More From the Candidates

So let’s start with the incumbents, because despite the high profile nature of the position, being a city councillor is a full-time job that pays like a part-time one, no matter what you feel about whether or not those people are worthy of the paycheque they get. So with all the scrutiny and armchair quarterbacking, why would someone want another go-round in the horseshoe? Let’s ask Ward 4 Councillor Mike Salisbury.

“The City of Guelph is in the midst of a transition – from a small, progressive community to a much more complex and diverse mid-sized city,” explains Salisbury. “We require leadership capable of navigating this transition - a council capable of seizing the opportunities while preserving the character and quality of life that makes Guelph so unique. […] My personal vision for the City of Guelph is to build upon this legacy and making Guelph an inspiring place to live – invest – and to visit.”

Part of that vision is an increased focus on improving transit, according to Salisbury. “Perhaps the most exciting (and overdue) initiative was the development of the Transit Growth Strategy,” he says. “The strategy combines increased service frequency during peak periods and off peak periods combined with a host of routing improvements which addresses long standing complaints about the radial transit system we have struggled with for years. I believe we are making strong headway but there is still much more to be done.”

Salisbury isn’t the only one making transit a priority. “My family of young adults (high school and university) and myself are transit users, and know the importance of a dependable system (including holidays),” says Ward 5 Councillor Leanne Piper. “On time, on budget, increased ridership, friendly staff, improved technology and better inter-modal linkage; the Transit Growth Strategy speaks to all of these key issues and I strongly support the growth and efficiency of our system.”

Piper also believes that Guelph is a city in transition and that strong, experienced leadership is needed to keep things moving forward. “Guelph is on a forward momentum path,” she explains. “We are poised to be national leaders on a number of fronts – water conservation, wastewater, community energy, economic development, arts and culture, and more. We need strong leaders at City Hall to keep us on that path. I want to look back in 25 years and know that I did everything in my power to ensure Guelph’s sustainability and prepare us for the next generation.”

Strong points, but many of the candidates challenging the current councillors for their seats have said that one of the biggest problems with the current council is keeping its constituents informed about those accomplishments. “A common and often heard complaint from voters is that that candidates are visible to voters during the campaign and once elected are seldom seen,” says Jim Furfaro, one of 11 candidates running in Ward 1. “I want to assure voters that their support will be recognized beyond Election Day. I plan to “put constituents and their needs first.” I will keep voters informed (townhall meetings) and up-to-date on key issues that have a potential impact on Ward One or the entire city.”

In Ward 2 meanwhile, one incumbent councillor begs to differ and says that he’s been doing a pretty good job of keeping his constituents in the loop. “The Ward 2 Blog helped connect residents of Guelph with City Hall,” according to Ian Findlay. “It became a popular forum for community discussion and information on a variety of topics. To date I have made over 1,800 postings to my blog and it has been viewed more than 225,000 times!” But for Findlay, there’s also been more human interaction too. “I also co-hosted 16 town hall meetings in Ward 2. These neighbourhood meetings allowed residents and other stakeholders the opportunity to express themselves on a variety of topics and issues.”

Still, Furfaro holds to his guns that this election is about bringing some new blood into the council chamber. “This election is as much about ‘change’ as it is about issues,” he says. “There are ten incumbent councillors seeking re-election and twenty-three individuals believing they can make a difference. Be prepared for ‘business as usual’ in how things are done in the council chamber if voters choose not to make substantial changes.

For full candidate questionnaires zip over to Guelph Politico at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Green Coup, Election News & Movie Night

The Green Coup is Guelph led

Well, sort of. Guelph was the place that Sylvie Lemieux, a former Lt. Colonel in the Canadian Forces and accomplished civil engineer, launched her campaign to succeed Elizabeth May as Green Party of Canada leader a few weeks ago.

The setting was the backyard of the home of Bob Bell. Bell, the locally acclaimed candidate for the Green Party in the next federal election, was hosting a barbecue get-together for local Greens. Lemieux made her announcement as the clock winds down on an August 2 vote by party members on constitutional changes that would stymie the requirement for a leadership contest before the end of 2010. This is the fourth year of May’s four year term as leader of the Green Party of Canada, but the near constant spectre of a federal election, May has been advocating that now’s not the time for a potentially divisive leadership contest.

“There are several people who will run for leadership when there is a leadership race and by far the numbers of people who want to run for leadership don’t want to have a leadership race before the next election,” May told the Globe and Mail. “They don’t think it will be in the best interests of the party.”

Lemieux, obviously, disagrees. ““This is not about running against Elizabeth May,” Lemieux told the Globe. “This is about creating a better option for Canadians by building the party into a true contender that's more attuned to Canadians from coast to coast.”

At Saturday’s barbecue, Bell, our local man in Green, was noncommittal, but believed that the party needed to look at their leadership situation head on. “Elizabeth has been the leader for four years, so it’s time to ask the question, and Sylvie is doing so,” Bell said. “There’s been this possible impending election for a year and a half and I believe that’s why our leadership issue has been pushed back.”

Still, it’s interesting that Lemieux would choose Guelph to make her declaration of interest in heading the Green Party. Our sorted little berg has long been considered a possible “breakthrough” riding for the party, and in the past two elections (the 2007 Provincial and the 2008 Federal) the Green candidate finished third. As for that elusive next Federal election, Lemieux says don’t worry because Prime Minister Stephen Harper “has no incentive to get into an election before [2011].”

Real 2010 Election News

So it appears that my prediction that things on the municipal ballot would be relatively quiet through to the end of summer was a wee bit off with several new additions to the slate of candidates in the last couple of weeks. First, veteran councillor Gloria Kovach became the name on the first hat thrown into the ring for Ward 4 when she announced on July 15. The same day Peter Bortolon joined the growing race for Ward 1 and was joined one day later by Gary Walton. This brings the total of candidates running in the Ward 1 race up to seven. Prior to that on July 8 Leanne Piper joined her fellow Ward 5 incumbent Lise Burcher on the ballot by officially declaring her nomination. So far, Piper and Burcher are the only candidates in Ward 5. For the full election ballot thus far, go to http://guelph.ca/vote

Movie Night in Goldie Mill Park

If your looking for something to do tonight and you’re in a fight the power kind of mood, head over to Goldie Mill Park for a screening of the documentary Lucio: Anarchist, Forger, Bank robber. Bricklayer. It's about noted Spanish anarchist Lucio Urtubia, a man who's quite literally a modern Robin Hood. The film will start around 8:30 pm and the admission is by donation. Funds are being raised for local protestors still detained by the police following arrests made during the G20 in Toronto.

Ward 5: The “Sandwich” Effect

Nearing the completion of its cross-city tour, this week’s penultimate edition of “Better Know a Ward” brings us to Ward 5. The uniqueness of this particular area, according to its representatives Councillors Leanne Piper and Lise Burcher, is that Ward 5 is sandwiched between two different cultures: downtown and the south end. As well, there’s a “vibrancy that comes from having a high student population,” says Piper, as Ward 5 is home to the University of Guelph and numerous students, staff and faculty that have settled nearby. As well, the HQ of The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the largest commercial zone in the city in and around Stone Road Mall dwell within Ward 5.

At the same time, Ward 5 hosts a very active community. Not only socially-conscious U of G students, but also several well established neighbourhood groups like the Hanlon Creek Neighbourhood Group and the Old University Neighbourhood Residents' Association. In fact, the OUNRA is where many city councillors, including former Ward 5 rep Cathy Downer and Burcher, got their political start. “They’re a really good training ground for citizen engagement,” says Burcher. “The good thing is that it was very much about community mobilization, and very much focused on engagement and bringing people to the table.”

As for the issues, Piper and Burcher face the usual things associated with a heavy student populated area, but not so much the usual development issues being discussed throughout the rest of the city. One on the duo’s radar though is the ongoing concern from the Guelph Limestone Inc (formally Dolime) property just adjacent to the Ward along Arkell Rd, east of Victoria St. S. “It has become an issue, not just in terms of noise, but blasting, migration, and water quality,” says Piper. “The city has taken a very strong position that the pit needs to be decommissioned to protect our surface water.”

“What we want to do is encourage Carson-Reid (the owner’s of the quarry) to get to the end use plan and stop the blasting and stop the excavation,” adds Burcher. “The really serious risk from a water quality perspective is that recently there was a geological survey conducted and the City of Guelph was told that they could see the top half of the aquifer, had actually been removed in one portion.”

City requests for operations to cease seem to have been ignored and the concern is that there might be contamination of the aquifer from surface water. The result is that the water would have to be treated at the cost of millions of dollars. Sadly, this is provincial jurisdiction and the city can’t seem to get the traction it needs from the Ministry of the Environment. But there are hopes that there’ll be a break on that soon with help from community pressure and groups like Wellington Water Watchers.

Another issue that generated some heat in Ward 5 early this year was the removal of older, dying trees in Royal City Park. “It had to be done in my opinion, however unfortunate that is,” said Piper. “It’s a very significant move on the city’s part to go from just managing trees on an ad hoc basis to doing a very comprehensive urban forestry master plan for the whole city,” adds Burcher. Although the removal of trees is sad, they say, it’s necessary in order to keep the city’s urban forests healthy. As well, they add, it’s part of the city’s new commitment to the health of these trees, which is now being only limited by budget restraints.

Having said that and considering re-election plans, both councillors affirm that they are interested in pursuing political life after this fall’s election. “Many of the initiatives that you begin in 2006, you can't see through in four years,” said Piper in response to being asked about re-election. “Two terms of council, I think, are a minimum in order to feel satisfied that you've made a difference and you've seen through your vision into action. So yes, I'm running again.”

“Absolutely, I plan on running again,” responded Burcher. “And having been there another term I have to say that several of the large initiatives we've talked about started two terms ago. But I think the exciting thing now is that there have been so many initiatives in the last two terms, I would venture that it's a 10, 12 year outcome for a lot of those larger things to even get to the starting stage.”

In any event, Burcher considers it important that every citizen be part of the process at all levels, and not just at the voting booth on Election Day. “I believe it’s critical that we engage citizens very intentionally and very effectively, early and often as it goes, to contribute to and be the creators of these plans moving forward. And I think effective citizen engagement really draws that community value. It’s not about doing it for people, but doing it with them.”

For “Better Know a Ward” segments past and present go to http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com

Crimes, Misdemeanors and Google Steet View

New Developments in Torch Mess

Assault charges were dropped last week against a 19-year-old Kitchener woman for the altercation between torch security and protesters during the Olympic torch's run through Downtown Guelph on December 28th. As reported in the Mercury, a new charge of mischief was made against Brittney Simpson. The assault charge was dropped because there was “no reasonable prospect of conviction” according to Assistant Crown attorney Steve Hamilton. A second person arrested in relation to the incident is still facing an assault charge with an additional mischief charge filed against her in court last Monday. Both Simpson and Kelly Pflug-Back from Guelph will be back in court on March 5th.

In other Torch related news, Guelph Police said last week that there was no evidence to support Pflug-Back’s charge that she was assaulted by torch security during the protest. Guelph Police spokesperson Const. Michael Gatto said that the police have two videos of the incident provided to them. “They both had different angles of the scene,” Gatto said of the videos. “Neither video showed any evidence of an assault that took place to match up with what Kelly Pflug-Back was describing.” Pflug-Back, meanwhile, is sticking to her guns. “It’s ridiculous,” she said. “There is a hospital record of the contusion on my lip. I was punched.”

Guelph Goes Google Street View

Guelph can now count itself among the lucky few, one of 150 Canadian cities, that can see itself in full detail on Google Street View. “I am so pleased that we are on the map, so to speak,” said Christine Chapman, program and partnership co-ordinator with Guelph Tourism Services at the City of Guelph. Canada just became a part of the Google app early last year despite the occasionally controversial nature of the program due to its highly detailed photography. Cars equipped with special cameras took the images of Guelph last spring and summer, which explains why when you look at different areas of the city some trees have no leaves and others are lush and green. To check out Street View for yourself, just go to maps.google.ca, type in an address, drag the little orange man on to the area of the map you want to see the street view of and enjoy.

Perfect Attendance Goes To…

The numbers on attendance for city council from 2009 are in, and the winner of the perfect attendance award is Mayor Karen Farbridge. The Mayor’s stats include face time at 38 council meetings, 27 closed meetings and 46 committee meetings. Ward 5 Councillor Leanne Piper also had an impressive finish with 38 council meetings, 27 closed meetings and every meeting of the CDES and land ambulance committees. Not included in the count however were meetings missed while councillors were representing the City at meetings or conferences. As well, it should be pointed out that aside from the Mayor, city councillors have to, you know, work a job and make a living since being a city councillor is only a part time gig.

Crime Beat

In follow-up to an item in The Beat last month, the mysterious case of an 83-year-old man charged with several incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti, saw our octogenarian tagger plead guilty in court last week. Max Mahr of Guelph was arrested and charged on September 30, 2009, with five counts of mischief under $5,000, with an additional charge of wilful promotion of hate being laid following a further police investigation. No word on sentencing, although all parties are due back in court on March 8 for a pre-sentencing report.