How to be a politician

 

You have to be able see... what can be!

Unburdened by what has been!

Of course you also have to thank a union memba!

In the upcoming municipal election one of the big issues is probably unimportant because the incumbents, all of them, who usually win, no matter how bad they are, will focus on issues that are not even discussed at the time of the election.

People will look at the lawn signs and say "oh yeah, they did well enough".

Finally when the taxes go up and people really start feeling the effects of taxation, stagnation, inflation and humiliation will finally make a change. That time is not now.

How to shake things up at city hall

When I ran... I described this as "asking tough questions"

According to Ron Benn, in his Bulldog polemic challenge staff. 

1. Challenge them for incomplete reports. 

2. Challenge them for leading council by the nose to the staff recommendation. 

3. Challenge staff for not thinking outside the box. 

4. Challenge staff for not being open to outside input. 

 Do not fear being perceived to be not supportive of staff. Of being perceived as challenging staff to do better. Understanding of the role... Oversight of staff. 

 Well done Ron!

Ottawa City Councillors need help

Councillors appear overwhelmed No mere mortal city councillor is up to the challenge of absorbing every brief nor every delegation. Nor can they sit through every mind numbing meeting. Lately we have seen how councillors are crushed by the weight of material…and the result? Bad decisions are made. They need help. Fortunately there is help available. The time has come to introduce artificial intelligence into the management of the city’s $6 billion cad budget. An AI replete with programmed morals, values, ethics and all the source data can help make decisions at light speed, free of bias or fatigue. You think this is impossible? It was actually done in Chile 50 years ago! The system architect was British operations research scientist Stafford Beer called Project Cybersyn, (1971 to 1973) Salvador Allende implemented it as a decision support system aiding in the management of the economy. THIS WAS LONG BEFORE GPT CHATBOT. After the CIA orchestrated military coup on September 11, 1973, the project was abandoned, and the operations room was destroyed. Allende was assasinated. However, while operational, information from the field would be fed into MODELS. Managers could see relevant economic data, formulate feasible responses to emergencies, and transmit advice and directives to enterprises and factories. The idea is to use AI to augment not substitute decisions...free of management or political bias and based on truth, justice and the Canadian way. No decision would be made without the recommendation from the city's A I advisor.

CRUX: Why did Rawlson King Resign from the Police Services Board... during the Trucker Convoy?

During the last municipal election I debated with Rawlson King, Councilor. At this point in the debate we had Mr. King saying how pleased to have been on the Police Services Board....when I called him out on it. 

He was 'pleased' to be on the board, lauded his own accomplishments and then quit for political grandstanding purposes.  

I told him and Rogers viewers that bothered to watch the debate that was the reason I decided to run against him.

You decide for yourself.  By the way, Rogers has removed this video from their library.

To save you time: this is what King said:

What's all this about a tax credit for an airport hotel?

The Ottawa airport hotel tax credit defies logic. 

I ran as a a replacement for Jenna Sudds in North Kanata. The councillors under Watson chose  Kathy Currie.   Recently Ms. Currie,  amongst others - including Rawlson King, voted for a tax benefit to proponents of a new airport hotel, which to his credit the mayor Suitcase opposed.  

The bewildered Currie cited cries for improved transportation and accommodation options for her North Kanata constituents, especially those among them working in the business park.  Unfortunately,  this is not the role of city government. The city must provide structure and function, as Clive Doucet argues in part 8 of The Watsonics. The city must provide the infrastructure and services and then let the citizens and businesses do the rest. Why is this so hard to understand?

Well we saw something similar with the Porche dealership on Montreal road.   Doucet argues “systemic corruption” as the cause of most problems at city hall, but I doubt this is true concerning the councillor in question. Rather, I suggest that old habits and patterns were at work. My job here is to point that out and the need to think differently about spending precious taxpayer resources.

What does the voter do if their councillor is unable?

In a recent essay by Clive Doucet  he recollected Carole Anne Mehan saying that as a councilor she had trouble getting a new garbage can for her constituents. 

Reflecting on this I wondered what the people we have elected will actually do for us in their elected roles. 

In Ward thirteen I am constantly seeing streams of social media about some good cause or another, none of it having anything particularly to do with the work of the councilor. They were “pleased to attend” they were “pleased to receive” -but really its all feel good fluff.  On ocassion the councillor will report on road conditions.

Then we will get notices of budget consultations: but as a constituent where does one begin? We don’t have any context, no comparables, no intelligence or targeted reporting at our disposal. Again, the councilor is paid to participate in the budget process and make good decisions so a general call to “listen in to budget talks” or “provide feedback on the budget” seems rather pointless. 

So what will the zealous councilor do? And what is the conscientious citizen to contribute?  I know if I was a developer I’d just want faster permitting, and more favourable zoning: and they’ll get what they want. They bought and paid for it. 

Meanwhile people like Carole Anne might complain again about her need for a garbage can. Maybe private citizens can send in letters to council or news media like the Bull Dog. 

Its not about the debate - people had already made up their minds

 

In our municipal democracy if the informed voters choses the best candidate, based on the information and facts available then we get the best council possible. IF we have the best council possible we get the best city possible. In that case... we all win. Right?

8400 electors chose the incumbent whereas I received 716 votes.

As of election day only 840 views of the debate between the incumbent and myself occurred. 

There were other sources of information for the voters: interviews such as the one with Vince Callo: again with only 290 views. There was a CTV video clip, the CBC questionnaire, short articles in local papers such as the Manor Park Chronicle.

So how did people come to their voting conclusions with such finality?

If they knew the incumbent had resigned from his OPS seat during the trucker convoy: obviously they cared less. Maybe they did not know: either way.

The electors were going to vote for the incumbent no matter what. 

In Ottawa, all of the incumbents won their seats easily.

During the debate I held the incumbent to task for ghettoizing our community housing and especially his resignation from the OPS board during the trucker convoy crisis.

I said I wanted to increase voter participation and change the dynamics on council regarding the urban /rural vote splitting.

I understand that the voter engagement was actually around 40% -  2% higher than in 2019 byelection. 

As for the vote splitting between the suburbs and urban voters: Suitcase clobbered McKenney there is no sign of abatement in that department.

Thanks to all the voters regardless of how they passed their vote. It is a privilege to run and to at least be considered. We now live with the consequences.