With 18 months to go until the next Calgary municipal election, I am pondering who will be making a run at Dave Bronconnier's mayoral seat? Here are my quick thoughts on some potential challengers...
1) Ric McIver... Common sense alderman. Popular. Organized. Loves the media (and they love him....his soundbites are a breath of fresh air.) A recent fundraiser he held is said to have had over 350 guests. Ric is my 1st choice for mayor, without a doubt.
Odds to Run? 2-1
2) Dianne Colley-Urquhart... Dianne would be an excellent choice should Ric Mciver not make a run at mayor. She is the other "common-sense" alderman and represents her ward well. Timing may be a big factor here, as she will not likely have much success with a split vote against both McIver and Bronconnier.
I cannot see how much further Dianne can go in City politics after 2010. She has probably better suited at a run for MLA, which she would win in a landslide.
Perhaps with the (rumored) pending "retirement" of Ron ( Federal Judge post awaits?) Stevens, she may look at the PC nomination for Calgary Glenmore. Just my thoughts?
Odds? 10-1
3) Al Koenig... Former Police association president. Could not win an alderman seat in 2007. Has a grand total of 4 signatures on an online poll supporting him to run for mayor in 2010. (Not scientific mind you, but pretty funny.)
Odds? Not good.
4) Alnoor Kassam... HMMM... Spent a fortune of his OWN money (close to $1MM) to run against Bronco in 2007. Lesson learned? I hope so.... But seeing that his website is still up and running, you never know!
Odds? 1 Million to 1.. ( no pun intended! )
Here is hoping some fellow bloggers run....
5) The Enlightened Savage... Maybe then we will see the 'mask" come off and find out his/her true identity? The E.S has some sound ideas and is not scared to rock the boat!
6) Jeremy Zhao ... 19 year old U of C Student runs...gets a respectable 8,000 votes. Awesome!
Anyways... it will be interesting to see who starts making noise over the next few months. As long as we get rid of Calgaryrants good friend, Bronco Dave, I will be a happy man!
I suspect Dave Taylor will run for mayor after losing the leadership of the Liberals to left wing-nut David Swann.
ReplyDeleteHe'd be pretty good too. A centrist, great with soundbites.
I've heard that Colley-Urquhart is eyeing the PC nomination in Calgary-Glenmore.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't really care who is elected. It's usually all the same. However, I want to just get people's opinions on using the word "common sense" too much. I hear that all the time and it's terribly inaccurate for the most point because there is no such thing as common sense. Or another phrase is "the right thing to do". A politician is still a politician.
ReplyDeleteDave, I am just basing this on pure speculation. But given her history with Calgary Glenmore ( She is a Past President and Ron Stevens 2008 Campaign Manager) it would not be too far off!
ReplyDeleteBtw, thanks Shane for the shoutout.
ReplyDeleteDianne C-U is the absolute devil. She sleeps during committee meetings and has the ethics of a Michael Vick Dog Fighting Coordinater. How you rank her as common sense just shows how oblivious you are to what really happens at city hall...these rankings are bush bush bush..although he did win back to back terms.
ReplyDeleteI dont think Ric is the way to go. He wants to privatize a lot of city venues...garbage for one. We weren't happy about the eight dollars for recycling...can you imagine how much the costs will be if there arent any watch dogs?
ReplyDeleteric mciver is probably the biggest short-sighted hypocrite out there
ReplyDeleteexample 1: constantly stating to cut budget, yet pushing for subsidizing a private business (race city) using taxpayers money, which happens to be in his ward, while hindering the long-term development plan of the area and the landfill
example 2: pushing for alternate week garbage pickup, yet there are no other alternatives for waste diversion... that means same amount of garbage to be picked up with same amount of resources, except that the garbage will be in your garbage can for two weeks instead of one
the list goes on
Ric also voted against the smoking bylaw. He would be a terrible choice.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Jon Lord, he has announced and I believe he looks pretty good compared to the rest
ReplyDeleteWould it be safe to say that Ric is in it for Ric?
ReplyDeleterIc McI, I, I, I, would be a nIghtmare.
ReplyDeleteAs a Civic employee (I shall remain nameless to avoid controversy) I am unable to put my vote behind any of the candidates. Ric has mentioned he wants to keep Race City open, I am not sure I believe him on that one. Colley-Urquhart... well, to be honest, I think she is just a media chaser and nothing but a loud voice with not a lot of thought process.
ReplyDeleteIs there a "No Contest" ballot?
Hey...what about Naheed Nenshi?
ReplyDeleteYay go Rick!!!
ReplyDeleteBob Hawksworth would be a progressive choice.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's time to get a fresh new face in there. One that Calgary is familiar with, has a good relationship with and can trust would do the proper research to make informed decisions. Any one heard if Barb Higgins is running for Mayor?
ReplyDeleteWell, it looks like Barb Higgins is running. Maybe we need an outsider, someone that understands fiscal responsibility and wants to do what's right, not just what makes them popular with the voters
ReplyDeleteSo far, of the candidates with stated platforms or a known history, there isn't much to choose from. A few aldermen with some "brand recognition" but not a great record of smart positions or decisions. An "entrepreneur" who appears to have a pretty lose definition of "accountable" or "moral", and some one-note banjos who have a single meaningful item on their agenda and a bunch of filler to make the look like a well-rounded candidate.
ReplyDeleteBarb Higgins may be a promising candidate, but until I can see her platform, there's no way to tell. As a journalist, she seemed to keep whatever her leanings and priorities are pretty quiet (didn't use her job as a platform for her own agenda), so its hard to know specifically what she intends to accomplish. Her press conference was encouraging, but still too general to make a real decision just yet.
Looking for a Mayor and Alderman who will run the City and not the whims of indivduals in City Council. Allow Alderman to vote according to there constituents.
ReplyDeleteStop listing to special interest groups who take away our choice of lifestyle and the food we eat.The more we give up the closer we come to dictatorial society.
Nenshi all the way! No way I can support Ric McIver for mayor after how he treated Riverbend - splitting the community for big industry and Quarry Park...
ReplyDeleteIt appears to be a two horse race: Ric and Barb. I think the greater population is looking for a change in city hall, and unfortunately for Ric, he's not it. Looks like it's time to shake things up in this city.
ReplyDeleteCandidate Lawrence Oshanek was homeless when he sued the City of Calgary to reinstate mail-in ballots and to eliminate photo ID only as a means of obtaining a ballot to vote ... his court action resulted in over some 50,000 people being able to access a ballot this election .... Nenshi said and did nothing and Barb Higgins would not even put the story on the air and Ric McIver ... well he voted for the bylaw making certain that people in hospitals and in Afghanistan and away at school could not vote in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI'm going with Oshanek!
I will vote the one that is show care in the people of Calgary. And look the future grow need to the city. For examples: why are we do not have a head office of Alberta’s labour Law Office in Calgary city? Why every complaint we make have to be send to Edmonton? We are now 1 million people in the city of Calgary. And also more and more company is growing in city of Calgary.
ReplyDeleteAlso Corruption in the police force protecting there family member from getting speeding ticket (examples: every time there husband or wife or kid or brother got a speeding ticket they delete it out of the system so they do not have to pay ), School discriminated again fostering kid and unfairness accepting application kid within there own area. And since I move here from the east all I see here in Calgary is all about me making money and money for me and not about the people.
And also there are so many bad driver on the road the police here do not see it because all they do it watching from camera at the light. Allot of this bad driver problems are: no driver licence, no insurance, expired licence plate, road race, and drunk driver and police can not see this unless they are on the road driving instead of sitting the desk and looking at camera.
Hawksworth is a flaming socialist/elitist - As Orwell wrote in his novel 1984: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others". As a Libertarian I'd hesitate to nominate Hawksworth as dog-catcher.
ReplyDeleteYes, I will vote - Likely writing in "None of the above" because all elected politicians have debts that they need to to pay off with voters' dollars.
I want to know which Mayor candidate promises to freeze all city taxes and fees.
ReplyDeleteAlso Ward 11 candidates on same issue.
All candidates for Mayor and Alderman on the present council do not deserve a vote. Having served on the council they are knowledgable in how to spend the tax payers money to meet their own adgenda by telling us it is what all Calgarians want. This is not the truth. What we need is a Mayor and Alderman that will do what is best for Calgary. By listening to the people who pay their wages.
ReplyDeleteNaheed Nenshi. Intelligent. Calgarian. Results Driven.
ReplyDeleteI think Ric Mciver, will do the job very well for Calgarian.
ReplyDelete