at city hall and we could be saving a lot more by having someone push for greater cost cutting.

I think a second improvement with Farkas will be more consultation with community associations and citizens. Nenshi doesn't like to consult. And some will contend, he knows best, so why should he? But I don't think that's true because often times there are no absolutely correct answers. Instead, the correct answer is subjective, depends on the preferences of citizens and if you're not willing to gauge that...it's not really optimal.

[Roughneck]

The city consults almost to a fault. The 'if I don't want it, that means they can't do it' mentality just gives the impression it doesn't mean anything. CAs want a veto, but there isn't anything good or efficient about that.


They're not short on engagement


https://engage.calgary.ca/

[surferguy]

Does the mayor need to be involved in community consults? Honest question, is that not the role of councillor?

[PepsiFree]

So the argument for Farkas is that despite him having bad ideas or being just a general naysayer and being even more difficult to work with on council than Nenshi himself, it’s no big deal because he only has one vote and it sends a message to other councillors.

This makes really little sense. Does Nenshi send a message to the rest of council? If so, why does Farkas, Chu, and Magliocca not seem to get it? Oh, but suddenly Farkas sending the message is going to matter...

Being the mayor isn’t just about your role on council, it’s how you represent the city. Farkas might talk to people and call them back, which is great, but he’s also a weasel who manipulates those same people. You think he’s not playing you like the idiot he thinks you are? Farkas has been caught lying and manipulating multiple times to try and make himself look good and make the rest of council look bad. But oh, he’s telling YOU the truth, because YOU are special? Time to wake up, I think.

If you’re gullible enough to vote for Farkas, go off. I don’t want a combative liar with no ideas who is obsessed with making himself out as a victim of wokeness. He’s pathetic. And he has no business representing Calgary.

Alberta already looks like a shining turd being represented by Kenney. Sure, seemed like a good idea at the time. And yet, he made voters look like the absolute suckers he thinks they are. Want the same shake for Calgary? Be my guest. But most people go through their lives actually learning something and trying to avoid the same mistake twice.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

I won't be upset if Jyoti won, but I'll be voting Farkas after voting Nenshi the past few elections.

I really don't like the way Nenshi and Jyoti are increasingly playing the identity politics game while insisting they aren't playing that game. It's like saying your #### don't stink. Nenshi was always arrogant, but it's literally at another level now. It's insane how elistist he sounds these days.

Farkas on the other hand increasingly resonates as I get to learn more about him. I see him as very as a person that believes in localism and smaller government rather than the classic conservative people complain about. He's won me over.

I'd really like to know one thing Frakas has done for this city that doesn't involve him saying no, or voting against something.

Seriously, you say he's won you over, do you have any examples of positive things he has accomplished, because all I've seen from him is digging in his heels and complaining.

[Misterpants]

Farkas. How anybody can in good conscience vote for this guy is beyond me.



Even Ralphie beat his a$$. What a pretender.

[tvp2003]

Gondek
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Farkas

This is not a tough decision IMO. And I agree it means Nenshi won't be running again, lest they split the vote and let Farkas win (which I think is how he got elected in the first place).

[timun]

*sigh*

It's empty rhetoric, GullFoss. Completely empty rhetoric. I just told you Jeromy Farkas has adamantly refused to consider cuts to the "essential services" sacred cows, and without touching those any budget cuts will be teeny tiny.

He has no real plan.

With respect to consultation, the city does tons of it. As Roughneck said, almost to a fault.

[You Need a Thneed]

And despite what Farkas and others are trying to make Calgarians think, city spending is down per capita, and adjusted for inflation since 2014.

Nenshi has been very good at making the city more efficient.

Like others have said, I may not always agree with Gondek, but I trust that her reasons have been born out of extensive and thoughtful consideration of the issue, not blind partisanship, or populism.

She really tries to make the BEST decision, instead of trying to make the decision that sounds the best. We need more of that.

[You Need a Thneed]

I think we should move some of this discussion into a 2021 municipal election thread.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by bomber317

I’m interested in seeing what vision Jyoti has for the city.

I can already guess that Farkas won’t have a vision but ideals such as lower taxes, less government, etc but what does our city look like in that scenario?

This is one thing that is missing right now at all levels of government (municipal, provincial, and federal). I have never heard or seen a leader/party/candidate actually propose what their vision is for this city/province/country and how they would like to get there. Would absolutely love it if someone would, it is something we are sorely lacking.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

This is one thing that is missing right now at all levels of government (municipal, provincial, and federal). I have never heard or seen a leader/party/candidate actually propose what their vision is for this city/province/country and how they would like to get there. Would absolutely love it if someone would, it is something we are sorely lacking.

What, "run the government like a business" isn't specific enough for you?

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

What, "run the government like a business" isn't specific enough for you?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1349385360246116352


I also don't know if we want the city to be guided on the principles of maximizing profit.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

I'd really like to know one thing Frakas has done for this city that doesn't involve him saying no, or voting against something.

Seriously, you say he's won you over, do you have any examples of positive things he has accomplished, because all I've seen from him is digging in his heels and complaining.

End result of guzzling too many litres of Manning Institiute koolaid.

[bomber317]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

This is one thing that is missing right now at all levels of government (municipal, provincial, and federal). I have never heard or seen a leader/party/candidate actually propose what their vision is for this city/province/country and how they would like to get there. Would absolutely love it if someone would, it is something we are sorely lacking.

It really makes no sense to me. Having a vision can unify a city / province / country.

As misguided as Klein was, he had a vision of getting rid of the debt and deficit. A lot of people were onboard with that. It was easy to understand, it had an had an end result, and he listed the benefits of it.

If somebody were to offer a vision of making Calgary a Global tech leader, I would have all the time in the world to listen and see what that vision would entail.

[darockwilder]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Yeah, but another term of nenshi is a bit much. And if he runs, Jyoti and Nenshi will split lots of votes. And if Nenshi doesn't run, Jyoti becomes the Nenshi successor. And do I really want more Nenshi? I do not.

So what's not Nenshi? Farkas.
Who doesn't care about wokeness? Farkas
Who doesn't play identity politics? Farkas
Who actually cares that municipal taxes keep going up at a time incomes have stagnated? Farkas
Who actually cares about his community associations and their constituents? Farkas

Every time I have emailed or called Farkas, he calls me back. EVERY TIME! Nenshi in contrast went to Harvard so he knows what's best. EVERY TIME!

Rob Ford used to do this as well. Always respond to citizens complaints, make them feel heard, and then do nothing about it but leave the citizen feeling good about Rob. Pretty clever.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by darockwilder

Rob Ford used to do this as well. Always respond to citizens complaints, make them feel heard, and then do nothing about it but leave the citizen feeling good about Rob. Pretty clever.

There's a great podcast about Rob Ford and it discussed that same strategy, and why it wasn't as genuine as it seemed. Basically it's for populist support, not because he cared - and his "call back" list was managed by staff, not out of his own volition.

[Mazrim]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1349752939791831041

He's still going on about this today. Talk about picking the weirdest hill to die on, complete with misleading statements!