<>This year's mayoral race is a bit different than those we have encountered in the past - we have nine candidates running, two of which have deep pockets to the tune of a million dollars to spend on promotions.
Dave Bronconnier - the incumbant looking for a third term after spending three terms as alderman for ward 6. He never has reached the popularity or recognizability of our last 'people's mayor' - but Klein had a charisma that is hard to match. His campaign finances are rumoured to be in excess of one million dollars.
David Bertram - a virtual unknown. A quick dig through news articles and the web failed to bring anything up on him. This puts him at a definite disadvantage.
Elizabeth Kaur Fielding. The only woman in the running, she has tried (and failed) a bid for MLA previously, and has some campain experience helping with David Nguyen's campaign in 1995, and managed the mayoral campaign for Harry Dhillion in 2004. Her website feels quite unpolished, and seems to spend a lot of energy discussing her recent health issues and experiences with naturopathic cures.
Allan Foster - another quiet campaign without a readily apparent presence in newspapers or the web.
Harry Heck - he seems like quite the character, but somehow his website is remnicent of the Jamacan Bobsled team of '88. My guess is that he is running to get his name publicly known as a boost to his career as a real estate agent. (it's not the first time that a realtor has taken advantage of a political campaign to increase their market profile.
Sandy Jenkens seems to be the inner city advocate. He has been profiled in the Herald and has put some thought into his website, but I doubt his pockets are deep enough to make as much noise as the millionare duo.
Alnoor Kassam - deep pockets but a very checkered history seems to shadow his past. He got a head start on the campaign starting at the end of May. According to the media he also has a million dollar budget.
Jonathan Joseph "JJ" Sunstrum - another lower budget candidate who will probably not be getting his deposit back. He does have a website up, but it's yellow on white, and seems to be "404". (It's high stakes gambling here folks!)
Jeremy Zhao - here's a student with real guts. He has a total budget of $500 - his deposit. A nineteen year old university student doesn't have the life experience to take the top position in a city of this size, but it will look good on his resume.
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Don Braid had a rather interesting article in the Calgary Herald on Tuesday, September 18th "Challenger takes on Bronconnier dollar for dollar in this campaign"
Dave Bronconnier - the incumbant looking for a third term after spending three terms as alderman for ward 6. He never has reached the popularity or recognizability of our last 'people's mayor' - but Klein had a charisma that is hard to match. His campaign finances are rumoured to be in excess of one million dollars.
David Bertram - a virtual unknown. A quick dig through news articles and the web failed to bring anything up on him. This puts him at a definite disadvantage.
Elizabeth Kaur Fielding. The only woman in the running, she has tried (and failed) a bid for MLA previously, and has some campain experience helping with David Nguyen's campaign in 1995, and managed the mayoral campaign for Harry Dhillion in 2004. Her website feels quite unpolished, and seems to spend a lot of energy discussing her recent health issues and experiences with naturopathic cures.
Allan Foster - another quiet campaign without a readily apparent presence in newspapers or the web.
Harry Heck - he seems like quite the character, but somehow his website is remnicent of the Jamacan Bobsled team of '88. My guess is that he is running to get his name publicly known as a boost to his career as a real estate agent. (it's not the first time that a realtor has taken advantage of a political campaign to increase their market profile.
Sandy Jenkens seems to be the inner city advocate. He has been profiled in the Herald and has put some thought into his website, but I doubt his pockets are deep enough to make as much noise as the millionare duo.
Alnoor Kassam - deep pockets but a very checkered history seems to shadow his past. He got a head start on the campaign starting at the end of May. According to the media he also has a million dollar budget.
Jonathan Joseph "JJ" Sunstrum - another lower budget candidate who will probably not be getting his deposit back. He does have a website up, but it's yellow on white, and seems to be "404". (It's high stakes gambling here folks!)
Jeremy Zhao - here's a student with real guts. He has a total budget of $500 - his deposit. A nineteen year old university student doesn't have the life experience to take the top position in a city of this size, but it will look good on his resume.
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Don Braid had a rather interesting article in the Calgary Herald on Tuesday, September 18th "Challenger takes on Bronconnier dollar for dollar in this campaign"
Both Bronconnier and Alnoor have million dollar budgets (neither will confirm the exact amount), but it looks to be high stakes gambling with two sitting in the casino with the cash to back their bids. It's actually a bit depressing to realize that the mayors job is something that is now up for sale.
<>Kassam is a relative newcomer to Calgary, having arrived in 2004 (notably too late to have run in our last election), and has been playing high stakes business man. Unfortunately in his zeal for making a quick buck, he has generated enough bad press to cast his political statements into question. Kassam himself makes it very clear that affordable housing is very important to him. However, according to Don Braid's article "More recently, he [Kassam] found himself on the wrong end of media reports when he radically raised the rents in a Mount Royal lowrise -- for one tenant, from $650 to $2,500 a month."
Well, that's quite recent, but well documented history shows Kassam quickly leaving Kenya under questionable circumstances.
According to Braid, "Kassam, who fled Kenya in 1993 with the law at his heels for his involvement in the country's greatest banking scandal. He was a principal of Trade Bank, as well as Diner's Club. A huge inquiry over government subsidy of exports focused on the fate of the bank.Kenyan officials have said he's welcome to return, as long as he coughs up $23 million Cdn he's alleged to have taken with him."
Well, it's nice to know that he is welcome to return home, and he tries to put a good spin on it - but the real truth will come out on the 15th when Calgarians share their thoughts if a million dollars invested in spindoctoring will create a positive note in the minds of Calgarians.
Some days I think that Politics is a game where the highest stakes player wins. It's about money - and the man with the most money seems to take home the trophy at the end of the day.
What are your thoughts on our Mayoral candidates?
4 comments:
Perhaps Jeremy Zhao may not have the experience that everyone talks about, but he is trying, and with his current momentum, the Zhao camp might even get third, which is a huge statement. I am not looking to win, but I am hoping to be vocal enough to get the issues and problems Calgarians are facing across to the non-voters. We need a higher turnout rate and an approval from Calgarians!
JZ
Hello Jeremy,
I have a hard time understanding how a 19 year old student has the background to sit as Mayor, even in a smaller city. Can you substantiate what life experiences you feel have prepared you to take on this role?
Have you ever gone to a council meeting? Sat on a board? Chaired a debate? Worked with a large association on a board level? (i.e. community association board, zoning committee, etc?)
Your campaign is reportedly being run off of a $500 budget - namely your deposit. If you can not convince others to donate to your campaign to fund signs, literature, etc, how can you expect to convince Calgarians to vote for you?
I wish you all the best, but have a hard time seeing how a shoestring budget can pull it off.
Jeremy,
Dragon's comments may come across as a bit harsh - but politics is something of a blood sport - especially for the Mayor's chair.
Civic voters are a notoriously conservative lot - and will often vote for "the devil they know" in preference to an unknown.
College students are not unusual candidates, but they seldom even rank in the top 5 simply because the perception is that they are "too young to have the judgment needed" to manage an enterprise the size of Calgary. ($2 billion a year budget - that's a lot of zeros!)
Without an amazingly effective campaign to get your message out, most voters won't even notice the name on the ballot - and that requires money and organization in a city as big as Calgary.
In terms of timing, you have possibly chosen the best possible time to run against an incumbent mayor - unlike his predecessors, Bronconnier is not necessarily well liked (or even respected) by voters. To many he is seen as something of a whiner or a bully - but always seeking confrontation. He is vulnerable - people are cranky about the "solve everything by building a road" approach he takes, and his shrill confrontations with the provincial government have had "mixed results" in the public mind.
Having said that, Jeremy, I wish you well, and hope to see your name on future ballots - no matter the outcome of this election.
Dear dragon and grog,
Perhaps I need to restate my position again. And all I know need to say is that both of you are talking about this election! That's enough for me! That's probably the 'win' I want because there is a lack of talk about this election. I wish there were more people talking about this election, but unfortunately it is not the case. I thank you for your comments and it will simply make for an even better race. You guys are absolutely right in what you are stating, and I am thankful it's not the horrendous comments other people give me. Thank you!
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