“Drop out!’ says Coun. Dan McLean, to any Calgary mayoral hopeful who runs but can’t win and splits the anti-city hall establishment vote
Dan McLean is a councillor speaking of a big fear.
The election for mayor and city council is in a year and time is flying.
With an unpopular mayor and council, many people are lining up to fight city hall.
But there is a big fear. In the mayor’s race so many people could run that Mayor Jyoti Gondek or another self-styled progressive could win.
“What we need to do, people who call themselves centre and centre-right, there has to be a coming together where one person has polling and they’re doing way better then everybody else. We should all follow the leader.
“I will. We’ll see if anybody else has the integrity to do the same.
“If you really want to see the city being run better and you don’t want to see a Gondek or a Thiessen as mayor you better get behind the person the people are getting behind.”
Brian Thiessen is a downtown Calgary lawyer said to be backed by Stephen Carter, the never-to-be-underestimated political player behind the mayoral wins of Naheed Nenshi and Gondek.
There’s Jeromy Farkas, the former councillor who was runner-up to Gondek last time. You can afford to bet a lot of money on Farkas entering the fray.
There’s Thiessen and his candidacy should be official soon.
Then there’s Sonya Sharp, a councillor who has rattled some cages at city hall .
And there’s McLean and he hasn’t said no to throwing his hat into the ring.
There will almost certainly be more names.
Of course, we cannot write off the mayor.
As the list of folks thinking about going for Gondek’s job grows, McLean figures the mayor must be smiling. The more candidates, the better for her.
The councillor says when he’s talking to individuals they want to shrink the list.
They also fear with the splitting up of the vote among many candidates Gondek could still win with a lower percentage of the vote than in the last ballot battle.
“They want to see a two-person race. Three max,” says McLean.
“We don’t need a whole open field of these people who are hopefuls maybe getting 10 per cent or 20 per cent.
“By January, February, March even, if you aren’t resonating, if you aren’t getting anywhere, do the right thing.
“Drop out!”
Ric McIver is Premier Danielle Smith’s point man for cities.
McIver, a former Calgary councillor, lost to Nenshi in the mayor’s race of 2010 where Nenshi did not receive anywhere near a majority of the votes.
McIver says having candidates choose to be part of a local political party with a plan on what they’d do at city hall makes it easier for voters to choose who they want to represent them.
McIver adds the vast majority of those already elected to councils don’t like the idea of local political parties.
“Nobody who is already elected and has the name recognition wants to give a newbie coming in the advantage of having, if not the name recognition, the recognition of a platform that might be popular with the voters.
“It’s going to make it tougher on the incumbents to get re-elected. While I haven’t got anything against the incumbents it’s not a bad thing to make it more possible for new ideas and new blood and new people.
“At least people should have an idea who they’re voting for. At least you know what the promises are.”
Besides, in Calgary, in the last election a group bankrolled by city unions spent $1.7 million, backed candidates for mayor and council and were very successful.
“If that’s not like a political party I don’t know what is.”
McIver doesn’t think city-based political parties guarantee any particular party will win. After all there is the old vote split.
“I’m a conservative. Conservatives, if they are true to form, they’ll form four political parties, the other guys will form one and they’ll win. We’ll see.”
Jeff Davison does not fear a vote split.
Davison believes the current city council has failed. He believes no one on council should be re-elected.
He says there are two parties on council: the Yes Mayor party and the Naysayer Party.
Davison doesn’t think Gondek is much of a threat.
“Do you remember the movie Dumb and Dumber? Jim Carrey goes up to the hot girl and says: ‘So can I ask you for a date? What would be the chances?’
“And she says: ‘Like one in a million.’ He goes: ‘So you’re saying there’s a chance?’”
Still there is McLean’s big fear. He knows Davison is already in the race.
“What makes you think you’re going to do any better this time? You split the vote last time, you’re going to split the vote this time,” says the councillor.
“Thanks Jeff.”