Next mayor of Calgary, Final vote.

[kertejud2]

Originally posted by hampstor

Urban sprawl:

Myself, I find the term 'urban sprawl' quite offensive. You're basically saying that the drive to grow our city for the last 30+ years has been bad, everyone who has purchased homes in new communities is bad, and built business further out is bad.

I believe the concern people have been voicing with 'urban sprawl' is actually not that we've built further out - but they feel that the inner city has been neglected. While new neighborhoods are being built with new roads, underground powerlines, the inner city neighborhoods have gone decades without those benefits.

Urban sprawl isn't inherently a bad thing, but the kind of sprawl Calgary saw, combined with the years of status-quo governing in the decade before causes lots of problems. Unchecked urban sprawl while a city is already behind in developing existing infrastructure is what caused the problems in Calgary and the unwillingness to adjust the tax revenue to support that growth has left us in the budget situation we are now in.

Calgary's infrastructure lagged in the 90s and when you combine playing catchup with an outward boom you cannot expect there to be any sustainability (its that reactive vs. proactive thing). You're left with band-aid jobs that people don't like waiting for the next wave of money and labour to become available for the next set of giant projects while at the same time making projects like LRT improvement become nonviable (lack of density isn't good for mass transit).

So basically the city cannot continue to support outward growth without adjusting to the growth it has already seen, because its obvious that the citizens aren't willing to pay for it as shown by the outrage of raising some of the lowest property taxes in the country.

[Sugarphreak]

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[Stealth22]

Originally posted by kertejud2
My only support for Nenshi compared to McIver is that Nenshi saw the need to bring the same scrutiny to the CPS books that every other city department will need to have to balance the budget while McIver voted to pre-approve the CPS budget which showed he wasn't willing to give the city the proper financial overhaul it needed from the years of budget apathy that has caused this deficit. Pre-approving budgets in a time of deficit is unacceptable regardless of the department and their role in the city for somebody who claims to be a fiscal conservative.

This has been said before, but the police budget that was "pre-approved" was reviewed and approved by Council 3 years ago. In the final year of a 3 year budget, Council decided to slash the budget and take back money that the CPS had already spent. But that's a separate issue.

The reason I don't like McIver is he was all for supporting CPS and CFD, giving them what they need, etc. But then he flips on that and said that he'd maintain the number of cops on the streets, but would cut other aspects of the budget, to make good on his "maximum 4% tax increase". He wants to be seen as increasing the number of cops on Calgary streets while reducing the police budget, which would mean cutting the budgets for speciality units like the Tac Team, reducing flying hours for HAWCS, making officers take pay cuts, or god knows what else.

The other thing with McIver...he wants to get rid of the Park and Ride fee, but he helped introduce it in the first place. The two things I mentioned are just examples, but my point is, he has no solid plan for his promises, and you don't know if he'll make good on any promises at all.

My vote is leaning towards Nenshi, but it's by elimination more than anything else. McIver's credibility has gone out the window with me, Higgins has no solid plan in place for anything (and reading a teleprompter for 20 years does not qualify her to run a city), so the only candidate left who stands a chance of winning is Naheed Nenshi.

Originally posted by kolumbo69
Funny how you all want to scratch traffic enforcement from the books, but forget it is there to remind people to drive safely. Just remember the playground zone that they always generate as a cash cow near your house may have your child playing in it.

No one wants to "scratch" traffic enforcement from the books. Read my previous post (I think its on the 2nd page) about Nenshi's idea to have Bylaw do traffic laser. Traffic stops can be one of the most dangerous things a police officer deals with, after domestics. Unarmed bylaw officers can probably operate a lidar and write tickets, but they can't deal with a gangster who decides to start a fight with the bylaw pulling him over. And photo radar isn't done by cops anyway...CPS hires Peace Officers (previously called Special Constables) to do photo radar and other stuff like towing damaged CPS cruisers.

[MilanoRedTeg]

I didn't read through this thread thoroughly, but was it brought up by any of the candidates to lower parking costs downtown?

[dino_martini]

If McIver really cared, he should have run for mayor last time.

That would have been good...McIver vs Bronco...FINAL SMACKDOWN.

I'm going to head down to city hall and cast my vote today, probably for Nenshi.

Just for the record, I am in that 18-25 year old age category.

Get out and vote, doesn't matter who you vote for. Casting a ballot for a candidate that is not in the media defined "Top 3", is NOT a waste of a vote.

It is your right guys, exercise it!

[M.alex]

Originally posted by kolumbo69

Funny how you all want to scratch traffic enforcement from the books, but forget it is there to remind people to drive safely. Just remember the playground zone that they always generate as a cash cow near your house may have your child playing in it.

Is one of Nenshi's platforms to scrap traffic enforcement and focus on real crime? If so, damn, I'd vote for him. 160 on deerfoot ftw

[almerick]

I threw in my vote yesterday for Nenshi.

For you UofCers, there's booths set up in Mac Hall beside DQ.

[HRD2PLZ]

I voted yesterday, Nenshi FTW

[max_boost]

Is it just me or is Nenshi the only real smart one of the 3? I can't stand the other two. Just don't seem that bright.

[bituerbo]

Originally posted by MilanoRedTeg
I didn't read through this thread thoroughly, but was it brought up by any of the candidates to lower parking costs downtown?

Nenshi wants to reduce the amount of traffic that flows downtown by improving public transit infrastructure. Less people driving downtown leads to more open spaces... I think that would lower costs at the privately owned lots at least, as there would actually be competition.

[gyu]

Will be voting for Nenshi later today.

[dino_martini]

Originally posted by bituerbo


Nenshi wants to reduce the amount of traffic that flows downtown by improving public transit infrastructure. Less people driving downtown leads to more open spaces... I think that would lower costs at the privately owned lots at least, as there would actually be competition.

He also said he would lower the parking rates for 'short stays' in the down town area.

[Stealth22]

Originally posted by max_boost
Is it just me or is Nenshi the only real smart one of the 3? I can't stand the other two. Just don't seem that bright.

Originally posted by Stealth22
My vote is leaning towards Nenshi, but it's by elimination more than anything else. McIver's credibility has gone out the window with me, Higgins has no solid plan in place for anything (and reading a teleprompter for 20 years does not qualify her to run a city), so the only candidate left who stands a chance of winning is Naheed Nenshi.

[kolumbo69]

For the life jacket bylaw I am all for it especially if people are drinking on the river, you can drowned very easy in a fast moving body of water like the bow. As for drinking, there is never a solution because it has two extremes either people control themselves or they become drunken idiots and unfortunately the drunken idiots won that contest. Also when has it become legal to drink in public outside of licensed establishment and your own private property oh thats right never,so I ask what makes the river any different.

Traffic lidar involves pulling people over you said it in your own post it is the most dangerous activity besides domestics, one of which had a police officer shot while working in traffic enforcement.


kertejud2: Im glad you taken a reason to look at all my other posts, so you can continue with your grade school ego trip. You do realize that people actually have to want to build up and not out, if everyone wanted a condo why have some many projects downtown closed there doors due to lack of interest.

[downbytheriver]

Wayne Stewart drops out and endorses Nenshi:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...462/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...n-stewart.html

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/calga...-15687761.html

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

[Toma]

Originally posted by max_boost
Is it just me or is Nenshi the only real smart one of the 3? I can't stand the other two. Just don't seem that bright.

Thats the problem, I respect educated people, people that not only put in time and effort to better themselves, also excelled..... and Higgins and Mciver... what are their credentials?

Nenshi a Harvard Grad... man has brains for sho.

[Toma]

Originally posted by downbytheriver
Wayne Stewart drops out and endorses Nenshi:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...462/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...n-stewart.html

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/calga...-15687761.html

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

Its actually too bad he didn't get more support. I would take him 1000000000 x over Higgins.

[bignerd]

Leaning towards Nenshi, McIver is still a possibility for me though.

All I know is NO HIGGINS!!!!!!!! I will go out and vote for ANYONE else just so she does not win.

[ffmf]

Hehr officially endorses Nenshi.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/story.h...672451#yycvote

[Sugarphreak]

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