If your not an incumbent give up hope

In the last week of the 2010 Ottawa municipal election campaign the Ottawa Citizen is releasing a series of editorial pieces identifying their choices for council in the various wards across the city. If their choices continue to favour incumbent councillors for re-election, as they have today (October 18) then newcomers don’t stand a chance and change in Ottawa will never happen.

 

 In almost every case the Citizen cites lack of experience as the main reasons for rejecting newcomers, even though in some cases they have some new ideas. If we don’t vote some of the newcomers in how will they ever gain experience and how will we ever see any improvement in the way council behaves and performs?

 

 The Citizen accuses candidate Clinton Cowan of talking in platitudes. This is interesting because Hume’s campaign is almost entirely based on platitudes. In an October 5 press release Hume claims that he has created a comprehensive development program to position Ottawa as a world class city:

• Firstly he wants to “pre-zone” areas to introduce fixed height restrictions. It is surprising that he has been chair of planning and environment committee for so long and is only now suggesting that changes are needed.
• Secondly he says that Ottawa has the potential to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing capitals in the world if the planning process is overhauled. Has Hume seen some of the strip mall and big box mall development that is taking place on every open space and suburban development across the city; development approved by planning committee under his watch? How can Hume miss the fact that Ottawa is one eyesore after another for miles along Carling, Richmond and Baseline? Now he wants yet another eyesore on the canal at Lansdowne Park.
• Hume picks up on one of Larry O’Brien’s ideas, citing Sparks Street as an example of poor development in the city centre. Existing and past municipal councils, of which Hume has been a member, have failed to communicate effectively with senior levels of government on this and other issues for years and years. Why should voters believe him now?
• Hume quotes urban designer George Dark’s praising of Hume’s planning initiatives. Interestingly, Dark is being paid by the city for work he is performing on Hume’s portfolio. No wonder he sings Hume’s praises!

As a resident of Ward 18 (Alta Vista/Canterbury/Riverview) I was particularly incensed by the Citizen’s rationale for supporting Peter Hume. I happen to support one of Hume’s opponents, but for the first time ever all of the three candidates opposing Hume are viable and have good platforms. The only thing any of them lack is the level of financial contribution needed to mount a large campaign. This is no problem for Hume, having a war chest from past campaigns – a war chest built largely by the developer community.

 

Cowan is right in saying that troublesome areas have crept into the culture at city hall; the power of special interest groups; and the failure of councillors to consult the community regarding past developments. “People now feel that special interest groups have hijacked our seat at council and at the Planning and Environment Committee….” says Cowan.

 

The Citizen editorial writer cites the televised debate on Rogers. My recollection of the debate is that Hume blustered and interrupted at every opportunity, attempting to put his opponents off-base. Any credibility Hume may have had before that debate, which was zero to precious little, completely evaporated and left him looking like the small, aggressive bully he is.

 

Had the writer attended the all-candidate event hosted by Riverview Park Community Association last week in Ward 18 he/she would have seen a high level of enthusiasm for Hume’s opponents and Hume’s handling of questions from the Riverview Park community was pitifully off-base.

Shame, shame, shame!

Shame on Ottawa City Council for voting against Councillor Clive Doucet’s motion (Sep 22, 2010) to put planning committee’s decision to re-zone Lansdowne Park and Sylvia Holden Park on hold (Sep 14, 2010).


Shame on Mayor, Larry O’Brien, for turning up unexpectedly at planning committee to cast a deciding ballot on this vote. I hear this mayor comment that he only has one vote, but he clearly has two!

Shame on planning committee chair, Peter Hume for endorsing this strategy, especially after the statements he made in his June 28, 2010 Ottawa Citizen Article, “We are on the verge of something wonderful – we must not turn back:…”

“…Myth No. 4: Sylvia Holden Park will become part of Lansdowne and the community facilities will disappear.

“Greg Smallenberg, one of Canada’s best park designers, has been chosen to create Lansdowne’s new park and open space. He has been very clear his concept was to infuse the community park with the kind of beauty and program it deserves while ensuring it maintains it’s community park feel and use.

“This is why Smallenberg proposes to keep the community facilities – including the wading pool – and invest more than $7 million in improvements, such as community gardens and heirloom apple orchards, to Sylvia Holden Park. Just as they do today, the city’s Parks and Recreation department will retain complete control over the programming and operation of Sylvia Holden Park.”

Council’s high-handed decision to move ahead before outstanding legal and heritage issues have been fully explored and resolved is unacceptable. Quoting from mayoral candidate Clive Doucet’s Sept 22, 2010 press release: “…Doing away with a Sylvia Holden Park and disrespecting Lansdowne’s heritage are symptomatic of a larger problem: the complete lack of leadership at City Hall to protect public funding, public land and public procurement.

Challenging the Democratic Process

A recent letter to the Ottawa Citizen suggested that voters should not vote for mayoral candidate Clive Doucet but instead vote for Jim Watson in order to prevent Larry O’Brien from being re-elected. This suggestion was challenged in two excellent letters-to-the-editor a few days later:


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/glad+Doucet+taking+right+issues/3492196/story.html
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Insult+voters/3492197/story.html

Both Watson’s and O’Brien’s campaigns receive substantial financial support from the corporate sector. In addition, Watson has strong ties to his former Ontario provincial government colleagues and will likely be susceptible to influence by their political agendas.

Of the three leading mayoral candidates Clive Doucet is the only one who does not have a potential conflict of interest. Clive Doucet is the only candidate who represents the interests of the public, without influence from corporate or external political sources. He truly is the people’s candidate!

Here is my own unpublished letter-to-the-editor:

Dear Sir,
Letter writer Erwin Dreessen’s letter (Doucet should quit, too. Ottawa Citizen, Sep 4, 2010) suggesting that voters should not vote for mayoral candidate Clive Doucet, but instead vote for Jim Watson (even if holding ones nose in the process) in order to prevent Larry O’Brien from being reelected.

It is this type of reasoning that challenges the entire democratic process. Voters are already jaundiced, evidenced by the low voter turn out for elections at all levels of government. People should listen clearly to what the candidates have to say and vote according to their consciences.

Colin Hine

Record of attendance at council meetings

In a media advisory today Our Ottawa, an all-volunteer group made up of members of community associations, advocacy groups, advisory committees and communities across the city, released Ottawa City councillor’s voting record and absences for key votes over the past 3½ years in the lead up to the 2010 municipal election. The most absences record (52) goes to Councillor Thompson followed in second place, with 41 absences, by Councillor Chiarelli, in third place with 40 absences by Mayor O’Brien and in fourth place with 33 absences by Councillors Hume and Bédard.

I was particularly disappointed by my own ward representative’s (Peter Hume) attendance record. Councillors should be in attendance to represent the interests of ward residents, notwithstanding other roles and responsibilities they might undertake from time-to-time.

For further details visit the “Our Ottawa” website at www.ourottawa.ca.

It is time to rethink Ottawa’s transit options before spending billions on the wrong solution

With the municipal election campaign gaining momentum Ottawa’s proposed light rail project appears likely to become a serious issue again (Watson accused of playing to people’s fears, Alex Cullen, Ottawa Citizen, Letter to the Editor, June 9, 2010). As well there was something of a slanging match between Mayor Larry O’Brien and mayoralty candidate Jim Watson on the same issue. This all happened the same week that the Feds announced they will contribute up to $600M to the project, matching the provincial government’s commitment.

Some new entrants to the municipal elections have concerns about the municipal government’s current spending priorities. Plans for the proposed light rail system are high on their list of concerns.

James O’Grady, candidate for councillor in Ward 9 (Knoxdale-Merivale) has launched an on-line policy discussion group to interchange ideas with supporters and members of his campaign team. Transit and transportation are high on the list of priorities under discussion right now and some interesting ideas are being presented. some observations made by “Agnes of the Glens” particularly caught my attention:

“The issue is not whether we want LRT but whether we can afford it and also where it would go. In most European cities suburbs are connected to avoid driving cars and then they have metro. In our model the downtown area, where you can actually walk, gets all kinds of transit option but the suburbs will only get connected if they intensify….Provide train rail to downtown from major suburban areas (Kanata, Barrhaven, Orleans) and later work on other options. The way the tunnel is propose I do not see any change for the suburbs. I do not condone policy that people should know when they move, it is unrealistic. The tunnel has many issues; costs and security are the main constraints. Until design engineering studies are done we may not learn about what else might be there.

“As a taxpayer I see very little in actual clearing of the gridlock unless there is easy accessible transit from suburbia to downtown like the go- train in Toronto and after this is done consider the metro options and the digging. I have not seen anything in existing plans to make me a convert although I would love to see a train getting me downtown.”

Clinton Cowan, candidate for councillor in Ward 18, Alta Vista/Canterbury/Riverview, makes the following observations in a column in the June 2010 issue of Riverview Park Review:

“Light rail dependent on expropriation is a symptom of poor planning. That approach cannot continue in our city if we hope to shape it properly for future growth.

“The greatest challenge is not where transit goes but who uses it…. To encourage ridership in the short term what is needed is an expansion of the Eco Pass program and to tip the balance in favour of transit use versus car use. A shift in the funding ratio is needed and this requires innovative thinking. If the current council were truly sincere about encouraging ridership, they would minimize new road building. There is a piecemeal approach to road use, development of corridors, and traffic…. Communities are willing to share growing pains but they must be able raise awareness to what is not feasible or sustainable or acceptable to a community.”

The enlightened comments offered by these new candidates and by members of the public lead me to think that a great deal more analysis and planning needs to be done before a shovel is put in the ground for the light rail project. For instance, if priority were given to providing rail links from suburban areas to downtown, maybe we could make use of existing rail line infrastructure minimizing the need for costly expropriation and reducing construction costs as well as construction time.

Notwithstanding that all levels of government have now put a great deal of money on the table, the scope of studies undertaken to date appears to have been focused on strictly defined goals that have prevented serious consideration of alternatives. To my knowledge there have been no broadly based investigations and cost/benefit trade-offs that look at the overall needs of the municipality undertaken.

Maybe we need to go back to the drawing board and take a fresh look. This might even result in significant cost savings and free up money for other high priority needs within the municipality, water and sewer infrastructure renewal for example.

Holding the urban boundary and other council debates

Yesterday (Feb 24) council voted not to revisit their earlier compromise decision to accommodate a 222 hectare change in the urban boundary rather than by the 842 hectares originally recommended by city staff. The vote was quite decisive 17 for and 3 against. Dissenting votes were registered by Mayor O’Brien and Councillors Hunter and Thompson.

Unfortunately I confused local residents in my community last evening when passing on details of the decision. During the CBC NEWS: OTTAWA 6:00 pm TV news broadcast Hannah Thibedeau reporting live from City Hall, identified councillor Peter Hume as one of the three dissenting votes. This was very disturbing as Hume had previously indicated to residents that he and other councillors were working not to revisit the decision. Also it was Councillor Hume’s motion to defend council’s orignal decision. There was considerable relief when the situation was clarified.

The Hold the Line rally outside city hall at noon was well attended, especially considering the weather. There were some excellent speakers. Special thanks to members of Our Ottawa and Ecology Ottawa for organizing this event. I noted a couple of councillors in the audience. It is disappointing that more members of city council did not take the time to hear the opinions of citizens of Ottawa on this issue. It will be a subject of much further discussion once OMB becomes involved.

During the morning session of council various motions to audit or review OC Transpo’s operations, organization and projects were debated. They eventually supported a motion by Councillor Eli El-Chantiry that the American Public Transit Association (APTA) conduct a peer review of OC Transpo's bus programs and strategies, including areas such as bus operations, customer service, staffing, training and recruitment. Auditor general Alain Lalonde will examine the review panel's work and assess its recommendations.

I was disappointed by Coucillor Alex Cullen’s comments on the OC Transpo issue. He went to some lengths detailing various individual audits of particular projects, services and operations that have taken place over the past few years. However, it is many years since a full audit of this operation has taken place and we are right to expect excellence in service and operations from them. I do not understand why as chair of Transit Committee he finds it necessary to defend OC Transpo.

Mayor’s comments suggest that council intends to proceed with Lansdowne Live whatever the public has to say

Listening to Mayor Larry O’Brien speak on CBC Radio this morning suggested to me what many have believed all along; that the city intends to proceed with the OSEG proposed plan in some form whatever the public have to say about it. Mayor O'Brien was commenting on the results of the Nanos Research survey on the Lansdowne Live proposal - see this morning’s article in the Ottawa Citizen (Stadium survey results tell council to “just do it").

This conclusion is reached by 23% of respondents in a poll of 1,000 residents conducted by Nanos Research on October 17 though 19, 2009. This means that 73% of respondents believe that the city should be doing something else, though exactly what is unclear.

This doesn’t sound like a strong mandate to proceed to me!

The article also summarizes a report by Nanos Research on a survey of 3,000 residents gathered from survey forms filled out at public meetings and on-line. Interestingly respondents were least favorably disposed to inclusion of the only elements of the plan that will likely make the project profitable to OSEG members (retail space, residential development, office space, movie theatres and a hotel).

Again, this doesn’t sound like a favorable public response to me!

A new mantra for the mayor

Mayor O’Brien abandoned his old mantra “zero-means-zero” but apparently he has taken up a new one – "revenue neutral-means revenue neutral" (O’Brien pledges Lansdowne plan will be revenue neutral, Tony spears, Ottawa Citizen, October 7, 2009)! This new mantra certainly doesn’t roll off the tongue so smoothly and the term can be interpreted in many different ways.

At the day long Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee meeting yesterday, City Manager Kent Kirkpatrick did a pretty good job summarizing some of the financial details around the proposed commercial development at Lansdowne Park. But his morning presentation was followed in the afternoon by a large number of delegation presentations none of which was in support of the proposed development. In fact, the delegate presentations and ensuing discussions around the committee table raised many questions about the proposed partnership between the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) and the City.

Yesterday’s session along with the five public hearings that have now been completed appear to have struck a nerve with at least one member of the OSEG team Roger Greenberg. Hence his defensive Opinion Column article in today’s Ottawa Citizen (Here’s the truth about the Lansdowne plan). His article does not add any clarification to concerns raised by the public at the open houses; neither does it address the issues and criticisms raised by the delegations yesterday.

Press coverage of yesterday’s proceedings does not appear to tell the whole story of the proceedings. The credibility of some of the work and analysis performed in support of this proposed deal was seriously challenged and no constructive response was offered by OSEG or by the city.

Some people are of the opinion that the city is simply going through the motions and that the Lansdowne Live plan is a done deal. Hopefully yesterday’s session was an eye-opener to many members of city council and they will demand some serious answers before moving forward.

Not all of Ken Gray’s Advice is good

Ken Gray’s editorial comment in today’s Ottawa Citizen (Some advice for Larry O’Brien, August 12, 2009) is interesting and entertaining but not all of his advice is good. He suggests sending Councillor Peter Hume to Queen’s Park to solicit financial support from the provincial government.

Despite Hume’s apparent popularity with the McGuinty family dynasty it should be remembered that Councillor Hume has been a player on city council throughout the various incidents of sewer flooding that have occurred in Kanata and elsewhere. During this time, much of it as chair of the city’s Environment and Development Committee, he has been in a position to initiate action. Only now and only to criticize a potential opponent for the 2010 mayoralty campaign is he making himself heard on this issue. Why should we believe him now?

The law and ethical behavior do not always coincide

Mayor Larry O’Brien’s defence strategy announced this week in support of his criminal trial is outrageous. O’Brien’s alleged offer to help arrange a federal appointment for Brian Kilrea, legal or not, is a blatent interference with the political process.

One of two candidates with a similar political orientation (left or right) agreeing to one of them to stand down so as not to split the vote is one thing, but offering incentives such as a political appointment is quite another. Political appointments negotiated by elected officials expedite government actions and decisions. But during an election, these same negotiations deny voters the opportunity to express their electoral preferences at the polls.

Whatever the outcome of this trial Mayor O’Brien will carry the stain of unethical conduct. He should stand down and allow the democratic process to be restored in the City of Ottawa.

Ottawa Citizen - letter to the editor

I sent the following letter to the citizen.

Defence trade show ethics

An article in today’s Ottawa Citizen (Mayor called on ethics over show, Jake Rupert, March 31, 2009) addresses the possible conflict of interest resulting from Mayor Larry O’Brien’s support of the CANSEC 2009 defence industry trade show at Lansdowne Park because of his relationship with Calian Technologies Ltd. At the heart of this is the debate regarding the ethics of using City of Ottawa facilities to promote and market defence industry products and capabilities.

I worked in the defence industry sector for most of my career and felt privileged to work on many exciting state-of-the-art project initiatives. The technology is evermore fascinating and one can easily be blinded to the dehumanizing consequences of using sophisticated systems and weaponry in warfare. Over time I have come to realize that the application of war and military solutions to conflicts is, in most cases, no solution at all and that alternative measures involving peacekeeping, development and diplomacy offer preferred paths.

Social changes do not happen overnight however, so for the foreseeable future wars will continue to be fought and military systems and weapons will continue to be needed. Nonetheless steps can be taken to reduce the glorification of war and warlike activities as well as the promotion of defence procurement activities in public arenas.

Whilst trade show access might not be open to the public, there is inevitably a lot of press surrounding these events and contractors advertise their products and capabilities extensively in public. Unlike other types of government procurement, products being acquired for defence/military purposes are not sold to the general public. So why promote them publicly? Defence contractors’ marketing and sales efforts should be directed to government procurement groups outside of the public domain.

Going further, why the need for military air shows and military flying displays, for example the Snowbirds? Attractive as these events might be to the public, they help promote the acceptability of military solutions and the interests of defence industry suppliers. Do defence contractors really require use of such arenas to sell their wares to governments and the military?

Hard to believe

I was amazed to learn that Ottawa City Council was unable to debate the issue of the pilot project for a transit pass for University of Ottawa students (24,000 of them) on what appears to be a rules of procedure technicality. So there will be no pilot project even though council’s transportation committee had voted unanimously in favor of the program.

According to Patrick Dare (Ottawa Citizen, Councillors vote against waiving rules for debate, March 12, 2009) city solicitor Rick O'Connor said council should waive the rules of procedure because the university pass issue was already debated on in December 2008 and he was supported on this issue by the mayor. The required three quarters majority required to waive the rules was of course not there, good going Mr. Mayor!

To my recollection this debate was never completed, because council agreed to resume debate on the issue after the budget was passed and this indication was certainly given to students attending the council meeting back in December. And of course the transit strike has further delayed resumption of any discussions.

It is now unlikely that a student pass will be available in the City of Ottawa for several years. This is particularly unfortunate at a time when the city is trying to recover ridership figures again after a long and inconvenient transit strike.

Signs of Spring and Municipal Elections in the Air

Although there are still twenty months to go before the next municipal election in Ottawa, there’s lots of talk about council leadership. This results from speculation around the possible outcome of mayor Larry O’Brien’s upcoming trial as well as public concerns regarding council performance as a whole.

There are calls for new candidates to come forward and challenge incumbent councillors, many of whom have been in place, virtually unchallenged, for far too long. Along with this some are suggesting political parties at the municipal level, and term limits for councillors.

Term limits might not be needed if voters have more than one viable candidate to select from at election time. It is costly to run an effective campaign, making it increasingly difficult for newcomers to run against incumbents. A party approach might help here as the party organization can work on fundraising and community issues more effectively between elections.

Changes will also be needed in the area of funding of political parties and financing of municipal election campaigns. Right now the province’s municipal elections act permits funding for candidates from corporate sources and this has led to perceptions of conflict of interest for many candidates and incumbents. This will become even more pronounced if political parties are involved. Either way, changes to the elections act similar to those enacted at the federal level are needed urgently.

Changes of this sort will not come easily as similar campaign funding rules are also in place at the provincial level. It would be a tall order to get necessary changes in municipal elections act enacted before the next election. It has been suggested that political reform should come from within the community and cities (Problem of Leadership, Ottawa Citizen, March 5, 2009) but current provincial laws and regulations prevent this from happening.

Mayor's preference for Kettle Island bridge likely a good reason to examine other options

An article in today's Citizen indicates that the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau prefer the Kettle Island bridge solution for the new Ottawa River crossing. In my book the fact that Mayor Larry O’Brien prefers the Kettle Island bridge is justification enough to consider other options.