Cats, Chopsticks, and Rainbows: Final pre-nomination candidate update

Update: Added comments for incumbents that I forgot to include.

It’s the Saturday before nomination day and so here’s the final candidate update this blog will make before it goes into overdrive. Here we go:


Mayor’s Race

Amanda Liu: This Coventry Hills resident will base her campaign on word of mouth, and has no plans for putting up a website. According to the Herald, she’s concentrating on the economy and aiding immigrants.

Bonnie Devine: She was the second woman to join the race, and she’s focused on a people before profit campaign. She advocates to increase childcare space, and wants to remove public school fees (which are out of the city’s jurisdiction as mandated by the province). She will have to offer a detailed plan of how she will implement both her economic platform and her perplexing jurisdictional mandates to convince Calgarians that she is the right candidate.

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Derek McKenzie: As a simple candidate, he’s laid out a very general platform since he announced for mayor. The Herald reports that he’s a single dad who has lived in Calgary for 16 years. McKenzie told the Herald that he wanted to emulate the way Klein reached out to people, and his wit during the Calgary Leadership Forum’s forum demonstrated a little bit of that. However, he’s going to have to ramp up his campaign as crunch time is only 2 days away before the candidates pull out all the moves.

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Lawrence Oshanek: Some may know Lawrence through his challenges in court against the city on various things that may be deemed as government interference. He’s challenged the city to its lifejacket bylaw as well as voter identification bylaws for city elections. He publicly announced his run the same day the media recognized Oscar Fech as a candidate. Like many other lower-profile candidates, Oshanek will not be running a very high budget campaign. He’s mainly concentrating on government policies that he deems to be intrusive of city residents, as well as transparency and accountability.

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Ward 1

Bill Scott: Long rumored Bill Scott has finally announced his formal run in Ward 1. He’s been involved in Ward 1 heavily, especially in Varsity and Rocky Ridge. He’s also been appointed to the City of Calgary’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board in 1999, and is still vice chair according to his biography. Scott wants annual zero based budgeting and mobility choices. He joins 6 known individuals in Ward 1, which may be enough to give incumbent Dale Hodges another term.

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Dale Hodges: With this site updated and ready to go for 2010, one can only assume he’s running again. The longest serving alderman in Calgary has had a stable and successful run. He’s going to be up against main challenger Chris Harper, but if 2007 demonstrated anything, Hodges will have to be actively campaigning to keep his Ward 1 seat. Should the city decide that the entire council needs to be removed, council will lack veterans like Hodges to help guide the new council.

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Ward 2

Daniel M. Del Re: So far in Ward 2, the exact same candidates that competed in 2007 are back at it again this year. Del Re is a machine operator (or was last time) who garnered just above 300 votes last time round. He’s lived in Ranchlands since 1985, and he’s running on a platform of more police and responsible growth.

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Gord Lowe: This will be Lowe’s fourth stab at the job. He knows the budget inside and out, and has cruised to victories in his previous campaigns. With a lack of new candidates or heavyweights in this ward, and should the trend continue as it was in 2007, Lowe will face little opposition this time round even as city residents are frustrated with the current council.

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Terry Avramenko: As current president of the Ranchlands Community Association (9 years running), he’s committed to more public washrooms secondary suites, and “fair share taxes” . He was the closest challenger to Lowe last time with about 24% of the popular vote. It seems that a lot of people from Ranchlands really wants to run against Lowe for some reason. Will Avramenko get enough traction to put up a serious challenge to Lowe or will this prove to be a safe ward on October 18th?

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Ward 3

Helene Larocque: She was defeated by current alderman Jim Stevenson, and placed third behind George Chahal in 2007. She’s making a comeback by replacing images from her old 2007 to reflect the current election. She wants to see the C-train before the tunnel, and it’s the North-Central line she’s talking about. That will most likely not be in the works until at least 2020 when council mauls over plans for a South-East line. Many believed that Larocque was defeated because she did not engage with Ward 3 well. Will she be able to make a come back against Stevenson, who has been a strong airport tunnel advocate, and will new ward boundaries help her out?

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Jim Stevenson: After defeating Larocque in 2007, Stevenson has actually been a fairly successful alderman for his ward. He’s done enough essentially on the airport tunnel issue to win him the key factor that is crucial for every alderman: communicating and understanding you constituents. With the airport tunnel as his pillar, Stevenson can expect to be the heavy favorite this time round, and shouldn’t face the 3 way split in 2007. With George Chahal out of this ward’s race, Stevenson only has Larocque and Tremblay to beat.

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Ward 4

Dwight Boehm: He’s a professional logistician who is vying for Hawkesworth’s old seat. He wants to increase services while cutting taxes, which will be hard to implement unless he’s got a good handle about city finances and a very detailed budget for the city to implement. He’s also suggested that people help him out by going to “The Oven”. He’s one of 12 known candidates in this open seat race (also makes this blogger’s life a lot more hectic).

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 Gael Macleod: This blog was the first to report Macleod as a rumored candidate a month ago, and she has finally announced her run. She’s an Executive Director of the Alberta Real Estate Foundation according to her website. She’s running on a platform similar to others in Ward 4 of smart growth and community conversations. She’s in a race with the highest number of females and visible minorities, making this race quite interesting to watch.

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 Jeff Haussecker: First reported by the Sun, Haussecker is an architect and joins a crowded field. He’s committed to more police, encouraging density, and protecting existing green-space. With such a crowded field, Haussecker will need to differentiate himself from the rest of the pack in order to keep up, and invest in some heavy signage (which I am seeing everywhere).

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Jon Wong: Wong may take votes away from Sean Chu, who was once perceived as a possible front-runner, but has now been drowned out by a sheer number of other candidates, and increasing competition from Jane Morgan. Wong wants an airport tunnel and new or upgraded facilities for health and wellness. Wong is the latest addition to this field of candidates, and is a head Coach of the Calgary Spartans Jr. Development Program according to his website. As they all compete for votes, only one out of this particularly first past the post election will emerge as the victor, and maybe only by a couple of votes.

Ward 5

Beena Ashar: Almost half her platform is really dominated by the airport tunnel and LRT to airport issue. She’s the first woman to announce her run in Ward 5, essentially filling in the gap for Dan Barnfield who had announced that he would not be running anymore. Beyond that though, she has not said much. The Herald reports that she is a property investor and has lived in Calgary for about 5 years.

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Ray Jones: Ward 5 is a relatively safe ward for an incumbent. While Jones may be one of the more quiet alderman on council, he’s done enough to keep his streaks going. He’s been alderman since 1993, and with no real heavy challengers in this ward, it is expected that Jones will return to council. Ward 5 has already had two withdrawals: Dan Barnfield and Ken Reinhart.

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Ward 6

Coral Turner: Turner is the only woman to run in Ward 6.  She’s lived in Calgary for 23 years and has volunteered at numerous places according to her website. She has offered little so far in her platform, and instead asks Ward 6 residents to tell her what’s important. She’ll have to offer something more in this open race (and in case that Connelly may consider opting out of the mayoral race and back into Ward 6).

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Henry Sims: He’s a professional driver and active in the Wildrose Alliance according to his website. His platform on addressing the needs and concerns of low income families, as well as making transit more attractive to commuters. These are quite general points, and the race in Ward 6 has been fairly quiet for an open race. Wards 4, 9 and 12 are truly open races, but Ward 6 is iffy at this point as the Connelly campaign for mayor has died down. Sims will have to push his campaign a notch up. Ward 6 can also be a political hotspot, but we’ll see as the election progresses.

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John Yannitsos: He served as chairman of Seair, a clean water technologies company, until he stepped down to take a run at alderman in Ward 6. His platform includes working closely with the school system and public trustees, and will only encourage a review of contracts. Yannitsos will have to work very closely with the province in order to do anything with the school system, as the relationship between province and city has been rough over the past few years.

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Randy Royer: Royer “created” the Westsprings-Cougar Ridge Community Association, written a book, and was the president of Hospital trust according to his website. He’s looking for fiscal responsibility and strong leadership in city council, although he’s short on the specific details of that. His orange logo is very similar to Home Depot’s main logo if you ever take a chance to visit Royer’s website.

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Tom Malyszko: He’s an engineer and decided to take a stab at alderman after Connelly announced his run for mayor. He wants a level playing field for all candidates rich and poor, and and promote environmental entrepreneurship. He also doesn’t believe that the tunnel or the Peace bridge should be built. Will Malyszko drop out if Connelly runs for ward 6? We’ll have to find out on nomination day.

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Ward 7

Elizabeth Ann Cook: Little is known about her beyond what the Herald reports. She’s a professional house cleaner who is going back to the roots of campaigning by going door to door. She is the only other woman running against incumbent Druh Farrell in Ward 7.

Druh Farrell: Some perceive the current incumbent for Ward 7 as a polarizing figure, while some perceive her as a very successful alderman who has managed to push through unique proposals and suggestions. Farrell may fall victim to a ward that is unhappy about the direction that council is going, or she may win after the candidates split the vote enough to let her sneak by. Either way, Ward 7 will be a good indicator of how the ward’s attitude is and how the city’s attitude is. This may turn out to be a race more volatile than Ward 8 should things radically change.

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Ward 8

Andrew Lapp: Little is known about this individual besides Ward 8 candidate Zak Pashak reporting that he had signed Lapp’s nomination papers.

Updated: David Lapp: Apparently there is a new contender, however it is highly suspected that Andrew Lapp = David Lapp. According to his Facebook note, Lapp is running on a platform of initiative, volunteerism, and entrepreneurship. 

John Mar: Mar ended up winning in Ward 8 after a lot of money invested and splitting the vote 3 ways with then alderman Madeline King and Steve Chapman. For the longest time, Zak Pashak was the only contender in 8, but now that is not the case with the entrance of two (probably just one) other candidates. Mar was also seen as the alderman who held the balance in a 7-7 vote stalemate. While Pashak may be gaining speed, Mar may still have enough to win at the end of the day. Last election was all about money, but will Mar have raised enough to hold off his competition?

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Ward 10

Andre Chabot: While 2004 and 2005 was a turbulent time for the city’s election track record and for Ward 10 residents, Chabot has managed to hold onto his new found success in 2007 and most likely this time around again. He was the lone voice who voted not to have the auditor fired, but was under fire earlier for attempting to adjust ward boundaries so that Ward 10 would not be wiped off the map. Besides that though, Chabot is expected to win his seat again should no other contenders carry out a heavy campaign. (There is a rumored third candidate but we will have to confirm that on nomination day).

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Ward 11

Brian Pincott: He won the ward after Barry Erskine retired to the surprise of many at city hall. Pincott now faces 3 other candidates, and even the possibility that Erskine himself might vy for his old seat again. Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that ward 11 is the most overlooked race. Will Pincott, chair of the audit committee, return for a second term? Will James Maxim be a formidable challenger? Will Erskine return to take back the seat?

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Ward 12

Benjamin Sim: He’s contending for the open seat left by McIver in ward 12. He vows to stay on for only 2 terms and wants to promote more rapid transit. He also wants to ban the use of cellphones (provincial jurisdiction) and put in mandatory sentences for major criminal offenses (federal jurisdiction), but those are beyond the reaches of a city. Ward 12 has been quiet for an open race compared to Ward 4. Even wards 6 and 9 are fairly quiet, as the media focuses in on the mayoral race.

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Ward 13

Andrew Rodych: He operates his own tutoring business and is a recent graduate from the University of Calgary. His platform includes improving the snow removal budget and to balance the budget (even though the city is required to by provincial law). He joins Sandy Jenkins, who garnered a respectable third in the mayoral race last time, Trevor Hodge, and Ward 13 favorite Diane Colley-Urquhart. Will Andrew be able to distinguish himself in this race and capitalize on Colley-Urquhart’s failed bid to become Calgary Glenmore’s MLA?

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Trevor Hodge: He’s lived in Calgary for 19 years and has worked in the hospitality business for the past 25 years. He’s running on the platform of proactive infrastructure building, and improving how the city spends tax dollars. He’s also quite tired of the ring road project according to his website. His platform offers little so far, and will need to be expanded upon in a race that is favoring the incumbent.

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Diane Colley-Urquhart: While she may have lost an opportunity to be MLA for Calgary Glenmore, she’s still popular in her home ward of 13. A former mayoral candidate, a recent graduate, and a hospitality-services worker are challenging her, she seems quite comfortable in winning this election. As one of the main aldermen who challenged council about the controversial tax hike at the end of 2008, her actions will make her a formidable incumbent to defeat. 

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Ward 14

Linda Fox-Mellway: Perhaps the most quiet alderman on council, but Fox-Mellway has kept it that way while being re-elected with massive leads in every election. She was acclaimed in 2007, but this time there are 4 other candidates vying to dethrone her. Ward 14 will be a race just to keep an eye on once in a while to see what the mood is down in the deep south. It is expected that Fox-Mellway may win the seat with vote splitting by the other 4 candidates vying her spot.

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