You can’t keep a good mayor down. And if you’ve got a handful of former Edmonton mayors they are going to have opinions on just what we should be doing with our taxes, city spending, and schools. Even if they have no idea how things work in 2010.
The debate could get heated. It might even spark a new run for the mayor’s office.
In this forum:
Mayor Joseph Clarke – Fightin’ Joe. Mayor, councillor, constant candidate, brawler.
Mayor David Duggan – Pro-business and pro-radio. Also Alberta Conservative leader.
Mayor Matthew (Mat) “Warden” McCauley – Edmonton’s first mayor
Consider this a historical satire by actors who did very little research.
—–
Further reading (and proof we didn’t make everything up):
More McCauley (and schools).
Neighbourhoods of Duggan (not the same Duggan) and McCauley, and Joe Clarke Athletic Field
Mayor William J. McNamara and fighting with Joe Clarke
—–
Brought to life by Brittney Le Blanc, Scott C. Bourgeois, Peter Daly, Diego Ibarra, and J Nelson Niwa. With some help from Jeff Samsonow.
Who better to weigh viagra on the Edmonton election, and the issues facing our city in 2010, then the men who made Alberta’s capital what it is today?
So what if they’re dead? Doesn’t mean they don’t have opinions. Edmonton’s mayors are back from beyond and they have something to say about this city’s future.
In this forum:
Mayor Matthew (Mat) “Warden” McCauley – Edmonton’s first mayor
Mayor William Thomas Henry – The dean of Edmonton’s furniture trade
Mayor William “Wild Bill” Hawrelak – 3 time mayor, twice had to leave office because of land deals, eventually died in office
Consider this a historical satire by actors who did very little research.
—–
Further reading (and proof we didn’t make everything up):
Mayor Fred Mitchell
—–
Brought to life by Brittney Le Blanc, Scott C. Bourgeois, Jeff Samsonow, and an actual ghost.
By Gregory Bell
I put on my civic engagement touque and headed out to the Ward 6 candidates forum. Before Tuesday, I think the last time I did anything even remotely related to local politics was to nervously ask a question at a public consultation in St. Albert, discussing a curfew for teenagers. So I was excited to be doing something a little more politically conscious in my community.
I’ve been following the City Centre Airport controversy quite closely and I hope to put as much effort into watching the real campaign.
DemoCamp was the same night and I skipped it to go to this, so I was hoping for a good show. I wasn’t disappointed. There was some crazy, some boring moments, some theatrics, and some decent information. I’ve picked a candidate based on their performance for the evening so now all they have to do is not screw up before the 18th and they’ve got my vote.
I’m going to steal a good idea from Vue Weekly’s David Berry and list the candidates from least likely to get my vote to most.
But before I get to that I have to explain the huge surprise I received talking to Envision Edmonton-backed mayoral candidate David Dorward. He approached my friend and I before the forum started and launched into his spiel. When he asked for my opinion I was blunt with him saying that I wasn’t going to vote for him because he wanted to keep the airport open. He shocked me by saying that if elected mayor he would would be forced to close the airport because “there aren’t enough votes on council.” He claimed that he would be known as “the mayor who closed the airport.”
I have a seriously difficult time believing he’s sincere since he’s endorsed by Envision Edmonton and Cal Nichols has said he wants to raise $500,000 to get him elected. So either he flat out lied to me or Envision Edmonton is going to be sorely disappointed if he becomes mayor.
If that’s not enough to jade you against all politicians here’s my review of the Ward 6 candidates.
Read More Post a comment (1)By Jeff Samsonow
Today is the second-biggest day of the election. The election itself being the biggest of them all.
Today is the day candidates for council, public school trustee, Catholic school trustee, and mayor have to file their paperwork with the City of Edmonton’s clerk’s office. It’s aptly named “Nomination Day.”
It will be interesting to see if everyone who’s declared themselves a candidate remembers to get down to the office to file. I hope they have three alarm clocks, multiple transportation options, and all the paperwork in order. Monday is always the toughest day to wake up on time.
It may also see the appearance of one or two candidates we haven’t yet heard from.
By late this afternoon the clerk’s office will post the unofficial list of candidates. Then we’re off to the races.
Read More Post a comment (2)
By Jeff Samsonow
‘sup?
It’s been awhile since we took a look all around Edmonton for news of the election. That will mean two things: lots for you to read and lots for me to work on. I don’t like that second one.
First up, that airport.
Yes, Envision Edmonton handed over 90,000+ signatures on a petition to have a plebiscite question on our election ballot about keeping the City Centre Airport open. That’s probably enough signatures to cover a failure rate (signatures that are unreadable, duplicates, not Edmonton residents, etc…). That would only leave the question of legality. (Whether they had to have it in withing 60 days of council’s decision.)
Either way, this will be an election issue. Two incumbent councillors voted against the closure last year, Envision Edmonton’s got money for a campaign for the airport to remain open, or against councillors who voted to close it. Or both. (Though there aren’t a lot of pro-airport council candidates with name recognition.)
I hope you like hearing about the airport.
—–
It’s interesting to think about one of the reasons we wanted to create this website. People don’t know about politics. Oh sure, they see the fighting and headlines, but after school they (we) just don’t get into the nuts and bolts of how our various forms of government work.
Read More Post a comment (1)