My favourite kind of nimbyism is keeping government as far from my back yard as possible.
And renters. No government and no renters.
My favourite kind of nimbyism is keeping government as far from my back yard as possible.
And renters. No government and no renters.
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
fact.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Jeff Davison helped with negotiations for the event center. For that reason alone I wouldn’t vote for him.
I reached out to his office a couple of times and the responses were very condescending, vague, and non-committal.
I wouldn’t even vote for him for councillor again.
Pretty sure Farkas will take this one.
Hmm. I may vote for him based on that reason alone. Farkas will make for a truly terrible mayor as he's a grandstanding windbag that knows how to cater to his audience but doesn't have a lick of substance or common sense.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
I don’t need some self important genius of a mayor ( we tried that ).
What we need is someone to say no to the city managers. Every time.
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
fact.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
How's that any different than every other mayor?This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
The Mayor are just the little bitch-men for the city managers, arent they?This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Historically that appears to be the case.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
It seems that as a general statement city council has a very hard time understanding what they are elected to actually do.
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
fact.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Why are some of these people wasting their time?
I mean, look at this Shaoli Wang guy and his platform... So bad... lol. I feel like I could make a list of initiatives that are better than his guy.
https://www.shaoliw.com/
But Farkas will make sure every cul-de-sac is plowed promptly after every snowfall..sThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
He’s a populist. He’d be Rob Ford but without any executive power like Toronto’s system allows. Council will just do what it wants and not care about the guy yelling. A guy like Farkas in a weak-mayor system can’t just say no and expect that’s what would happen. But it’s not about saying no and stopping things, it’s about saying no and being able to complain they aren’t stopping so people who want things to stop will keep voting for them and get them re-elected.
In the end, Farkas is harmless. His motives are clear and easy: career politician with populist views which makes him predictable and easy to manipulate to get stuff done. It’s why nothing slowed down in Toronto when Ford was mayor and why spending and property taxes went up despite assurances it would stop. A do-nothing candidate does nothing, which gives more power to city managers to just use existing frameworks. Farkas is a status quo candidate, it’s guys like Davison that scare me. Single-handedly undermining the city’s negotiating in position on the arena, with a far worse deal for taxpayers, but still having it get council approval is the kind of stuff people capable of real damage are capable of.
I can't take Farkas seriously and for that reason I'm out.
At this point Brad Field gets my vote. I had dealings with him 25 years ago when we didn't have a pot to piss in and he was a genuine, honest GOOD guy with solid character and integrity and that's more than I can say for any other politician I've ever met.
"Masked Bandit is a gateway drug for frugal spending." - Unknown303
I am open to someone other than Farkas coming out of the woodwork and telling the city managers to pound sand and do even less.
However I’m not convinced there is anyone else running ( with a shot of winning ) who will do that. I am willing to accept voting for the least evil.
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
fact.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
The Useful Idiot politician’s dreams are made of.
Did you try banging your face on the keyboard for that nugget of wisdom?This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
fact.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Fairly certain those nuggets come from the opposite end.
are you just saying the mayor in calgary isn't that important, and only the CC and the city managers are what matter? (legit question)This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
We've had enough of that in the last decade.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
A Calgary mayor who can’t build coalition or consensus isn’t important. There’s no executive power to dictate policy or make operational decisions for Alberta mayors. So if you have a mayor nobody on council gets along with, it’s easy to undermine them to push their own policy. The mayor can’t fire anybody, doesn’t negotiate labour deals, doesn’t have a veto, and can’t tell the managers what to do if it wasn’t from a council decision. Their power comes from chairing council meetings and being able to build support for their ideas.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
A mayor who can’t do that results in the civil servants getting to do what they’ve been mandated to do previously by council (hence a status quo candidate). Farkas is a guy who built his reputation on being an outsider and a contrarian, and is then trying to run for a position in which that is counter-productive, convincing people he’ll do things the position doesn’t allow because they don’t know any better.
Can the mayor fire the city manager?
Originally posted by Thales of Miletus
If you think I have been trying to present myself as intellectually superior, then you truly are a dimwit.
Originally posted by Toma
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No, not unilaterally. Council can.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Council could fire a manager the mayor likes, or hire a manager the mayor hates. The mayor doesn’t even get to pick who the committee puts forward.
The current city manager was approved unanimously by council, FWIW.
Last edited by kertejud2; 05-13-2021 at 05:14 PM.
The more I read this thread the more I wonder why anyone would want to be the mayor of Calgary. I suppose it’s a decent pay check but shit what’s the point if you don’t even have any real power? I guess that explains why quality of candidates is so bad.
Who can decide to grant them more executive powers? Provincial legislature?