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+--- Thread: 2018 municipal elections (/showthread.php?tid=1167)
2018 municipal elections - kwliving - 05-01-2018
Melissa Durrell announced today she won't seek reelection for the Uptown Waterloo ward.
LinkedIn announcement
I wish more politicians would get out after 2 terms. :-)
RE: 2018 municipal elections - plam - 05-01-2018
(05-01-2018, 09:59 AM)kwliving Wrote: Melissa Durrell announced today she won't seek reelection for the Uptown Waterloo ward.
LinkedIn announcement
I wish more politicians would get out after 2 terms. :-)
Term limits sound good in principle. The unintended side effect, especially at municipal level, is that staff don't have term limits and can consolidate their power so that politicians end up having little say. So I'm not in favour of mandatory term limits.
RE: 2018 municipal elections - timio - 05-01-2018
Dave Jaworsky also announced he is running again.
RE: 2018 municipal elections - Elmira Guy - 05-01-2018
Plus term limits are pretty undemocratic. If someone is doing a good job, and the people want him/her to continue in the role, then I think that's how it should be.
RE: 2018 municipal elections - ijmorlan - 05-01-2018
(05-01-2018, 02:16 PM)Elmira Guy Wrote: Plus term limits are pretty undemocratic. If someone is doing a good job, and the people want him/her to continue in the role, then I think that's how it should be.
A better idea is a ranked ballot (or similar solution). This allows getting rid of somebody unpopular while not arbitrarily ruling out certain choices from the beginning.
I would also make getting on the ballot require significant organization so that only candidates who have at least a snowballs’ chance of being elected can be on the ballot. An example possibility might be that getting on the ballot requires the signature of 1% of the eligible electorate. Anybody who can’t pull that off is not going to win the election and doesn’t belong on the ballot: the purpose of the ballot is to choose a leader, not to provide a platform.
RE: 2018 municipal elections - timc - 05-01-2018
In one way, term limits are undemocratic, but one must admit that the system as it stands (and voter apathy) heavily favours the incumbent.
RE: 2018 municipal elections - tomh009 - 05-01-2018
(05-01-2018, 04:09 PM)timc Wrote: In one way, term limits are undemocratic, but one must admit that the system as it stands (and voter apathy) heavily favours the incumbent.
Right. It's less of a problem at the municipal/regional level, and not so bad in Canada overall. But look at US Senate, for example, and see how difficult it is to overcome the incumbent advantage. This is why most democratic countries with presidential systems have term limits for the president set in the constitution.
RE: 2018 municipal elections - jgsz - 10-04-2018
I live in Ward 10 and I don't care for either Marsh or Meier. Marsh declared a conflict on interest regarding Breithaupt Block 3 because she lives too close and Meier is opposed to it because of the parking garage. Both say things I agree with and both omit things, like sidewalk cleaning in the winter, that are important to me. Both seem beholden to preservation at all costs. I guess they can get a lot of votes that way from the old neighbourhoods surrounding downtown. What to do?
RE: 2018 municipal elections - danbrotherston - 10-04-2018
(10-04-2018, 10:54 AM)jgsz Wrote: I live in Ward 10 and I don't care for either Marsh or Meier. Marsh declared a conflict on interest regarding Breithaupt Block 3 because she lives too close and Meier is opposed to it because of the parking garage. Both say things I agree with and both omit things, like sidewalk cleaning in the winter, that are important to me. Both seem beholden to preservation at all costs. I guess they can get a lot of votes that way from the old neighbourhoods surrounding downtown. What to do?
I admit from the start, I am biased towards Marsh. But I did have a few questions.
Not sure how you feel about her declaring a conflict on Breithaupt Block 3? She's legally required to do that as I understand. It is politically advantageous for her to do so, because then she doesn't have to take a position, but it was still a legal requirement. I am not really sure where she comes down on development (would be worth looking at her voting history--say for vive for example).
As for sidewalk clearing Marsh was very strongly in favour of the pilot. She voted for it, as well, spoke very strongly for it, and also tried very hard to get it reconsidered at a different meeting, that wasn't at 1AM. It was clear to me that she felt very passionately about it.
RE: 2018 municipal elections - jgsz - 10-04-2018
(10-04-2018, 11:02 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:(10-04-2018, 10:54 AM)jgsz Wrote: I live in Ward 10 and I don't care for either Marsh or Meier. Marsh declared a conflict on interest regarding Breithaupt Block 3 because she lives too close and Meier is opposed to it because of the parking garage. Both say things I agree with and both omit things, like sidewalk cleaning in the winter, that are important to me. Both seem beholden to preservation at all costs. I guess they can get a lot of votes that way from the old neighbourhoods surrounding downtown. What to do?
I admit from the start, I am biased towards Marsh. But I did have a few questions.
Not sure how you feel about her declaring a conflict on Breithaupt Block 3? She's legally required to do that as I understand. It is politically advantageous for her to do so, because then she doesn't have to take a position, but it was still a legal requirement. I am not really sure where she comes down on development (would be worth looking at her voting history--say for vive for example).
As for sidewalk clearing Marsh was very strongly in favour of the pilot. She voted for it, as well, spoke very strongly for it, and also tried very hard to get it reconsidered at a different meeting, that wasn't at 1AM. It was clear to me that she felt very passionately about it.
Thanks. I wasn't aware she supported winter sidewalk clearing.
I will probably vote for her because she is the incumbent and was supported by a citizens group in the last election. I didn't agree with everything the citizens group supported but she seemed better than her opponent. (I wasn't living in Kitchener during the last election but I followed events closely.)