Surprises, Results, Smart Guys and Humility

So where to start?

Results, you can get the results here: City Election Results or from this INFOGRAPHIC produced by 9-10 and Richard Podsada

I am going to look at some of the surprises and then offer some general comments

But first, I have been politically involved since high school, through University and in Provincial, Federal, and City, serving here as an Alderman, as we were called at the time, for nine years and through this I have always admired people who seek public office. It is  always a challenge, it is always hard on family, it does expose you, and many people feel you are now a punching bag. Many run because of  real desire to serve, others run for hope of gain, financial, prestige, or to satisfy some unfulfilled needs. But in the end I respect them for so doing but it also means that I will engage them in vigorous debate and may criticize them for positions taken, which is fair and part of the process.

But before continue I want to single out Lorne Radbourne who dedicated his win last night to his dad: Ernie Radbourne, a very touching and emotional moment in an always emotional time. 

SURPRISES

Justin Munroe, to me the biggest surprise of the evening, yes I was impressed with Chris Thiessen’s second place showing , but frankly I did expect him to place in top 8, Justin I did not expect to place 10th. Justin was a solid Councillor, did his homework, and provided thoughtful contributions to the debates. What more could you ask?  Well presence for one. Many people last night at election parties said that Justin was simply not at enough community events as Councillor. Given and O’Toole for example went to everything, sometimes Bill Given with his new born in his arms, but he was there and people appreciated that their MAYOR was there, same is true for O’Toole. That is the only explanation I can offer and the one that makes most sense.

Justin , Thank you for your contribution, and thanks also to his wife Fiona and family. I am sure we will see you again in public life.

Second, Chris Thiessen. Many of us felt after the forum, he would do well, but placing second after veteran Radbourne, was a huge victory and a big leap from 9th place finish in 2010. As well Chris is the winner of the MOST EFFICIENT CAMPAIGN AWARD, well in line with his environmental bent. He spent only $989 on his campaign, his budget was $999, and  he earned 4558 votes so his votes “cost” him $.22 each. Now that is  real FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY in action, and not just a meaningless slogan

To put that in perspective Given’s votes cost him about $3.75 each. Blackmore on the other hand likely saw her votes cost her close to $20.00 each. That is based on my guess that she spent at least $45,000 and may have spent as much as $70,000, which was her “ideal” budget. By the way Iveson in Edmonton spent about $800,000 to $900,000 while unsuccessful Lebovici spent over $1,000,000, so $70,000 here would be in line.

As for the rest of Council I think most of us expected Radbourne, Rice, Clayton, O’Toole and Logan would all be elected. Although many did not think Logan would do as well, however as does Kevin McLean who placed 7th, both men have a base of support that comes out for them for each election, so does Croken, but this time out it was just not enough.

Tarant was successful, much as I thought. His speech at the Forum put him on the trajectory to succeed, but it was his post about the 55 year old woman who was voting for first time that sent that trajectory into victory. However he along with MacDougall, Mclean, Croken were all on “the bubble” as I suggested with only 400 votes separating 7th and 11th places, much like 2010.

The Mayor results?

No I was not overly surprised. in an earlier post on the first poll results in this blog which saw her with about 20% support I said that she would do better than that, and she did but clearly not enough. Her campaign theme, “Say NO to Higher Taxes”, simply did not resonate with people.

Why? Positioning requires an opposite to be real, no one is going to explicitly say YES to Higher Taxes, so you cannot successfully “position” yourself unless there is an opposite position and an “enemy”. That is why “Fiscally Responsible” is not a good positioning statement, no one is going to claim to be fiscally irresponsible!

see related articles: Iveson’s Win a Vote for Optimism and Smart Planning

  Nenshi, Iveson wins show powerful winds of change in Alberta

Reasons why the rest of Canada is Jealous of Alberta, and no not just about Rob Ford, but he is mentioned

The TURNOUT

Okay so it was low, 20.95%. It has ALWAYS been low. In the last 40 years the highest I can recall is about 30%. It is low all over Alberta, and yes we may be among the lowest, Fort MacMurray is lower in 2010 I think it was about 10% and therein may be the clue, as a friend says about Grande Prairie and Ft Mac: ” lots of boomers, not enough stickers” People who are just here for a good time and the money and not a long time, have little interest in the election. There is no point beating up people, and here I am going to quote always, well mostly right on, Dean Radbourne:

“After this I am going to do my absolute best to stay out of every “voter apathy/voter turnout/voter right” discussion today. Comments on both sides of this are absolutely insane and driving me bonkers. Browbeating people into voting is ridiculous. Saying that “voting is stupid” is ridiculous. Saying you’re “embarrassed” about low voter turnout is a bit melodramatic. Saying that you couldn’t find any information on the candidates and that none of them worked hard at getting their message out makes me want to punch you in the throat. What’s better, a 20% voter turnout and electing a pretty strong and exciting council, or an 80% voter turnout because the previous guys drove this sucker into the ground and total overhaul of everything is needed? Ask Australia how they like their mandatory voting and now nearly impossible it is for newcomers to beat incumbents (regardless of the job they’ve been doing). I think our voter turnout was too low.”

Provincial Trends

Iveson, Nenshi, Given….all under 40 and what else do these people have in common? They are all SMART and Progressive, not formally aligned to a major political party, smart as in technologically aware, innovative, willing in fact eager to look at and try new policy approaches. These guys will have a huge impact on life in Alberta, and they will together and individually challenge the Provincial Government. “Allison in Wonderland”, be forewarned, these guys will have huge influence.

I pointed out in a post a few days ago there was a “youth” movement, and here is the strongest proof. Add to this group the new Mayor in Red Deer, who is also under 40 and new City Councillor in Edmonton, Michael Walters, a good friend of Bill Givens by the way, and also a SMART young guy…these are the people who will make a difference in Alberta and in their communities.

Also watch for Helen Rice as she runs for President of Alberta Municipalities Association. This would greatly benefit Grande Prairie and Helen along with the growing influence of Bill Given on the provincial scene.

ONE FINAL NOTE

Many of the successful candidates said in post election statements that they were humbled by the support they received, or words to that effect. Remember from time to time over the next four years that you were humbled, remain so, and recall from time to time the person you were that got you here, and never forget that sense of enthusiasm, wonder, commitment and humility, it will serve you better than almost anything else you will do.

Congratulations to all the successful candidates and thank you to all who ran, worked so hard and especially their supporters and families who also”ran” but mostly in anxious silence.

AN UPDATE: see comments from Dan Wong Them’s Fightin’ Words!, plus Final Statements from Candidates

Friday saw Gladys Blackmore, candidate for Mayor launch an attack on the Entire current Council:

“Council claims increases to mil rates have been tiny; but the fact remains, ours is the highest mil rate in the province. And when coupled with recent increases in property values, the effective tax rate has been significantly higher. As a result, the city realized a NET PROFIT of over $30 million in EACH of 2011 and 2012. This money, almost $65 million, is sitting in reserves. Shouldn’t it be invested in infrastructure and economic development instead?” for more

to which Bill Given responded:

“Some very bad, intentional, misinformation is being circulated today by email and on Facebook, about how the city manages it’s savings accounts, otherwise known as reserves. “Reserves” are a fancy name for savings accounts and the city maintains 12 different ones. Each has a different purpose...read more “You Don’t Deserve to be Misled

DAN WONG, Current Councillor but NOT running this time weighs in and in some detail explains the reserves and how they have been handled in the last 2 – 3 years. This is from a man who was there and knows of what he speaks:

“At the risk of getting too involved, I felt I had to respond to the latest information released by the Gladys Blackmore campaign..There are no politicians out there who don’t want to decrease your taxes where possible and no one out there really suggesting the reserves be collapsed and spent — that’s why it’s not explicitly stated as a solution.  This is an example of careful wording in an attempt to instill enough doubt in the mind of the electorate. ” To Read the complete article click here: Dan Wong Blog 

MY Take on all This

The old mil rate claim….it is likely true, but it is meaningless. The mil rate is simply a tool to ensure everyone WITHIN A MUNICIPALITY pays their fair share, based on the value of YOUR PROPERTY, of the city budget. The mil rate is determined yearly, it changes, it is determined essentially by dividing the City Budget by the VALUE of all assessed properties WITHIN the CITY (for a more detailed explanation see GPVOTERS.CA) So one might compare with other cities but it is like the proverbial comaparing apples to oranges, the mil rate is a tool to be used within a city.

When property values go up, the total assesed value goes up, so the mil rate changes, and again the budget is shared equally based on the value of your individual property. It is possible depending on changes in values, and what new properties and their type have been added to see a change in the mil rate, it may even go down, but it is still used to share the burden equally based on the value of your property.

Yes it may be an antiquated and complicated system, but it is what is PROSCRIBED by the PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT. Failure to either understand this or to pervert it for political gain is questionable.

Regarding the reserves. It is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that the CITY maintain adequate reserves. WHY?

The City, in fact ALL MUNICIPALITIES in ALBERTA are PROHIBITED from running deficit budgets. Unlike the Provincial and Federal Governments, Cities are NOT PERMITTED TO BORROW for OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURES. They may borrow for capital projects, but not operational expenses. So what difference does that make?

If there was to be a “One in a hundred year” snow season and the costs to remove snow were substantially higher than usual, the City has a reserve upon which it may draw to pay the added costs. Or if there was a major disaster like the flood in Calgary (or heaven forbid a Lake Megantic type disaster) and the City incurred substantial costs in emergency crews overtime, assistance etc. they would have the cash upon which they could draw.

When I was on Council in the early 1990’s the Klein lead Conservative Provincial Government drastically cut grants to the Cities. In some cases like the assistance for maintenance of Muskoseepi park the grant was cut to zero. At that time the City reserves were pathetically low and totally inadequate and were we forced to make substantial and immediate program cuts. If there were adequate reserves we could have dipped into them and eased into the cuts more slowly. After that the City started to accumulate more reserves. As the City gets larger and as commitments to operations increase the City’s reserves also need to grow. As any business owner knows, and as many of the senior managers of local institutions also are well aware, failure to have adequate reserves for operations is fiscally irresponsible and is only done at great risk to the organization.

To suggest that the reserves be drained for current projects is absolute folly and is not in anyway “fiscally responsible” .  As a senior person of a local educational institution said today: “Thank god for reserves …”

Some people have made fun of a reserve for perpetual care at the Cemetery. It is a serious matter. I have spent much time in England and can attest to the terrible state of cemeteries throughout the country, some centuries old, that do NOT have perpetual care funds in place. The burden on CURRENT Churches and Cities is in many cases overwhelming.

Failure to adequately understand these issues after six years on Council is either purposefully misleading, manipulation for political gain,or a belies a  grasp of the operations of a complex organization like the City, a lack of business experience and knowledge of proper practices, all of which does not recommend one to lead this City.

FINAL STATEMENTS FROM CANDIDATES FOR COUNCIL

all candidates were offered space, the following replied:

Jackie Clayton

“On Monday, a vote for me will ensure a legacy for your children in the City of Grande Prairie and its community, and a focused and responsible long term plan for the future of your business.” for more

John Croken:

“As your new councillor I am going to erge councill to put a full time day care for city employees at the eastlink sportsplex and have 132 ave paving project moved to 2014 budget”

Jared Gossen

“Our City is equipped with a diverse set of assets.  This may lead many to thinking that there are a number of directions to head in and how do we choose?”…click here for more

Dwight Logan

“I am well known for my service in our City’s political life.
I have served three terms as an Alderman, and three terms as Mayor”… for more.

Miriam Mahnic

“Dream Big we have such incredible potential…As a Community Development Officer I have worked with”…to read more click here

Kevin McLean

“I am excited for the election on Monday. I have enjoyed my term on council because it was productive. There is more work to do to stabilize taxes down where we have them and to lower the debt. I hope you will again put your trust in me and Vote McLean.”

Justin Munroe

“Grande Prairie, like most communities in our country, has some real challenges in its future. My business background & experience tell me we need to trust our instincts” to read more click here

Kevin O’Toole:

“I have a passion for this city, I truly believe I have had a huge impact on council and the people of Grande Prairie in these past three years. I have goals and projects that I would like to see completed in the next four years example Poverty reduction, homelessness, major road developed to give flexibility where we travel take pressure off many major intersections. Both North and South and East and west travel routes need to expand. And constant communication with all levels of Government.”

Lorne Radbourne

“Congrats to all candidates for offering to serve their community. Our report card comes out Monday. Good luck to everyone!”

Helen Rice

“There is no time to waste. In order to lower taxes and become sustainable we need a level playing field, Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.”

Erin Steidel

“Stumble, everyone does from time to time.  It is what you do after that really shows one’s character.  I have stumbled many times, and I have gotten back up and continued to move forward.  This is my last blog post before the election, and so, if you were unable to attend the chamber forum on Thursday night (or if you were there and want to know what I meant to say) here is my speech.” read more

Rory Tarant

I had a very humbling experience today while door knocking. I knocked on a door and was greeted by a lady in her 50s of Middle Eastern descent.  After introducing myself, tears welled in the lady’s eyes…READ MORE

Chris Thiessen

“I am a hard-working and caring individual with a passionate drive to help people in any way I can. I will and always have done what it takes to create a positive difference in our city.”

For a more complete review of the Candidates go to: GPVOTERS.CA Daryl White has developed a website for the election with a very good summary of candidates plus articles on some of the issues.

ON MONDAY OCTOBER 21…ELECTION NIGHT…

LIVE ELECTION WEBCAST hosted by Fred Rinne, Editor of the Daily Herald Tribune and Dan Wong (City Councillor)

go to LIVE ELECTION WEBCAST.

AND DURING THE NIGHT FROM 7:30PM on….Intelligent, Insightful and entertaining commentary  (we hope!) from:

Daryl White from GPVOTERS.CA, Dawn Moffat McMaster (twitter: @DANILOTH), Eric Burton from MRGRANDEPRAIRIE,

and I will be blogging, tweeting and commenting on the election issues, people and the results Follow along at:

Daryl White will be live blogging at GPVOTERS.CA

Dawn Moffat will be tweeting : @Daniloth

Eric Burton will be posting on http://mrgrandeprairie.wordpress.com/

and I will be tweeting: @DavidBiltek and facebook: Grande Prairie

and at https://www.facebook.com/david.biltek

Look forward to you joining the conversations adding any gossip, rumours and cogent observations.

The Who, What, When, Where and How of Voting

First the REQUIREMENTS: Essentially you will need photo ID proof that you are a resident of the City of Grande Prairie, a current drivers licence will work, but for more thorough details: RIGHT ID TO VOTE

For information on WHERE to VOTE, and WHEN: CITY OF GP ELECTION INFO and for Candidates information: GPVOTERS.CA

Its Like a Stock Market…Who’s Up, Down and Sideways

Last night the Chamber of Commerce held the Election Forum as they have done for many elections, and as in the past they did a very good job. Kudos to the organizers and especially to Vince Vavrek who handled the sensitive job of chair/facilitator in an exemplary fashion.

The Forum, essentially the only Election Forum is an important part of the campaign trail. The audience is composed mostly of community activists and people who are on the campaign teams of mostly the Mayoral candidates but also the Councillor candidates. These are influential people because they are engaged in the community, have large networks of friends and associates and will share their opinions. Many of the people there are opinion leaders in their circle of friends, and that is why the Forum is so important.

If you do well there, or of you do poorly, the next morning lots of voters will have heard. More about that later when I will share my assessment about whose “stock” went up, and whose “stock” went sideways. Note I do not think any candidate’s “stock” went down.

But first some general observations about themes in the campaign that were all too evident last night.

Positive/Negative

This is a campaign about being positive There are campaigns that are negative  but this is one is not. The same theme is apparent in Edmonton and Calgary. Candidates who present a positive, encouraging view of the present and future are doing well, whereas those who are negative are struggling. This is a positive time in Alberta.

New Blood

Many people commented last night that it was time for some “new blood” on the Council and were impressed by some of the new candidates. I mentioned this in one of my first posts and warned the incumbents that some of the newbies were articulate, prepared and would be running good campaigns. That has come to pass and now many of the newbies may well be successful on Monday night.

Of course the reverse of that is also true, many people said to me that although it was good to have a mix of new and veteran councillors, it was time for some to move on. The fact that some of those newbies are also young, also plays well in a community where the average age is 30 and where their are more people in pre school than over 65.

Community Involvement,

it may be a truism, but candidates who have a strong background og being involved in the community are doing very well.

Leadership

Many candidates  spoke about leadership, and some described in detail what a leader is, how they behave, and do, and coincidentally, that described the candidate to a “T” or “L”. In my experience real, true leaders, the sort of people you would go to war with, or set aside acres of time for and commit yourself for a project never talk about “Leadership”, never describe it…they simply get on and do it, while the describers simply want to stand at the front of the parade and warm themselves in the praise and glory.

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say:                                                                     we did it ourselves”. —Lao Tzu

Teamwork

All the incumbents spoke about TEAMWORK, and they spoke with pride about what had been accomplished TOGETHER. It was teamwork they all emphasized.  Other candidates  spoke about teamwork and how they were a “team players”, here again team players never have to say so, they just are and you can tell by the way they speak and what stories they tell if they are team players or not

and another thought about Teamwork…in every election a candidate or tow thinks it a good idea to attack “the administration” or one member of such. This is a huge tactical error. Why?

Two reasons, first  attacking one member of “administration” or the entire administration is unfair, they are unable to respond or “fight back. Second these people work together, attacking one is tantamount to attacking them all and they are ALL ELECTORS, and they have partners or spouses, and friends, and they talk, and they vote since the results of the election are very important to them. They are 500 full time workers , 500 part timers, and the their is the staff at Aquatera. Can you really afford to have several thousand people vote “against you”

And finally, the third reason, if you get elected you have to rely on these people, you have to work with them. I have seen Councillors who have attacked members of administration be “hung out to dry” at a later date. I am not saying that the administration is evil, but sometimes might be “forgetful”. Council and the Administration are a TEAM.

Vision

Again lots of talk about the need for VISION but few were able to enunciate their vision:

                                                                     The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the                                                                                 leader is a servant. —Max DePre

                                                                      Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. —Warren Bennis

Leadership and vision are not about “me”, nor are they about simply showing up at meetings, attending events,  answering emails, or talking about it. The way to get started is to stop the talking and get on with doing.

Clearly for those at the forum and even casual observers of the campaign, you can or will see some of these remarks resonate for some candidates.

and now for the assessment of the forum.

The following remarks are based a number of interviews and conversations with dozens of people at the forum. I asked them all the same question: “Who went up, and who went sideways?”  “Who impressed you tonight and who stayed much the same?” I have syntesized them and added my own. Words in quotes are word said to me.

In my opinion few if any had their “stock” go down.

The candidate whose “stock” rose the most last night was Rory Tarant, who gave a very “energetic” speech and handled questions with ease and knowledge. Everyone I spoke with mentioned Tarant in a positive fashion

Next was Chris Thiessen who expressed some “alternate” policy options and is clearly passionate about them. People appreciated his”passion” and his stock rose. Miriam Mahnic also did well, she showed herself to be thoughtful and articulate, maybe too “thoughtful” as one person commented. Gossen on the other hand left many people unconvinced about his positions, but as many said they liked his ease and responses to questions, on balance I would say his stock rose a little, much like Mahnic.

Jackie Clayton who one observer suggested  said she spoke “like an incumbent” acquitted herself well, as was expected, as did Lorne Radbourne, Justin Munroe and Kevin O’Toole, who delivered what can only be described as an endorsement for Bill Given, when he said that the Council had achieved a great deal under the “leadership of Mayor Given”. O’Toole is well liked and I am sure his endorsement is welcome. All of these people likely saw their stock rise, however since , in my opinion they were already quite high the rise was not significant.

Helen Rice, THE VET of the Council and one of the longest serving Councillors in Alberta stands in a class of her own, especially when in her opening remarks she said in a firm and commanding voice: ” I will stand up for Grande Prairie!” ” I don’t doubt it!” was the comment from a woman standing behind me. Helen will hold her own and will be exempt largely from the “need for new blood” theme mentioned above. And an aside: it is highly rumoured that if elected Helen will be asked to serve as the President of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, the body that represents the interest of Urban municipalities in Alberta. For the past while Helen has been Vice president. As President she would have great contact with Provincial Government Ministers.

John Croken and Kevin McLean, both incumbents spoke well and delivered what they needed to do, which was a defense of their record and their role as part of the team.

Unfortunately Erin Steidel had problems with her first speech and some answers to questions, her usual thoughtfulness may have been lost last night. Much the same for Jun Binbangco. Jeff Campbell was not able to attend the forum.

And that leaves us with two candidates: Dwight Logan and  Kim MacDougall. Here the observations were varied and not conclusive, and so their stock may have moved up or may have slid sideways. Logan a long serving former mayor and member of Council in the past looked “bored” in the words of one observer, however his speech and answers were clear and straight forward much like the man he is. However many people feel he has “been there, done that”. Although his experience is acknowledged and admired many minds were not made up, and many said they need to think more about him.

MacDougall was NOT bored and leaned into every discussion, answered questions with knowledge and ease, however many people were not impressed with her talk of her leadership qualities, or her general approach. To many her stock went up, but as many did not agree. She has been a controversial figure in this race and some admire that: “…she will challenge them, and they need it”, while others feel she is too much so and will not work as a team member and that her “tiff” with Aquatera will prevent her from working with them.

as for the MAYOR

Gladys Blackmore continued with her themes of controlling taxes, increasing revenues by calculating the shadow population, the need to cut expenses, challenging the administration of the Crystal Centre and saying that leadership by the Mayor is determined by the mandate the Mayor receives in the election.

Bill Given as he had to do spoke about the record of Council and how they worked as a team, the lowest tax increases in a decade while building roads, the Art Gallery/Library, Eastlink Centre and still paying down $11 million in debt. When asked about leadership he said it was all about collaboration, working together to achieve results. Given said that he would not expand Crystal Centre but would alter it to attract more conventions to the Downtown.

In the end they both did what they needed to do, Gladys brought forward the issues she has been pressing, while Bill looked and sounded like the Mayor defending a record.

Did either of their stocks go up…? I am not sure, but if you were there, what do you think?

In fact what do you think about the assessment and where people are? Or the Themes?

The Poll Results

This poll has no scientific validity. It was not conducted under any process accepted by polling experts. It was done to provoke interest, encourage participation and perhaps to provide hints to candidates as to what they may need to do.

Some notes:

over 230 people voted for Mayor and over 1230 votes were cast for Councillors, which reflects what we have seen in actual elections. The research suggests that the average person who votes for Mayor, votes for 5 – 6 candidates for Council.

230 people are 2.25 percent of all voters in 2010. and 230 is 50% more people who participated over the last poll.

The poll was posted four times over the weekend mainly on Facebook, but also was sent to a number of people on email, and all were asked to share.

Most of the posts were on Facebook and although Facebook may not be entirely reflective of City Voters there are over 40,000 people from Grande Prairie over the age of 18 on Facebook

the results are somewhat consistent to 2010 final vote total and with even twice the numbers participating in this poll as opposed to the last one, there is some consistency

so again just remember what Diefenbaker said about polls.

But What Do YOU think?

Here are the results:

The first column is poll results Oct 11-14 and second is previous poll from Sept 27 and the third is the actual % from 2010 for incumbents

Lorne Radbourne	13%	13%	12%
Justin Munroe	10%	11%	8%
Kevin O’Toole	9%	9%	6.5%
Jackie Clayton	8%	9%	NEW
Helen Rice	8%	8%	11%
Rory Tarant	8%	7%	NEW
Chris Thiessen	9%	7%	6%
Miriam Mahnic	7%	6%	NEW
Kevin McLean	6%	4%	6%
John Croken	4%	5%	6.5%
Jared Gossen	5%	4%	NEW
Dwight Logan	4%	5%
Erin Steidel	3%	4%	4.6%
Kim MacDougall	4%	6%	NEW
Jun Bibangco	1%	1%	NEW
Jeff Campbell	1%	1%	NEW

and For Mayor:

Bill Given	79%	83%
Gladys Blackmore	21%	17%

Top Issues Influencing your Decision

Answer	Votes	Percent
Snow Removal	50	8%
Downtown Development	72	12%
Aquatera	61	10%
Crystal Centre	57	9%
Taxes	85	14%
Economic Development	91	15%
Off Leash Dog Areas etc	25	4%
Roads	62	10%
Sidewalks	26	4%
Annexation	65	11%
Other:	24	4%

Other Answer	Votes
Relationship with province	1
Transit	1
Long term vision and how to attract people who will stay!	1
environment	1
the high cost of protective services / recreation	1
Affordable housing	1
More funding to hire bylaw enforcement	1
Honesty and trustworthy	1
utilizing or resources to better our comunity. for example green spaces	1
Transit improvement and better city planning.	1
Equitable funding of visual and performing arts facilities	1
Vision for the city	1
Leadership	1
Business access and roadways	1
Maintaining all of the things that make the city wonderful	1
High cost of police, fire & recreation.	1
Candidate Personality	1
housing crisis, rent rates	1
Common sense, reason, logic, informed.	1
Rec centre reopen swimming pool	1
Candidates ability to connect on a personal level	1
Crime	1
Experience	1

Related articles

• They’re off and Running?…and where are they. Poll Results (davidbiltek.wordpress.com)

A NEW Poll plus Updates, News and Comments

There are some very interesting things happening in the election:

For one the Candidates “LIKE” each other, every day on Facebook they are “liking” each other and liking each others’ comments! It is distressing, where is the name calling?, the calling into question of ethics?, or challenging the abilities or competencies?…Well, except Logan saying there is a financial mess at City Hall, and Blackmore saying the problems at the Crystal Centre belong to The Administration, and MacDougall and Logan raising questions about Aquatera and its services…well that is about it, but as the saying goes a Week is a Long Time in politics and we still have a little better than one week left so expect some fireworks

Great commentary by Daryl  on GPVOTES. CA. In his latest post he analyses a 2005 vote on Council about increasing taxes. In a previous post he goes through why there are such differences in tax rates among several Alberta Cities and in some way explains the GP Tax rate. This is well researched analysis. well worth the read. Click here for the article Watch his website, he is working on some more articles.

Bill Given answers the question: “What have you done for me lately?” on his Facebook page. It is his record of the last three years as Mayor.

and Rory Tarant demonstrates my comment about “Liking” other candidates in his post about two Councillors: True Leaders

and a new Blog by Eric Burton where he offers his thoughts about election strategies and tactics, click here for the blog: Mr GrandePrairie

and David Hewing took great exception to Dwight Logan’s remarks about the Financial mess at the City (for Dwight’s remarks in my post:  Has the Election Gone to the Dogs plus a Fixer of Financial Messes). Hewing’s remarks are the first response to this post, scroll to the end to read what he has to say.

and CandiDATE has launched a Youth Voting Campaign, see what they have to say at: CandiDATE

Important Dates: 

Friday, October 11 Kevin Mclean is throwing a Party: an Election Party  at DUKES starring Jimmy Flynn,  click here for all THE DETAILS AND AN INVITATION, and if you do not know who Jimmy Flynn is, click here for to learn more about this funny guy

October 16, Grande Prairie Municipal Election YOUTH Forum: 630 to 8:30PM, GPRC Cafeteria Details Here

October 17th The Chamber of Commerce All Candidates Forum: Click here for the details

Advance Voting starts Friday 11th  from 11AM to 7PM at City Hall and again on Saturday Oct 12, and Friday 18, and Saturday 18, same times

and the BIG DAY Monday October 21 Election Day. For all information on when and where to vote: Voting Information

But NOW there is a NEW POLL: WHO ARE YOU VOTING FOR?

For Mayor…vote for one

For Council, Vote for up to 8, or a lower number

And What are the Top Issues Influencing Your Decision

The following appear the issues most often mentioned, or raised in discussions.

Vote for as many as you want

the listings are randomized, that is order rearranges automatically. Vote ONLY Once.

Results will be revealed Tuesday October 15.

They’re off and Running?…and where are they. Poll Results

…and where are they in the race?    The poll results are at the end of this post.

The following is my assessment of where the candidates stand after the first week since nomination day, It is based on these beliefs:

incumbents tend to get re-elected . In the last several elections few candidates have lost, although it is possible and in this election we may see it.

most elections have a ballot question, one issue dominates. This one does not ( see the poll results regarding issues)

low turnout favours the incumbents. It is up to the challengers to motivate people to vote for change. With no “ballot question” yet it  will likely be a low turnout, maybe lower than last time (24%)

campaigns can and do make a difference, they expose people and issues.

and there is the secret “sauce:  Rotary membership. Members of Rotary tend to get elected, and seldom lose when they run. Last                    election: Wong, Radbourne, Munroe, Gustafson were all successful and all were Rotarians.

and in a very small way the poll results, but more about them later

I think there are three groups:

Leading and should have no problems being elected:

Incumbents: Radbourne, Munroe, Rice, O’Toole, and newcomer: Clayton (a former and now proposed Rotary member), likely in that order.

Also- rans:   Despite some effort, it is likely too little too late for the following people to make much headway:

Bibangco, Campbell, Gossen and Steidel. Erin Steidel ran in the last election and garnered 2294 votes. Gossen and Steidel show well in the poll but it has limited validity.

The Bubble: and here is where there is a real race. The following candidates are all close, so close that it is difficult to make a clear assessment. Last election the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th place people were only separated by 314 votes. I suggest at present these seven people are even closer:   Mahnic, McLean, Croken, Logan, Thiessen, MacDougall and Tarant.

from this group McLean, Croken and Logan will have an edge because they are incumbents (although Logan is not actually an incumbent he might as well be considered one).  Mahnic (another Rotary member) is well organized and well funded and may make a late charge. Thiessen placed 9th last election and lost by only 190 votes so he does have a base of support and may be able to build on it. MacDougall and Tarant are both working hard and making an impact, will it be enough

So what do the ones in the “Bubble ” need to do to “burst out”? Do, or say something that differentiates you. Especially in an election with no major issues. Perhaps make a policy announcement and drive it home, make it yours, or develop a campaign tactic that will make you stand out.  There are many things one can do, the question is will any of them do so?…

The race for Mayor?…based on what I hear, and see I think Given is leading, but not by as much as the poll suggests.

and what about you, what do you think?

Following are the results of the poll in the Friday , September27 Blog Post: Let me stress that these results are NOT statistically valid. The poll was NOT conducted in a manner which would lead to any valid results. It was taken as a way to encourage interest in the election. I have added the percentages from last year, again as a matter of interest. These are the results as of Tuesday at 10PM. There were over 130 people who responded to the question on the Mayor, and over 680 responses for the Council candidates. This reflects previous research which suggests that most people cast votes for 5-6 Councillor Candidates. There were over 550 responses to the “What are the Issues” question.  And one last thing, it was John Diefenbaker who said: “… dogs know best what to do with polls.” and having said that, here are the results:

The Issues:

Taxes		10%
Annexation		10%
Downtown Development		10%
Crime		7%
Crystal Centre expand or not		11%
The future of the Leisure Centre		7%
Roads and sidewalks		10%
Economic Development		11%
Train whistle		3%
Development rules		8%
Environmental Initiatives		4%
Art/Cultural Facilities		5%
Other:		3%

Other Answer	Votes
Affordable housing	2
Snow removal	1
Future of Local Government / Regionalization	1
Lobbying for equal funding policies provincially between city and county	1
Leadership	1
Lack of provincial support	1
Transit	1
vehicle emissions.	1
While important, I doubt any of these will affect selection or results.	1
creating a long term plan for development of the City as a whlole	1
Poor choices on what you spend our taxes on!!!	1
Water	1
Snow ploughing in winter is terrible.	1
affordable housing, social supports	1
Government by Request for proposals	1
Fluoride in the water system. Chem trails. GMOs.	1
emergency fire/flood planning	1

Who are You Voting for Council:

The first column is the poll results, and second is the actual % from 2010

Lorne Radbourne		13%	12%
Justin Munroe		11%	8%
Kevin O’Toole		9%	6.5%
Jackie Clayton		9%	NEW
Helen Rice		8%	11%
Rory Tarant		7%	NEW
Chris Thiessen		7%	6%
Miriam Mahnic		6%	NEW
Kim MacDougall		6%	NEW
John Croken		5%	6.5%
Dwight Logan		5%
Jared Gossen		4%	NEW
Erin Steidel		4%	4.6%
Kevin McLean		4%	6.6%
Jun Bibangco		1%	NEW
Jeff Campbell		1%	NEW

and For Mayor:

Bill Given		83%
Gladys Blackmore		17%

What are the Issues in this Election and Who are you voting for?

An early poll to assess who has early support. a later poll will be done in last week of election This may help candidates see how they are doing and re direct efforts in following weeks.

Please SHARE with friends so we can have as many people vote as possible.

By the way the order of names is “randomized”  so as to take away the perceived advantage of being listed first, or the tyranny of the alphabet. As well you should know that I will not know how you vote.

And a second poll…What are the Issues?, What issues are most important to you?, What issues should candidates address?

feel free to add other options, and make comments

And again SHARE with friends. Having many people complete this will send a message to the candidates about what interests the Citizens of the City

Thanks. I will share results in a few days.

Nominations, Some Advice plus two more…

Nominations Closed to near record slate

No surprises for Mayor: putting their names forward for Mayor are

Gladys Blackmore http://www.gladysblackmore.com

and incumbent Bill Given www.votegiven.com, www.facebook.com/votegiven

and only one surprise name in the race for Council:  Jun Bibangco 

Seeking Councillor seats are (* represents incumbent):

• Jun Bibangco
• Jeff Campbell
• Jackie Clayton   www.JackieClayton.com
• John Croken*  https://www.facebook.com/jacroken?fref=ts
• Jared Gossen   www.jaredgossen.com,   https://www.facebook.com/votejaredgossen

• Dwight Logan  https://www.facebook.com/dwight.logan.12
• Kim MacDougall kimmacdougall.blogspot.ca,  https://www.facebook.com/kim.macdougall.564
• Miriam Mahnic  Www.mahnic.ca, https://www.facebook.com/miriam.mahnic
• Kevin McLean* https://www.facebook.com/pages/Re-Elect-McLean-for-Council-Grande-Prairie/494761317274562
• Justin Munroe*  http://gomunroe.com/, https://www.facebook.com/justin.munroe.921
• Kevin P. O’Toole* https://www.facebook.com/kevin.otoole.1884
• Lorne Radbourne*   www.lradbourne.com, www.facebook.com/lorneradbourne
• Helen Rice* https://www.facebook.com/HelenARice123?fref=ts, 
• Erin Michelle Steidel  http://erinsteidel.com/, https://www.facebook.com/Renny13
• Rory Tarant   http://www.rorytarant.com, facebook.com/tarantforcouncil
• Chris Thiessen  http://www.electchristhiessen.com, https://www.facebook.com/chris.thiessen.52

I was not able to obain all contact information for every candidate, posted what was provided to me or what I could find. If you have more information please provide it to me.

Councillors Dan Wong and Alex Gustafson are not seeking re-election.

The slate of candidates for council positions matches the second most ever. There were also 16 in 2007 and 1986. Seventeen was the most ever in 1983.

And they are off…in a cloud of lawn signs , and a hearty heigh ho….yawn…!

Now don’t get me wrong, the candidates are busy erecting signs, knocking on doors, designing brochures, re erecting signs, posting on facebook, and having a jolly good time, but for us the citizens, or observers not much is happening. no major issues, no direct attacks, no controversies, no policy announcements, no missteps…at least no yet. And all of this is NOT good for the challengers. A boring election campaign with NO DEFINING ISSUES may result is a low turnout, maybe even lower than usual.  Challengers NEED a high turnout, they need NEW voters to come out and vote for them, otherwise the same old, same old, will vote for the same old, same old.   Or maybe a candidate will actually propose something unique, something different, something controversial…maybe. and maybe that will happen at one of the two new  additional Forums. being rumoured. This election could use them.

Any Speaking of Boring…

The community Living Community Committee is recommending to City Council that the Council participate in the Pilot Youth/Young Adult Engagement Audit project being proposed by Apathy is Boring.

“The purpose of the audit/study will be to allow the City to fully realize available opportunities to increase youth participation in the electoral  process, and to identify any challenges or current impediments to civic participation of young adults living in Grande Prairie.”

Frankly I do not thin it will add much to the knowledge that already exists about youth voting , and why they do not vote, but it is only $25,000 and it will employ some political science students or graduates and that is always a good thing.

Some Advice for the Candidates …

” The first thing you need to know when you enter politics is why you’re doing it. You’d be surprised at how many people go into politics without being able to offer anyone a convincing reason why.”

                                                                                                                        Michael Ignatieff, from his new book: Fire and Ashes

A follow up to:  The Time has Come to Talk of many things, of Seals, and trees and Redford and Bardot

They just can’t help themselves…today Alison Redford announced that she is sending two of her Ministers to Europe in an effort to prevent the European Union from passing a resolution that would severely impact oil sands and the reputation of the oil sands, Alberta, and Canada. Despite their statements about science based decisions, and wanting to have a lower carbon footprint, until they take specific and direct actions, they will continue to face these actions and ruin our reputation.  For the full story:  Ministers Euro Bound

 Related articles

• Two senior Alberta politicians Euro-bound to head off anti-oilsands resolution (calgaryherald.com)
• Two senior Alberta politicians Euro-bound to head off anti-oil sands resolution (business.financialpost.com)

And some good news for the Downtown:

The Acropolis will re open under OLD MANAGEMENT….yes Stelios will once again be his usual warm host at the Acropolis. Reopens Thursday September 26. And Dukes will close October 12th and will reopen as a SAWMILL after substantial renovations in late spring 2014. This is great news for the Downtown and for both establishments.

The Campaigns are ramping up, but where are they going?

Kevin McLean announced yesterday he will seek re-election as Councillor

And finally word from Justin Munroe that he too will be running for re-election .

and with the lawn sign starting gun set to go off on Sept 9th, all campaigns are preparing signs, brochures, door knocking, and becoming active on Social Media.

Kim MacDougall spent the weekend knocking on doors, Jaret Gossen is out trolling for fences on which to hang banners, and many candidates are active on social media, and being polite to each other “liking” updates from one another frequently.

All well and good…and boring.

What is the ballot question? What is the major issue?

An election campaign is essentially a long debate about a question, often referred to as the” ballot question” and in every debate the key tactic is defining the question and of course defining it to your advantage.

This is particularly important to a challenger to an incumbent, i.e. in this election Gladys Blackmore is the challenger to Bill Given the present Mayor.

So far we have heard little setting of questions let alone defining them. We have seen or heard little about issues from any candidate but especially the Mayoral candidates.

It is critical especially for Gladys Blackmore to define the question and set the terms. Will she do this on personality: ” I am a better suited to the job”, in which case she must define the job so that  she is the obvious choice. Or will she choose a policy issue, like “lower taxes”, or “economic development” in which case she needs to set out her position and drive home the advantage her position would mean to the citizens of the City.

So far she does not appear to have done either to any great extent.  Bill Given appears to be basing his campaign on two premises: 1. He is THE MAYOR and 2. his Vision for the City, but he is shy on HOW he will achieve the vision. Blackmore on the other hand is long on WHAT she will do, but frankly short on vision.

Yes she has said “NO to Higher Taxes” and she has said the City needs to be more like the County, but will this be enough?

What do you think? Is either candidate for mayor strongly putting forward a case? Have they explained how and why they as mayor will make a difference?

 

More Candidates, More Rumours…

Well this is shaping up to be quite the election and there are some very interesting themes, but first to the news and rumours:

Miriam Mahnic announced on Thursday she is seeking a seat on City Council committing herself to a Grande Prairie that has an Exceptional Quality of Life, a prosperous Economy, and a Sustainable Future. More may be found at: www.manhic.ca or http://www.facebook.com/votemahnic

Lorne Radbourne has also announced his run for another term.

and now for the rumours…Jackie Clayton…persistent and seemingly accurate talk suggests that Jackie Clayton,  former Chamber President, and community activist, will announce her candidacy in the next few weeks. If she runs she will be a formidable actor on the election scene.

Yad Minhas…?…yes Yad Minhas is rumoured to be considering another run for Council. Yad is a  prosperous businessman in Grande Prairie with holdings here and throughout Alberta and BC. He was elected to Council 6 years ago and decided not to seek re election in 2010. He also would be a “contender” in the race if he decides to run.

Justin Munroe….sounds like he has decided to seek re election but has NOT yet announced. Justin would be looking for his second term on City Council.

And another speculation; there is some evidence that throughout Alberta the Wildrose Party is running candidates in municipal elections. Not running them under their banner, but the speculation goes that Wildrose people are encouraging, managing and raising money for their candidates in the municipal elections. Why? Well for two reasons the rumour has it: First to use the elections as a “training ground” for the next provincial election to be held in 2015, and the second reason is to gain some control on Councils so as to change the “channel” , again this is speculation I am hearing from people in Red Deer, St Albert and even here in Grande Prairie.

So announced we have:

Lorne Radbourne, Kevin O’Toole, John Croken, Helen Rice, Miriam Mahnic, Rory Tarant, Chris Thiessen, Erin Steidel, Jared Gossen, Dwight Logan and Kim MacDougall
and rumoured Jackie Clayton, Justin Munroe, Yad Minhas and Kevin Mclean.
and for Mayor still only Bill Given and Gladys Blackmore.
The Themes?
Could this be the Year of the Woman?…I have no records but I do not recall this many women running for City Council.
And second theme, is this a turning of generations? Again there are many younger people running and for a community that is young (average age about 29) this might be a good thing.

So what do you think?…younger Councillors?, More women? and what do you think about the possibility of the Wildrose party running candidates in the Council elections?

anyone else running?