As the city election looms, three Free Press columnists reflect on the past mayor and the future mayor. In the first column Peter Denton correctly points out a few things in regards to Mayor Bowman. He indicates that part of the assessment of how successful the mayor was has to be couched with how Premier Pallister literally refused to meet or take calls. This wasn't isolated to the mayor and the broken relationship can't be pinned on the mayor or the city. The only call the premier wanted was from the PM and more federal money with no strings to presumably not spend or issue as a tax cut.
Denton also points out the pandemic for the inability to exit office triumphantly. It is a point taken. Winnipeg will be struggling for a while. And Covid is still making people sick, some very badly so. I will say a few things about Bowman. I believe he has been trying to root out the corruption in regards to the police headquarters. He has had zero help from the province on that. He has tried to rein in the above inflation increases in spending on police pensions and remove a union fire head from the public payroll. I think he has incrementally tried to do his part for reconciliation and Pride when other leaders turned their backs.
For his troubles, there are a number of councillors who believe they are mayor and act like it. Their goal has been to block any initiative they didn't come up with. Some do it for small government and some the opposite. It is why the mayor uses the executive policy committee as a cudgel rather than a steering committee to ensure enough votes for any initiative. Some councillors are permanently on the outside because party politics continues on in secret alliances. It is no wonder why the mayor probably thought two terms was enough. And this is where we should be thankful he was not coy. He stated well in advance he was leaving and this is why we have 14 people lined up for the open mayor's chair. A number of experienced Councillors have stepped forward who otherwise might have stayed in place had the mayor stayed on or even announced very late that he wasn't running
The second article of interest in the Free Press was by Barbara Bowes who detailed from a human resources standpoint what we might look for in a mayor. She said to pay attention to their reason for running. Is this an ego boost only? What are their objectives and goals? Perennial candidates like Nick Ternette were not insincere when they ran. They ran as activists. And while they didn't win, they won respect? No one thought Ternette was looking for a cushy job. He ran do change things.
Other questions Bowes asks are: What experience does a candidate have? Running for mayor and bypassing Councillor or other elected office means a learning curve unless other experience comes into play. Are they business people, run an organization, been in academia, been an activist or had some political experience? If they ran last mayor's election, what have they done in the interim to prepare for another run.
What leadership and communication skills do they have? And even if you check off all those boxes, do you have popular people skills? One story I just heard is from when someone used to have Glen Murray as Councillor and a got a parking ticket. They gave full blast on the Councillor's voice mail. Murray called personally twice to tell the constituent they thought they had the basis to contend the ticket. I'm not sure if the ticket was won but it earned Murray a voter then and now. This type of retail politics can work. It earned John Harvard a seat in a Tory blue riding but Glen Murray could not capture Harvard's support in same riding because they were two different men, had different interactions with people and Murray did not have enough time to create roots of retail politics in the area.
Finally, Royce Koop's column on Friday spoke of how crime will be a focus of the civic election. It would be a mistake to assume Glen Murray's anti-helicopter stance is anti-police. If he pushes the beat cop approach, it could resonate. Not everyone is a fan of the helicopter based on cost and how much time is required to repair it versus it being in the air. There may be a variety of opinion on what type of policing is needed. This is as much a political opinion as a practical opinion. Defend the helicopter and senior police might have to say how it is better than say...six police on the ground. And woe to anyone who says we need both without showing projected stats on how crime will go down.
Conservatives might find simply saying we need 200 more cops now could face questions from their own supporters asking for costing of that promise as well as proof results will occur. Progressives who ask for cops to be cut had better show how redirected money also reduces crime and show proof of that. Promises that lack substance will be chewed up. Yes, crime will be an issue and it could be a progressive who comes down strong on that area that steals the fire from a conservative.
And given how many people are in the race, expect things to get dirty. Any questionable matter that a candidate thought was buried will come up such as any legal issues, addiction problems, domestic issues, race issues, misogyny or links to criminals, financial records, business ties, donor lists or vote counts records. Not all will be crippling. Some things will be baked into the equation. Some will require explanation. But in a close race, expect an October surprise.
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I received one of those telephone polls on Monday. It asked at that the time if I would consider a vote for Paula Havixbeck and Hal Anderson. I thought Anderson was an outside chance having the radio job he probably has wanted for a long time. However, like Geoff Currier, he probably was drawn to local politics and an open seat is Charleswood is as good as it gets. Only candidate so far is Brad Gross who has tried his hand at runs for mayor and at least council seats. I believe he lives on the other side of the Red River. There are no rules on running in your region though but it comes up every election. Anderson's last day was today where he asked his listeners to vote for him.
Media types have run before. Some win like John Harvard, others lose like Garth Dawley. I mentioned Geoff Currier from CJOB already. Anderson endorsed Kevin Klein for mayor and has supported more police. His politics are right-leaning. In a race of two people thus far, he stands a good chance of winning. However, endorsing Klein means his position in council might be tougher if another candidate wins.
Interesting times.
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Glen Murray continues to get endorsements. He landed the firefighter union early on and now has the Labour Council with count 40 unions among its members including CUPE 500, the large city employees union. The police have not said who they are supporting or if they will support someone yet although some leaders are supporting Klein.
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Suburban candidates who think crime is a downtown issue would do well to pay attention to the machete wielding, sawed off rifle carrying individual at Kildonan Place out do some shoplifting. These occurrences are not just media hysteria. They are reminders that there is no safety bubble in the city. Rampant theft of catalytic converters continues as Rana Bokhari can attest to with her campaign vehicle crippled and Kildonan Place with the machete incident show the suburbs are not immune to what is happening.
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