Winnipeg Municipal Election 2014

[Riverman]

Thx FM

[rypinion]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

bloated?? wtf

Yes. For instance, just last year the budget for the WPS and WFP rose over $30 Million.

In 2013, the operating budget rose $28.9 million, mostly to cover the rising cost of operating the Winnipeg Police Service and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service. Spending on those two city departments rose a combined $31.3 million in the last operating budget

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bre...233804931.html

[rypinion]

When I asked Bartley why it increased such an insane amount, here's what he had to say:

Several reasons. 1. Cops & firefighters have arbitrated contracts, as they can't strike. So wage increases outside city control.

2. Politicians have made headlines promising more emergency services, so we have more employees in those depts.

3. Cuts and freezes wind up hitting other depts, as "core services" are untouchable.

So yes, we have increased/expanded service. Need is a matter of opinion. Few citizens want less protection.

https://twitter.com/rypinion/status/406435957634650112

[cllew]

And arbitrators are known for not worring about who is going to have to pay the awards they give out as long as their pay cheque clears.

[vid]

How much is that percentage wise? Thunder Bay's police and fire budgets went up by a combined 2 million this year, to $63.6 million dollars, a 3.3% increase. Most city departments saw a change between -1% and +1%.

Thunder Bay privatized recycling a long time ago, and service was cut in half. We lose blue boxes, and can only recycle cardboard, metal and type 1 or 2 beverage and soap containers. The cardboard gets shipped to Minneapolis for processing. The absolutely dismal experience we've had with ReCool handling our recycling has a large segment of the population turned off privatized garbage pickup. In Toronto they privatized garbage and service was reduced to one bag bi-weekly. We allow 3 bags every week. Recycling was reduced from weekly to bi-weekly with privatization. No significant cost savings were found, and no service improvements have been introduced over the term of the contract. The city has to operate its own recycling depots, ReCool won't run them.

Not saying the privatizing is always bad, but it can go wrong, so make sure that any contract the city makes a private company sign is well written to avoid the kind of shit we're going through with recycling. Even Kenora has a more progressive waste system than us! They can recycle everything there!

[trueviking]

Phew. Ten seconds in this thread and it is clear that in the interest of saving a thousand hours of typing over the next six months I will stay very clear from here on in.

[vid]

You can follow Thunder Bay's election if you like. The guy running against my ward councillor is only in the race because he thought he was running against a different ward councillor; he actually likes our ward councillor but is too embarrassed to pull out of the race. (You can actually very easily switch which position you're running for in an Ontario election, but then he'd have to explain why and boy would that be fun to see!)

The only challenger for mayor so far is an elderly marijuana aficionado who wants to turn us into Amsterdam. There is another local guy who keeps saying he is going to run; he came in last in his ward in 2010, after a candidate who dropped out one day after nominations closed. He hasn't been able to officially file because he is banned from City Hall for being disruptive during council meetings so we're not sure what he is going to do.

Fun, fun!

[Authentic_City]

Not sure what thread to file this under, but since he's up for re-election to council this year:

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Ex-Jet Steen facing assault charge

"Winnipeg city councillor Thomas Steen is facing an assault charge following an incident last week at a city restaurant, the Free Press has learned.

Steen turned himself in to police Tuesday evening and was promptly released on a promise to appear in court, a justice source said. The allegations have not been proven and Steen is presumed innocent.

Steen allegedly got into a dispute May 1 at the Boston Pizza location on McPhillips Street. A woman known to Steen reported she was assaulted and contacted police, who authorized a charge following a brief investigation."

[...]

Full story: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...258240941.html

[Riverman]

Not much here yet, but here is Bowman's website.

http://www.bowmanforwinnipeg.ca/

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

Not sure what thread to file this under, but since he's up for re-election to council this year:

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Ex-Jet Steen facing assault charge

"Winnipeg city councillor Thomas Steen is facing an assault charge following an incident last week at a city restaurant, the Free Press has learned.

Steen turned himself in to police Tuesday evening and was promptly released on a promise to appear in court, a justice source said. The allegations have not been proven and Steen is presumed innocent.

Steen allegedly got into a dispute May 1 at the Boston Pizza location on McPhillips Street. A woman known to Steen reported she was assaulted and contacted police, who authorized a charge following a brief investigation."

[...]

Full story: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...258240941.html

If you've ever met Mr. Steen you would quickly realize that he is pretty far from ever being considered a Mensa candidate. Ouch

[Cyro]

Havixbeck running for mayor

Source

My contribution the the Municipal Election thread.

[Cyro]

You can scratch Coun. Scott Fielding off the list of potential mayoral candidates.
- freep

[biguc]

And add Browaty (sp? don't give a shit) to the list of worthless hicks that he was already on for being on city council. Now he's on it twice.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by biguc

And add Browaty (sp? don't give a shit) to the list of worthless hicks that he was already on for being on city council. Now he's on it twice.

Browaty just lost my vote! Hanging out with Wyatt turned his brain to mush and now he has entered the political realm of hick!

[The Jabroni]

Well, if there is any glimmer of hope out of all the candidates, this guy may be the one.

Of course, we need more details, but he's a start.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...260438381.html

[ediger]

Originally Posted by The Jabroni

Well, if there is any glimmer of hope out of all the candidates, this guy may be the one.

Of course, we need more details, but he's a start.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...260438381.html

At least he's something different. A young, but knowledgeable, person who isn't a career politician could be just what we need to get some new ideas in City Hall. I like what he has to say about the four issues brought up in the sidebar. The fact that he was sergeant by the age of 22 says quite a bit about his leadership capabilities, too.

[Danny D Oh]

Nice to see more than two legitimate candidates for mayor for the first time since 2004.

However, I wish some would run for city councillor, like Ouellette and Bowman. I think there is something to working your way up in politics too. Show us what kind of leader you can be as a city councillor, build a track record to run on. Maybe one of these candidates can put together a big tent, draw voters from across the spectrum and get some momentum going, but more likely our current mayor stays if he runs or someone with more political experience like Wasylycia-Leis or Steeves or Havixbeck wins.

The mayor for the most part in our government structure is just a member of council, 1 vote out of 17. Of course they select EPC and often hold more influence on policy than other council members, but if we elect a mayor who is out of step with the rest of council, he/she will be extremely weak, basically in opposition to the majority of council.

We need to churn out a good number of the current councillors too for any real change to happen. Problem is that there are only a few wards that ever have any legitimate challenge to the incumbent.

[Flatland Metropolis]

Warren drops out, I'd expect a few more to do so by August. Once they get their 5 minutes

[steveosnyder]

Two other changes -- Judy has decided to announce she intends to run.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/06/0...eg-mayoral-run

The other is that Swandel isn't running for council again. Surprise, surprise, the man who was one of the most avid people to allow for stupid development is now going to look for (and by look for I mean he has already been promised) a job with the same people who's pockets he helped fill.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...-bid-1.2661767

[cllew]

Its official - now an open race for Mayor of Winnipeg. Sam Katz announces not running for next term.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...ayor-1.2682386