Interesting article on the dysfunctional nature of Council.
Once again the flashpoint is a meaningless, entirely symbolic debate about the impending chaos if we were to close 2 lanes of Memorial Drive on a fricking Sunday. I am so utterly fed up with this Council and the constant grandstanding over minor symbolic issues. This is the 3rd largest city in Canada. We have a population as large as Saskatchewan or Manitoba. We spend billions of dollars on infrastructure and services every year...and the folks who dictate where that money goes are arguing over pedestrian bridges, plastic bags and closing Memorial Drive on one Sunday a year.
Calgary council infighting 'distracts' politicians
Jostling evident well before civic vote, says alderman
By Kim Guttormson And Joel Kom, Calgary HeraldMay 13, 2009 7:14 AMComments (11)
CALGARY - It is still more than 16 months away, but the next municipal election is already affecting city hall and how it gets things done.
With roots in last fall's budget wrangling, divisions on council are fuelling vicious debates, rumours of conservative slates to challenge sitting aldermen and speculation on who will challenge the incumbent mayor.
And there are worries the bickering and political positioning--which has exposed long-simmering personal rifts--will make it difficult for council to work together, affecting every decision it tries to make.
"It takes two to get an argument going,"veteran Ald.Dale Hodges said. "It distracts some members of city council and the administration from the real issues here. It's just people staking out their positions."
This is the first time in his 26 years on council that overt political jostling is so evident more than a year before an election, he said.
"Some of the people here want to start the election a year early," Hodges added.
Ald. Gord Lowe said he's not surprised tempers are flaring.
"We're seeing a council now divided along ideological lines, and unfortunately more time is being spent on politics than city business," he said. "I find that regrettable."
Ald. Joe Connelly said debate in the past has been more one-sided ideologically, but that's changed since he and Ald. Jim Stevenson, among others, have joined what he sees as the pro-business chorus.
"City hall has been hijacked by special interests,"Connelly said. "What ideology built Calgary? I think it's a pro-business stance, instead of a left-leaning stance."
Rumours of conservative-minded slates have been making the rounds, although Ald. Ric McIver, for one, says he puts little stock in them.
Ald. Druh Farrell hopes council isn't teetering toward party politics.
"Council's strength is we're 15 individuals. Calgarians have always been in support of a non-partisan structure at city hall," she said. "No matter how fiery the debate is, council usually gets it right."
On Monday, a debate over whether two lanes on Memorial Drive should be closed for a street festival became a flashpoint for pent-up anger.
Lowe called out some of his colleagues for trying to halt the closure, saying it was about politics. Ald. Brian Pincott called it petty and frivolous.
Connelly, one of four who brought forward the motion to stop the lane closure, accused his colleagues of believing they know better than the people who elected them, and after the meeting said it was about one alderman trying to raise her profile.
On Tuesday, Lowe described the debate as "acrimonious."
But McIver said he has no problem with the tone.
"We're not actually here to hold hands and agree on everything. We're here to make decisions, and sometimes that requires a bit of enthusiasm," he said.
McIver is frequently rumoured to be eyeing a run for mayor in next year's election, and donning a hockey jersey last December with "2010" on the back did nothing to quell speculation. That in turn has some of his council colleagues believing every move he makes is done solely with the mayor's chair in mind.
McIver said he still has not made a decision about a mayoral run.
"When you're a politician, you're always campaigning, let's face it," he said.
The names of a couple of other aldermen have been floated for the mayoral race, but none with the frequency of McIver.
Mayor Dave Bronconnier has said barring any change in plans, he will run for the city's top job a fourth time.
Election or no, council has a job to do, Ald. Bob Hawkesworth said.
"I think we are expected to govern, and that requires a certain level of professionalism," he said. "We have to be able to live with our differences.
"We need to get back to policy. We're going to have to be more responsible and lighten up."
jkom@theherald.canwest.com
kguttormson@theherald.canwest.com
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