Author Archive

The Ward 9 profile

October 16, 2010 - By

Ward 9′s longtime alderman, Joe Ceci, isn’t running for re-election this year. That means, come October 18, the ward will have a new council rep — and it’ll be one of the folks listed below.

Who’s Running?

Gian-Carlo Carra

Carra is a self-described “urban design professional” and has been president of the Inglewood Community Association since 2003. He grew up in Calgary and New York City, eventually getting his Masters in Environmental Design from the University of Calgary in 2005. Carra wants to overhaul the way city hall manages Calgary’s growth. “Current rules and regulations make it incredibly difficult for developers to build anything other than fiscally-unsustainable suburban neighborhoods,” he says on his website. “We need to change the rules and regulations so that walkable, human-focused neighborhoods are a viable option again.”

Website: http://www.carra4ward9.ca

Steve Chapman

Former cop Steve Chapman almost won Ward 8 in 2004, but then-alderman Madeleine King beat him by 146 votes. He ran again in Ward 8 in 2007 and lost to John Mar. Gunning for Ward 9 this year, Chapman, a past president of the Progressive Group for Independent Business, says Ward 9 needs a “pitbull” to deal with city administration [...]Read More

Categories: Alderman - Ward 9, Uncategorized

It’s been a good week for Naheed Nenshi

10
September 25, 2010 - By

No, let’s rephrase that. It’s been a really good week for Naheed Nenshi.

To recap: Nenshi put out a press release on Thursday containing two questions he says he would have asked the Police Chief Rick Hanson if he was on council. Question one: “Why has Calgary got the second highest per officer cost in the country?” Question two: “Why has the CPS budget increased by 23% but the number of officers on the street has increased by only 11% over the past three years?”

When I first saw Hanson’s response — a media statement accusing Nenshi of spreading inaccurate information and being “ill-informed” and “irresponsible” — I thought: This is good news for Nenshi, regardless of how this tussle plays out. The fact that the police chief felt compelled to go after Nenshi signals very clearly that the latter is a serious contender for council’s top job. Otherwise, why bother correcting him? I mean, fringe mayoral candidate Oscar Fech reportedly said at a forum this week that the mayor’s office threatened to assassinate him, and we didn’t see a news release from the mayor’s office afterwards. Because why bother?

Hanson’s statement also meant Nenshi [...]Read More

Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Twibate drives calgarypolitics.com blogger to despair

2
September 16, 2010 - By

Alas, it’s true my friends. According to the Calgary Herald, Kirk Schmidt has fallen on his sword. This, a day after moderating the first ever Twibate for the civic election. “It was chaos, but it was organized chaos,” he’d said after the debate. Apparently that chaos, combined with his heavy (albeit clandestine) involvement in the Sun TV enterprise, was just too much for our faithful correspondent. Look:

(I took a screenshot because I’m guessing the story, here, will soon be changed.)

Next time, Kirk, just ask for help. No need to throw yourself on medieval weaponry in front of a bunch of reporters like that.

Categories: Uncategorized

‘I am not a career politician’: Colley-Urquhart

1
August 24, 2010 - By

I recently came across a surprising nugget in an old Calgary Herald story, and thought local political observers might find it interesting. The story is from June 5, 2000. The story is about Diane Colley-Urquhart, then a candidate for the Ward 13 byelection which took place in July of that year. The writer is Danielle Smith, who praises Colley-Urquhart for her “long association with the Alberta Progressive Conservatives.” That alone is funny to read 10 years later. But here’s the really good part:

Running for council is the next step in [Colley-Urquhart's] community service resume but not the last. “I am not a career politician. If elected, I will serve two terms, then get out so there can be fresh leadership.”

It’s a refreshing attitude. Diane Colley-Urquhart is off to a great start.

Since she was first elected in 2000, Colley-Urquhart has been re-elected three times (or, more accurately, elected once and acclaimed twice). Now she’s seeking another term in this October’s election after a failed attempt at becoming a PC MLA last year. How things change…

(Cross-posted to Klaszus Corner at ffwdweekly.com)

[...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Alderman - Ward 13