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(10-05-2014, 12:49 AM)fakepnijjar Wrote: Draw your own conclusions. I am pessimistic.
I still don't understand how if Aissa gets elected:
1. He can be involved let alone spearhead the war against the LRT considering his conflict of interest.
2. Even if he can resolve the conflict of interest how spending close to the region's contribution to the cost of the LRT in termination/cancellation costs to kill the project is in any way rational.
3. Even if he can somehow kill the LRT where he plans to get money to provide the alternative, i.e. BRT.
So if he gets elected it's not clear to me that he can make good on his main election platform. His election would be as disruptive to the sane management of the region as Rob Ford's election was to the sane management of Toronto -- and without any of the entertainment value.
(10-05-2014, 12:23 AM)YKF Wrote: Does anyone on here think that Jay Aissa has a good shot at becoming the next Regional Chair? His signs are everywhere and The Record talks about the fight for the Regional Chair position as some great battle whereby Aissa and Seiling are waging a great war on one another. Thoughts?
Incumbents are difficult to beat. In the last election Ken Seiling got 71.37% of the vote.
By comparison, Rob Ford got 47.09% of the vote. After a disastrous three years the Fords are still in second place, according to opinion polls.
Some people don't like the LRT but Seiling's tenure has been free of scandals. He has name recognition that Aissa could only dream about. So if I was to make a bet my money would be on Seiling.
(By the way, the last time I was in Woodstock, there was a sign on Dundas Street - close to Oxford Road 4 - proclaiming the new home for Jay Fencing. What do you suppose it means?)
(10-05-2014, 12:23 AM)YKF Wrote: Does anyone on here think that Jay Aissa has a good shot at becoming the next Regional Chair? His signs are everywhere and The Record talks about the fight for the Regional Chair position as some great battle whereby Aissa and Seiling are waging a great war on one another. Thoughts?
Incumbents are difficult to beat. In the last election Ken Seiling got 71.37% of the vote.
By comparison, Rob Ford got 47.09% of the vote. After a disastrous three years the Fords are still in second place, according to opinion polls.
Some people don't like the LRT but Seiling's tenure has been free of scandals. He has name recognition that Aissa could only dream about. So if I was to make a bet my money would be on Seiling.
(By the way, the last time I was in Woodstock, there was a sign on Dundas Street - close to Oxford Road 4 - proclaiming the new home for Jay Fencing. What do you suppose it means?)
My previous post was an effort to highlight the last line of YKF's post and to suggest that that would make an excellent question for an all-candidates meeting
That opens up a new question for an all-candidates meeting: "How can we trust that you have the region's best interests at heart when you've moved your business elsewhere?"
(10-05-2014, 09:06 PM)DHLawrence Wrote: That opens up a new question for an all-candidates meeting: "How can we trust that you have the region's best interests at heart when you've moved your business elsewhere?"
I think that would be a very valid, yet difficult to answer, question. I'd be interested to see what the response would be.
I drove by Jay Fencing's future home in Woodstock. It's located at 1494 Dundas Street.
The thought occurred to me that in several decades, Woodstock will grow and may need an LRT. Of course the best place for it in Woodstock would be right down Dundas Street, which would prohibit left-hand turns onto Jay's new location. The horror of it all!!
It could be a branch office or he could be retiring. Similarly, aren't most politicians at provincial and federal levels expected to put their holdings in trust or otherwise step away while they are in office?
I have no doubt that Ken Seiling will win. It will be interesting to see by what margin this time.
On a related note, and while we're speculating on the actions of others, does the fact that a significant portion of the Regional Councillors are retiring speak at all to how they felt they might fare at the ballot box now that their stance on the LRT is clear? On one hand, retirement leaves the room for fresh politicians and removes some of the "career politician" stigma. On the other, it seems slightly cowardly to leave before the chickens (good or bad), come home to roost.
(10-06-2014, 12:48 PM)DHLawrence Wrote: I wonder if anyone at The Record knows about his upcoming move. Putting that in large print on the front page would make for an interesting campaign.
Perhaps jgsz should make a call to The Record to ask what they know and to offer them his photo. I'd try Neil Ballantyne | City Editor/Life/Arts Editor | 519-895-5633 and Andrew Bruce | News Editor | 519-895-5611.
Surely this photo and related story is more important to their readers than the photo/story about gender-biased baby clothing that made the front page last week.
