Can rules help get us out of this mess?

The early campaigning in the municipal election really underlines our argument about the lack of rules to create a level playing field for all.

The transit union, despite making the worst investment ever when they attempted to buy Alderman Helene Larocque in 2004, has decided to back two candidates -- Larocque and Al Koenig -- with $10,000 donations this time around.

Rank-and-file bus drivers must be wondering what their president, Mike Mahar, is doing with their union dues. Maybe it sounded like a good idea at the time to have an alderman on their side, but since Laroque was kicked out of negotiations on the contract since she was obviously tainted, you'd think they would have learned their lesson.

Mind you, Mahar is the same union president that forgot a cardinal rule of bargaining -- if you work to rule for months on end and no one notices, you're not in as strong a bargaining position as you thought.

One only hopes that the firefighters' union, deciding whether to endorse candidates, chooses to stay out of the fray.

All of this, though, is really about a lack of rules. Koenig can run for council while simultaneously serving as a union boss. What happens is he wins? Will he negotiate a new contract with himself?

This is why we believe that campaign finance reform is so essential -- capping donation amounts and requiring immediate disclosure of all donations will go a long way towards opening up the system.

And ... we're up!

The new website is up! If you came here via bettercalgary.blogspot.com, check out our new site on

www.bettercalgary.ca

It has some brief information about the group and our issues, and it is where we will be posting the results of our survey as well as our endorsements!

(Now, apparently it can take up to 48 hours for the "name servers" to "propagate" across the Internet, but it does seem to be working for us, so hopefully you get a nice blue background and a picture of the Calgary skyline when you click. If not, try again tomorrow!)

Special thanks to Leigh McDonald of Medium Rare Studios who volunteered his time and web development skills to this process.

Bear with us while we move

We're in the midst of launching our new website, so there may be a few glitches as we move over to the new servers.

In the meantime and for the near future, this site will continue to be available at bettercalgary.blogspot.com, and you can point your RSS readers here as well.

Nomination Day!

Now, we've seriously started. Funny-scariest-weirdest moment was Madeline King having 40 of her signatures disallowed and having 90minutes to find people who could sign -- every candidate's worst nightmare.

And Naheed Nenshi was quoted in the Herald again today. To quote his dad, "Are you planning on being in the paper EVERY DAY? Did you bribe them or something?"

End of term report card time

Today's Calgary Herald has a great piece on the end of the municipal term.
In it, the BCC's Naheed Nenshi gives this Council a "B for effort, but a D on execution."

Oh, Barry...

Lots of media this week around Barry Erskine's surprise resignation from Council. It's been a great opportunity to shine a light on one of our major issues: campaign finance reform.

Here are a couple of stories from the Herald:

On the resignation.

On campaign finance rules.

The best part of this last one is where a donor, related to the development industry, refers to the "return on investment" of their donation, inadvertently proving our point that there is a quid pro quo system in place.

What do you want to ask candidates in the election?

The Better Calgary Campaign will be surveying all declared candidates in the upcoming municipal election with the goal of endorsing a slate of candidates in each race. But first, you can help us decide what to ask. Long post below...

For ease of use, we will cut and paste our current questions here. If you have anything you'd like to add, mention it in the "comment" field or drop us an email at info@bettercalgary.ca. We'll finalize the survey this Friday evening, so act quickly!

1. What are the top three issues facing your Ward?

2. What are the top three issues facing the city as a whole, if different from above?

3. Urban Sprawl and Housing
a. Do you support the concept of extending Transit-Oriented Development throughout the city, including established neighbourhoods? What is your stance on the proposed development at Dalhousie Station (in Varsity)?

b. Are we facing a housing crisis in Calgary? If so, what should be done about it? If you are an incumbent, what have you specifically done about this?

c. Do you support legalization of secondary suites in all existing neighbourhoods, subject only to reasonable safety concerns? Why or why not?

d. Please rank urban sprawl as an issue for Calgary from 1 (not an issue at all) to 5 (the most vital issue in the city). If you believe it is a problem, what will you do to address it? (If you are an incumbent, what have you already specifically done?) If you don’t see it as a problem, please explain why.

4. Transportation
a. Transportation has long ranked amongst one of the major concerns of Calgarians. Has the City been doing a good job of addressing transportation needs? What would you do differently?

b. Do you use public transit regularly? Bus, C-train, or both? What is the role of public transit in the City? Does our current system meet the needs of the city? If not, how would you improve it?

c. Are you in favour of the current strategic plan for transit? If not, what changes would you make?

d. The City’s current plan does not envision direct C-Train service to either the airport or Mount Royal College. Would you favour amending the plan to reach these two destinations (both within close distance of planned lines)? Why or why not?

5. Vibrant and sustainable communities

a. Please rank homelessness and urban poverty more generally as an issue for Calgary from 1 (not an issue at all) to 5 (the most vital issue in the city). If you believe it is a problem, what will you do to address it? (If you are an incumbent, what have you already specifically done?) If you don’t see it as a problem, please explain why.

b. What is your stance on arts funding? Do you support the recent recommendations of the Calgary Arts Development Authority?

c. What is your stance on the city’s curbside recycling plan? Would you extend the plan to include recycling of organics? Why or why not?

d. What other environmental initiatives, if any, would you favour?

e. Please rank crime and safety as an issue for Calgary from 1 (not an issue at all) to 5 (the most vital issue in the city). If you believe it is a problem, what will you do to address it? (If you are an incumbent, what have you already specifically done?) If you don’t see it as a problem, please explain why.

6. Taxes and revenues. Does the current system of funding municipal government largely through property taxes work well? If not, what changes would you recommend?

7. Political reform. Does the current system of campaign financing work well? If not, what changes would you favour?

8. FOR INCUMBENTS ONLY: What are your three major accomplishments this term? Of what are you most proud?

Election ... and new site ... coming soon!

Happy September, everyone!

We're into silly season now, with the municipal election only five weeks away. The BCC will be very busy from here on in, with surveying candidates and highlighting important issues. Our new website is in the final stage before launch, and should be up at www.bettercalgary.ca sometime this week. Take a deep breath -- it's going to be a big few weeks!