Well, nomination day has passed and the municipal elections are officially upon us. I’m much, much, much closer to the issues this election and I understand more than one side an argument. I’m also lucky enough to be in Ward 5. The reason that I’m happy to be here is that this means I get a deciding vote on whether Mike Nichol is voted back onto council. I’m a one woman anti-Mike Nichol campaign. He is the councilor that administration and the rest of council cannot stand. The one where, if you know the way he operates, you wonder how on earth people could possibly ever vote him into office.
I don’t believe he’s out there for Edmonton – I think he’s doing this for himself. It’s for the power and future political possibilities. He managed to get the LRT extension, the 23 Ave interchange and a giant rec centre for his ward over the term. He may have worked hard for them, but when it came time to make the tough call and vote on the budget, he voted against passing the budget. It means that politically he can say he never voted for a tax increase, or for any unreasonable expenditures, when in fact his ward is responsible for close to a billion dollars worth of amjor capital projects in the next 1-3 years. Voting against the budget also means that he voted against everything the city would do; including those major projects within his ward. As you can imagine, the other councilors are not thrilled with the man that cheapens their tough decisions in an effort to publicize his easy one.
It’s also no secret that it’s likely he will run for mayor in 2010 if he gets onto council once more. Would I want a person so divisive in a chair where you need to be able to ensure council can work together and build consensus? Would I want that kind of person being an elected leader of my city at all? Nope. That’s why I’d much rather have Don Iveson replace him. Vote for Don!
As for other wards:
Ward 6 – Chin Wei Okelu is a great candidate who knows his stuff. He works at municipal affairs doing municipal dispute resolution and is fully aware of what being on council entails.
Ward 4 – Everyone wants Michael Phair’s seat and they have 15 people vying for it. Have fun with that!
Ward 2 – Kim Krushell is amazing and takes the job for the good of the city. If they vote her out, they’ll be sorry.
For all your Edmonton voting needs, check out edmontonelection.ca
Hardisty – My Dad was acclaimed as councilor in Hardisty!!! I’m the proud daughter of a town councilor.
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