After checking the list of candidates for the Ward 7 by-election (SP Jan. 13/11) I'm glad I am not a voter in that ward. At first glance I was disappointed that only one woman had entered the race. My disappointment was increased when I scanned Loewen's platform, realized she did not reside in the ward and that she was Pat Atkinson's former political aide. Obviously she knew in advance of the big announcement that Pat was hanging up her spurs (at least for now) and she would need a new public sector job. So its back to the guys.
Bergsteinsson, a College Park resident, did not make the short list by running his campaign on garbage pickup and snow removal. Both are important issues but certainly don't hit my priority list.
Pollock, a Nutana resident, is the Heritage Society candidate. Enough said.
Oranchuk's comments on waste were vague. He stated he knew there was a lot of waste in the city but outside of extending the life of city vehicles didn't offer anything else in terms of what he would target.
I'm not sure about Bzowey based on his comments. I like his position on reducing city spending. Targeting organized gangs is appealing, but that is the purview of the city police, not council. As to the back alleys, I would prefer to have the front streets repaired first. And of course both these issues would result in increased spending.
Thomson could get a thumbs up. I agree with him on slowing down public building projects and his questioning council's wisdom of paying for future civic projects through incremental property tax increases.
Wheatley, a ward resident, speaks of careful spending and creating a transparent financial and tax regime at city hall. As an accountant he has the potential to teach councillors about simple debit/credit practice and the cost of increasing debt. He warrants a serious look.
That leaves us with Bellamy. Certainly from his blurb you can note he is an "experienced" candidate. He has run in this area before and knows where his vote sits. He used all the right buzz words. However, I have heard that if elected Bellamy will hold his trustee position as well. I'm uncomfortable with this as periodically the city and the school board are at odds on issues. The double tap into the public purse leaves me uneasy as well.
When the betting begins I suspect Bellamy will be out front because he knows how to run a campaign and will have an campaign organization in place. I would guess that Loewen is the only one that could complete on the hustings as she will have the political party connections and they will rally the troops.
I'm sure many in Ward 7 would like to put their mark on 'none of the above' which will simply play out as low voter turnout.
Lady and gentlemen - beat your drums.
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Wow, what a bunch of verbal diarrhea. You've dismissed nearly everyone based on one article and few selected quotes. You can do better than that Mistress.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, I agree with you that it will be the experienced candidates that will separate from the pack - the ones that put the time in on the doorstep, get signs up, and get their message out in flyers.
Funny how you highlight Loewen's NDP connections but fail to mention Bellamy's Sask Party connections (he has run under their banner twice before).
ReplyDeleteOf course, it would be much more insightful if you judged these two based on their platforms....Bellamy definitely has much more info on his site than Loewen, though both seem to have well thought out reasons for running - party schills or not.
Good lord, just had the opportunity to browse through Pollock's site. The guy is a nut job.
ReplyDeleteWhy can people not accept the decision of the traffic bridge, it appears as if he is going to spark this whole debate again speaking on behalf of the 'silent majority'.
It sounds like he also wants to design and establish the worlds most advanced and expensive recycling system, that handles everything from door pick up to processing to creation of new products.
Oh and his webpage concludes with a a picture of Tommy Douglas with the wording "Greatest Man Ever" under it.
The scary thing is that other nut job Lenore Swystun will likely be pulling the puppet strings and running this campaign.
Really! Bellamy plans to keep his trustee position if elected to city council? I think he is taking the Sask Party strategy of grooming their future candidates through school boards and municipal councils a little too far!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the near thumbs up, please do not count me out, I have volunteers and resources and plan on giving the established candidates a run for their money. I think if you check my website , you will see that I am the only one who has given any thought as to how we might curb public spending.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:32 - I was remiss in not mentioning Bellamy's association with the Sask Party. I wrongly assumed everyone knew that as he has been around the election cycles for decades whereas the other candidates are fresh meat.
ReplyDeleteCandidate Thomson,welcome to my parlour . . . I will spend the weekend checking candidate websites and I look forward to your continued participation. There seems to be little media coverage in by-elections and perhaps you will keep us up to take on what is happening on the door step in Ward 7.
ha. i like your motley crue reference.
ReplyDeletejust of note loewen hasnt worked for atkinson since 2007 so i dont think its fair to imply that was her motivation for running.
Mistress,
ReplyDeleteShouldn't each and every candidate need to come from the ward they want to run in. I'd smack a person right on the back of the head if they thought I would vote for people who don't live in the ward but want to somehow speak for those that do. So on your evaluation I would have liked you to blanket all those "outsiders" in one great NO group. This leaves only a couple of candidates. My knowledge of them is minuscule but I have had at chance to be an acquaintance of Mike Bzowey's (Hey I like Pizza what can I say). He is a business person, he has indicated he's not in anyone's pocket and as a younger person is what we need on council. A fresh face and fresh ideas with the knowledge his taxes go up double what any home owner faces. This short term would give him a chance to get the feel for politics and also the inside dealings those councilors like to do prior to voting. It will help us all to have someone new get a shot.
As for Bellamy... well I think you said enough about someone who wont step down before trying for another seat. And it might even back fire if others in the campaign do a smear job on him. Nice guy but I just don't think he has the savvy political persona he will need to straddle the line.
Pringle, Clark, Neault, and Penner were all elected in 2009 despite not living in their respective wards. Apparently not living in your ward really isn't that big of a deal.
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