Ottawa Municipal Election Topic

[ollie]

Has Watson explained why he's getting back into municipal politics? Without that it reeks of not being able to hack it with the, relatively, big boys. So I don't understand why it's pretty much a done deal that he's going to be mayor. Who wants a failure running our city?

I don't find any of the candidates viable. I'm more concerned about my local riding race.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

So I don't understand why it's pretty much a done deal that he's going to be mayor. Who wants a failure running our city?

i don't get it either. but he is the biggest name in the pool. and anybody has to be better than no-brain.

clive doucet seems okay from what i can tell. but he also wants to scrap the current transit plan. i'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, honestly. i do know that any plan we go with now will be more costly than we could have already had, especially given the penalties that had to be paid (good job larry).

[SaggyBalls]

City council is as much to blame for the fuck ups as O'Brien.

Ottawa needs a number of solutions for its problems and potential problems as I see it.

-We have no food terminal

-We have no rail infrastructure in/out

-we will soon be overtaxing out transit system

-We are sprawling out into suburbia because city taxes and real estate prices don't reflect the value of necessity (or giant homes) for many people

-old Carleton County isn't being developed properly

-City planning in Ottawa seems to be a farce

-Too much focus on the downtown core

-Not enough incentives to bring jobs to outlying neighbourhoods to save commuting time

Who's suggesting that they can address these concerns? Anybody?

[Freak By Night]

i find this election depressing. i was so hopeful that alex munter was going to be our next mayor in 2006. then larry no-brain came along and the idiots of ottawa believed his no tax increase lies.

I too was hopeful that Munter would be the mayor following the last election. But you can't discount the rednecks living in outskirts of our amalgamated city, who didn't want a "granola munching faggot" (their words - not mine) in charge of the city. O'Brien was the guy these people saw as their savior from unions and tree-huggers.

Oddly enough, this time around I'm leaning towards voting for Larry, only because I hate him less than the other guys.

Edit to add: this letter in the local paper is hilarious!

Edited October 11, 2010 by Guest

[SaggyBalls]

...you can't discount the rednecks living in outskirts of our amalgamated city, who didn't want a "granola munching faggot" (their words - not mine) in charge of the city.

Nope! They've discounted themselves.

What a bunch of cheap assholes.

They're screwing themselves out of better communities in the process.

There has to be a happy medium between smaller, more responsible, accountable government that doesn't bend to special interests' whims [color:red](Minto anyone?) and one that puts strong stock in social programs and planning.

[ollie]

-Not enough incentives to bring jobs to outlying neighbourhoods to save commuting time

I thought about this too as a way to decrease traffic in the downtown core, especially in terms of all the federal gov't buildings in that area. I wonder if they could be spread out in such a way to alleviate the stress on the core without creating problems elsewhere.

I work in Hull, and while it wasn't initially my first location of choice, now that I drive I absolutely love it because there is barely any traffic. On an average day my door to door commute is 25 minutes.

Oddly enough, this time around I'm leaning towards voting for Larry, only because I hate him less than the other guys.

Ugh, me too. I want anyone but Watson and O'Brien is his closest competitor. What a shitty voting dilemma.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

why are you guys so anti-watson?

[Freak By Night]

why are you guys so anti-watson?

A quote I saw Watson say on TV news several years ago regarding Bob Chiarelli "crying crocodile tears".

First of all, no one was crying. Second of all, he just said that to make himself sound like the smartest guy in the room.

That, and him being part of the the McGuinty provincial government is enough to make me not vote for him.

[ollie]

why are you guys so anti-watson?

Off the top of my head:

1. Sense of entitlement

2. McGuinty cronie

3. Wanted to bulldoze Frank Clair Stadium and put up condos on his last go round

4. Has the most lawn signs on Island Park Drive

Why do you like him?

[AD]

please don't vote for larry

[rubberdinghy]

Count me in for Nut-Bar Haydon.

Fuck he makes me laugh.

[SaggyBalls]

-Not enough incentives to bring jobs to outlying neighbourhoods to save commuting time

I thought about this too as a way to decrease traffic in the downtown core' date=' especially in terms of all the federal gov't buildings in that area. I wonder if they could be spread out in such a way to alleviate the stress on the core without creating problems elsewhere.

I work in Hull, and while it wasn't initially my first location of choice, now that I drive I absolutely love it because there is barely any traffic. On an average day my door to door commute is 25 minutes.

[/quote']

There's the downtown core, which everyone focuses on, and there's building the rest of the city properly as it populates.

Ever see the lineups just to get out of monster home subdivisions in the morning? HUNDREDS of cars leaving in the morning and arriving in the afternoon.

Whether people call it 'Barfhaven' ir 'Farhaven' it should really be recognized to be lacking in many respects.

Ne-Peon, Bore-leans, Lostcester...each one could be worth exploring if planned properly.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

I don't like Watson, just dislike him less than Larry. I actually cannot stand Larry and there is no way that I could ever vote for him. the guy is an arrogant lying asshole who has no clue about how to run a city.

Watson as a career politician at least understands the sytem and that city council needs to work together. Council has become even more dysfunctional under Larry.

b/w watson and no-brain its not a contest. I think that i dislke doucet the least of all out of the top four candidates. but my #1 priority is to ensure that we get rid of Larry.

[ollie]

Looks like we just disagree on who is the lesser of two evils. I too wish Alex Munter was running.

[SaggyBalls]

Makes me glad to be voting in the North Grenville Election instead of the Ottawa election

[Freak By Night]

Don't forget to vote today!

For your amusement, I've summarized the platforms of the four main mayoral candidates in Ottawa:

O'Brien: For football and a subway. Arrogant jerk.

Watson: just like O'Brien, but with better manners and a deeper voice.

Doucet: Against football and a subway. Cries on television when he doesn't get his way.

Haydon: Wants to expand the bus-based transit system he championed in the 80s. Obviously does not commute by bus.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

goodbye Larry! no surprise there.

and in a rare instance, the person I voted for won - we elected a new city councillor in our ward. Although I did vote for the incumbent last time around, when there wasn't much competition.

[Freak By Night]

Pleased with the results. Now that Doucet's out of the picture, this city can get on with what's important: paving, tunneling, bulldozing, and razing.