0
The mayoralty race kicked off by Sandra Cooper
29 August 2010
The mayoralty race got started today (Sunday) when Deputy Mayor Sandra Cooper held a meet-and-greet at the Legion. And if that meeting was an indication of the trend among local voters, I'd suggest Sandra already has a lengthy lead against her competition.
Originally booked for the Legion's small room, organizers nervously took a last-minute chance and booked the larger room, but had only set up about half the room with chairs and tables, hoping for a modest turn out. By the time Sandra spoke to the crowd, tables and chairs had been shuffled out of storage to fill the room, with very few left empty. It was a full audience.
And it wasn't just the usual circle of friends and family around her. There were a lot of supporters, many of them among the town's movers and shakers, including former mayor Ron Emo, former town solicitor Alex Besse, former Collus board member, Dunc Hawkins, and many more, including some of the more vocal members of this forum and the East-end Underground.
In fact, I was not really surprised, to see some of the current mayor's former supporters among them, as well as some of Councillor Jeffrey's supporters from the last election campaign. I think the level of dissatisfaction in town towards the current mayor and council is pretty high. People voted last election with high hopes of change, of open and accountable government. Instead they got... well, just read my archives here to see what they got. It wasn't what anyone expected.
Now of course, one meeting doesn't mark her campaign as a steamroller success, but the turnout in support of Sandra was impressive. And it was noisily supportive: her speech was punctuated at almost every sentence with applause, and she got a standing ovation when she finished.
I heard many, many comments from the people I spoke with at that meeting that echoed a lot of what I've heard from others in the last three-plus years, and reflected a lot of the concerns and issues I've raised here on this blog, and about which members have commented.
I was, however, surprised, at the dearth of turnout from among the current crop of candidates, in particular our current council. I counted one deputy mayor candidate - Rick Lloyd - but aside from me, no other council candidates I could identify. Are they afraid of showing allegiance to a mayoral candidate? Or showing it too early? Or simply showing any at all?
While it's true that all successful candidates will have to work with whoever gets elected, it never hurts to stand in the back to hear what the mayoralty candidates have to say, if nothing more than to get the gist of what the campaign issues will be popping up, since the mayoral race really sets the tone for the debate.
I, of course, was not at the back of the room making notes. I was sitting among her supporters because I feel Sandra will make a good mayor. She's a hard worker, and - unlike some - actually reads the whole agenda.
I've served with Sandra for the past seven years, and although we don't always agree on issues, we more often do than not (in particular the Admiral Collingwood development and downtown patios). And we respect one another even when we disagree. That's an important consideration. Democracy is not about everyone agreeing: it can be noisy and contentious. But at the end of the meeting, we should be able to walk away with our dignity and respect from and for our colleagues. That hasn't been true very often this term. I think we will have that back, with Sandra.
Originally booked for the Legion's small room, organizers nervously took a last-minute chance and booked the larger room, but had only set up about half the room with chairs and tables, hoping for a modest turn out. By the time Sandra spoke to the crowd, tables and chairs had been shuffled out of storage to fill the room, with very few left empty. It was a full audience.
And it wasn't just the usual circle of friends and family around her. There were a lot of supporters, many of them among the town's movers and shakers, including former mayor Ron Emo, former town solicitor Alex Besse, former Collus board member, Dunc Hawkins, and many more, including some of the more vocal members of this forum and the East-end Underground.
In fact, I was not really surprised, to see some of the current mayor's former supporters among them, as well as some of Councillor Jeffrey's supporters from the last election campaign. I think the level of dissatisfaction in town towards the current mayor and council is pretty high. People voted last election with high hopes of change, of open and accountable government. Instead they got... well, just read my archives here to see what they got. It wasn't what anyone expected.
Now of course, one meeting doesn't mark her campaign as a steamroller success, but the turnout in support of Sandra was impressive. And it was noisily supportive: her speech was punctuated at almost every sentence with applause, and she got a standing ovation when she finished.
I heard many, many comments from the people I spoke with at that meeting that echoed a lot of what I've heard from others in the last three-plus years, and reflected a lot of the concerns and issues I've raised here on this blog, and about which members have commented.
I was, however, surprised, at the dearth of turnout from among the current crop of candidates, in particular our current council. I counted one deputy mayor candidate - Rick Lloyd - but aside from me, no other council candidates I could identify. Are they afraid of showing allegiance to a mayoral candidate? Or showing it too early? Or simply showing any at all?
While it's true that all successful candidates will have to work with whoever gets elected, it never hurts to stand in the back to hear what the mayoralty candidates have to say, if nothing more than to get the gist of what the campaign issues will be popping up, since the mayoral race really sets the tone for the debate.
I, of course, was not at the back of the room making notes. I was sitting among her supporters because I feel Sandra will make a good mayor. She's a hard worker, and - unlike some - actually reads the whole agenda.
I've served with Sandra for the past seven years, and although we don't always agree on issues, we more often do than not (in particular the Admiral Collingwood development and downtown patios). And we respect one another even when we disagree. That's an important consideration. Democracy is not about everyone agreeing: it can be noisy and contentious. But at the end of the meeting, we should be able to walk away with our dignity and respect from and for our colleagues. That hasn't been true very often this term. I think we will have that back, with Sandra.
The was a very large colour ad/invitation in the Enterprise Bulletin!!
You don't read the local newspaper??
Is your nose growing?