So last week I was finally able to get down
to the serious business of parsing the candidates running to be the next mayor
or the next members of city council. I sent out my questionnaire to all
candidates, asking them many of the same questions. The responses started
trickling in almost immediately, and at press time, of the 37 total candidates,
eight had returned the questionnaire with another five promising timely
responses. By my count, that’s nearly a third of the candidates in just five
days time, which ain’t bad.
The questionnaire was simple. It asked why
the candidate decided to run for office, what they thought of the performance
of the current council, and their thoughts on a variety of issues including
taxation, development, city budget, transit and arts & culture. In this
space, over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting some of their responses.
But for the whole kit and kaboodle click over to my Guelph Politico blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com
First let’s go to the head cheese, Mayor
Karen Farbridge, who’s pleased with the progress the city has made under her
last four years in the chair at the centre of the horseshoe. “We have made
sustainability a hallmark of Guelph’s future,” she said. “We have saved our taxpayers $48 million
dollars: because of our success with the Infrastructure Stimulus Funding
program we were able to fix our roads and sewers while putting 800 people back
to work during a recession.”
Many of the challengers for councillor
seats though seem to have opinions to the contrary. “There are issues of
transparency at city hall,” says Ward 6 candidate Todd Dennis. “Where is the
discussion and debate expected in a democracy? This council appears to be
automatically approving every project put forth. Does anyone stand up and
question the project’s necessity and whether value is being provided to
taxpayers.”
Others though are more pragmatic in their
appraisal. “Do I think they could have made tougher decisions when it comes to
spending and being financially more credible than what they tell us? Yes,” said
Ward 1 candidate Allan Boynton. “We all know that there is going to be new
people there and I hope the public chooses my ideas and values. The last
council will be held accountable for their decisions on the 25th of October.”
Boynton’s fellow Ward 1 challenger Russell
Ott agrees with that assessment. “This council did a less than average job,”
Ott said. “They came in with one priority which was to change the decorum
around the council table. Unfortunately, to avoid any conflict or heated
discussions, too many times issues and proposals came forward which were
flawed. The right questions were not asked of staff or delegations, and several
councillors, including both in ward one voted in a ‘block’ and did not consider
how it would affect residents in ward one.”
Still, others are looking to the issues that
are not as frequently spoken about. “The Community Youth Strategy has gotten
lost in the shuffle,” explains Ward 4 nominee Steven Petric. “Our young people
deserve more respect and resources from us. I feel as though Guelph is well
behind many others in providing much needed services and places for young
people. I would make sure we implement the strategy and push for more youth
services within our neighbourhood groups.”
Others, meanwhile, are just filled with
questions. “Why does the south end have such a problem with absentee landlords
and their tenants?” asks Ward 6 candidate Susan Ricketts. “Why doesn't the
south end receive equal treatment when it comes to services like police, fire,
bylaw enforcement, waste management and property standards? Why can someone
downtown receive money from the City to renovate their business premises but
not if your business is located outside the Downtown Business Association
boundary? Are we sure, yet, what the true cost of the new waste management
system will be? Has there been sufficient public input and education on that issue?”
For more questions (and answers) head
over to Guelph Politico at http://guelphpolitico.blogpsot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment