Kosy123
Active Member
If anyone is curious, Sohi did release a policy platform regarding environmental/energy issues and some involving transit yesterday I think?
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Municipal Politics
- Thread starter Airboy
- Start date
kcantor
Senior Member
^^ ^^^
to be fair, if sohi does win, it will be a result of support for the man and his platform and not the result of apathy reigning once again.
whether he wins with 51% (his current share of the decided voters) of a 35% voter turnout or 51% of a 65% voter turnout, his election (or any other eventual winner's election for that matter) is a result of the voters' response to those in the race and the platforms for which actual ballots were cast. whether the turnout is 35% or 65% is certainly an indication of overall apathy or engagement but those are not the same thing and measuring one is not a measure of the other.
to be fair, if sohi does win, it will be a result of support for the man and his platform and not the result of apathy reigning once again.
whether he wins with 51% (his current share of the decided voters) of a 35% voter turnout or 51% of a 65% voter turnout, his election (or any other eventual winner's election for that matter) is a result of the voters' response to those in the race and the platforms for which actual ballots were cast. whether the turnout is 35% or 65% is certainly an indication of overall apathy or engagement but those are not the same thing and measuring one is not a measure of the other.
thommyjo
Senior Member
This guy lol
edmonton.citynews.ca
Mayoral candidate issues travel advisory for downtown Edmonton
Edmonton mayoral candidate Mike Nickel calls for a ‘travel advisory’ for downtown Edmonton after reviewing crime data from Edmonton Police.
edmonton.citynews.ca
Kosy123
Active Member
“I’m a proud Edmontonian running to be your mayor”This guy lol
Mayoral candidate issues travel advisory for downtown Edmonton
Edmonton mayoral candidate Mike Nickel calls for a ‘travel advisory’ for downtown Edmonton after reviewing crime data from Edmonton Police.
also Nickel: “DOWNTOWN IS A NO GO ZONE, HUNGER GAMES LAST OF US TAX HELLHOLE LITERALLY FALLUJAH LRT EVIL BRT BRT BRT”
I can’t wait for this dude to get rightly kicked out of municipal politics. Jesus Christ what an actual stain on this city.
Gronk!
Senior Member
Mike Nickel is Edmonton's version of Donald Trump. He is part of an axis of assholery that includes Trump and Jason Kenney.
Airboy
Senior Member
Don't count him out. Hell we got Jason Kenny. Mikey can pull it off as well. He just needs to stick with the Edmonton his a wasteland liturgy. Plenty of people that would not think of coming downtown will believe him. People that would never think of crossing north of White Ave or west of Gretsky. Hell CTV, ED, the Sun and Coras all are his megaphone. Just driving around the city and I see plenty of his signs. Nova Hotel Sites now proudly show his signs.
TAS
Senior Member
If you live in the central ward of O-Day'min, there is an online all candidates forum tomorrow at 6:15pm for city council.
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CplKlinger
Senior Member
I had a great talk with Cheryll Watson today. If you haven't yet had a call with her and have some burning questions or comments, you should schedule a call. She was very open and candid, and the conversation went both ways which I really appreciated. Here are her thoughts on the topics I raised.
1. Downtown
Downtown is an important source of tax revenue for the city, and everyone should be concerned about the possibility of it dying. The city needs to look at tax rates and red tape/bureaucracy, because she's heard from numerous business owners about them. The city also needs to repair its relationship with the provincial government; it's far too adversarial right now, and this is unacceptable given that it would be such an important partner in addressing concerns about downtown. From affordable housing to safe injection sites, the province has a lot of sway over the solutions for the homelessness and addiction crises facing that neighbourhood. The city's biggest asset is land. It should talk with social organizations to see what their needs are, where their clients are located, could get jobs, etc., and go off that to decide which land to give those service organizations. These organizations shouldn't be concentrated in one area, like Chinatown, but they also shouldn't be placed in random neighbourhoods for the sake of spreading them out.
2. Transit and transportation
She doesn't have a specific platform policy about alternate transportation, but it's definitely on her radar. She supports the idea of the bus network redesign (and bike lanes, while we're at it), but doesn't think it is well-positioned for future growth. She's also skeptical of the Valley Line; especially the west leg. She emphasized that she is all for public transit and the *intention* of the valley line, but not necessarily its execution. She said her attitude has shifted over time. She used to support the idea of a north-south and a east-west LRT line, plus ways of connecting Edmontonions to those networks. However, she worries that the VLW will have too little capacity and - crucially- be too slow. She does not see this as offering any improvement to the west compared to what is currently offered, and it should instead be built completely above or below ground. She does not think that the current design warrants the VLW's large cost or construction timeline. She instead supports 'microtransit'. I had to tease out a bit of an idea of what she meant by this, but this is the gist: BRT should be used along the VLW ROW until usage numbers justify putting tracks in, and people should be connected with the line via buses, biking, walking, on-demand transit, taxis/ubers, etc. She used the example of DATS, which is very much over capacitated and thus has large wait times. Overall, she wants something done to improve transit in that area, but wants to make sure that whatever happens offers the best value and service possible.
3. The VIA Rail station's location
This actually was not on her radar at all, and she'll look into it. I argued that it is far too remote, has minimal pedestrian/transit connections, and leaves tourists and visitors in the lurch unless they rent a car. It should be in a more central or southern location of the city, where people can get to and from the station without cars, where there are nearby amenities like shops or destinations, and/or close to the future high speed rail line's Edmonton station. it shouldn't just be a waypoint between Toronto and Vancouver.
I'm not a huge fan of her skepticism of the Valley Line LRT, but I'm definitely leaning towards voting for her instead of Sohi. I haven't been impressed by his lack of "organic" outreach (his campaign never responded to my email), and they didn't even send me a lawn sign even though I requested one twice over the spawn of a couple months. In contrast, I'm very impressed that Watson offers times where people can engage with her one-on-one, and I loved that she actually gave honest answers and explained *why* she thought that way, instead of sticking to a script. We had an actual conversation, and that is an important thing in my eyes.
Also, I told her about this site and sent her a link, so be on your best behaviour
1. Downtown
Downtown is an important source of tax revenue for the city, and everyone should be concerned about the possibility of it dying. The city needs to look at tax rates and red tape/bureaucracy, because she's heard from numerous business owners about them. The city also needs to repair its relationship with the provincial government; it's far too adversarial right now, and this is unacceptable given that it would be such an important partner in addressing concerns about downtown. From affordable housing to safe injection sites, the province has a lot of sway over the solutions for the homelessness and addiction crises facing that neighbourhood. The city's biggest asset is land. It should talk with social organizations to see what their needs are, where their clients are located, could get jobs, etc., and go off that to decide which land to give those service organizations. These organizations shouldn't be concentrated in one area, like Chinatown, but they also shouldn't be placed in random neighbourhoods for the sake of spreading them out.
2. Transit and transportation
She doesn't have a specific platform policy about alternate transportation, but it's definitely on her radar. She supports the idea of the bus network redesign (and bike lanes, while we're at it), but doesn't think it is well-positioned for future growth. She's also skeptical of the Valley Line; especially the west leg. She emphasized that she is all for public transit and the *intention* of the valley line, but not necessarily its execution. She said her attitude has shifted over time. She used to support the idea of a north-south and a east-west LRT line, plus ways of connecting Edmontonions to those networks. However, she worries that the VLW will have too little capacity and - crucially- be too slow. She does not see this as offering any improvement to the west compared to what is currently offered, and it should instead be built completely above or below ground. She does not think that the current design warrants the VLW's large cost or construction timeline. She instead supports 'microtransit'. I had to tease out a bit of an idea of what she meant by this, but this is the gist: BRT should be used along the VLW ROW until usage numbers justify putting tracks in, and people should be connected with the line via buses, biking, walking, on-demand transit, taxis/ubers, etc. She used the example of DATS, which is very much over capacitated and thus has large wait times. Overall, she wants something done to improve transit in that area, but wants to make sure that whatever happens offers the best value and service possible.
3. The VIA Rail station's location
This actually was not on her radar at all, and she'll look into it. I argued that it is far too remote, has minimal pedestrian/transit connections, and leaves tourists and visitors in the lurch unless they rent a car. It should be in a more central or southern location of the city, where people can get to and from the station without cars, where there are nearby amenities like shops or destinations, and/or close to the future high speed rail line's Edmonton station. it shouldn't just be a waypoint between Toronto and Vancouver.
I'm not a huge fan of her skepticism of the Valley Line LRT, but I'm definitely leaning towards voting for her instead of Sohi. I haven't been impressed by his lack of "organic" outreach (his campaign never responded to my email), and they didn't even send me a lawn sign even though I requested one twice over the spawn of a couple months. In contrast, I'm very impressed that Watson offers times where people can engage with her one-on-one, and I loved that she actually gave honest answers and explained *why* she thought that way, instead of sticking to a script. We had an actual conversation, and that is an important thing in my eyes.
Also, I told her about this site and sent her a link, so be on your best behaviour
CaptainBL
Active Member
Very similar to a positive conversation I had with her. She is great and I am glad there are others that are conversing with her as well. I hope she is able to get her name out there even more.I had a great talk with Cheryll Watson today. If you haven't yet had a call with her and have some burning questions or comments, you should schedule a call. She was very open and candid, and the conversation went both ways which I really appreciated. Here are her thoughts on the topics I raised.
1. Downtown
Downtown is an important source of tax revenue for the city, and everyone should be concerned about the possibility of it dying. The city needs to look at tax rates and red tape/bureaucracy, because she's heard from numerous business owners about them. The city also needs to repair its relationship with the provincial government; it's far too adversarial right now, and this is unacceptable given that it would be such an important partner in addressing concerns about downtown. From affordable housing to safe injection sites, the province has a lot of sway over the solutions for the homelessness and addiction crises facing that neighbourhood. The city's biggest asset is land. It should talk with social organizations to see what their needs are, where their clients are located, could get jobs, etc., and go off that to decide which land to give those service organizations. These organizations shouldn't be concentrated in one area, like Chinatown, but they also shouldn't be placed in random neighbourhoods for the sake of spreading them out.
2. Transit and transportation
She doesn't have a specific platform policy about alternate transportation, but it's definitely on her radar. She supports the idea of the bus network redesign (and bike lanes, while we're at it), but doesn't think it is well-positioned for future growth. She's also skeptical of the Valley Line; especially the west leg. She emphasized that she is all for public transit and the *intention* of the valley line, but not necessarily its execution. She said her attitude has shifted over time. She used to support the idea of a north-south and a east-west LRT line, plus ways of connecting Edmontonions to those networks. However, she worries that the VLW will have too little capacity and - crucially- be too slow. She does not see this as offering any improvement to the west compared to what is currently offered, and it should instead be built completely above or below ground. She does not think that the current design warrants the VLW's large cost or construction timeline. She instead supports 'microtransit'. I had to tease out a bit of an idea of what she meant by this, but this is the gist: BRT should be used along the VLW ROW until usage numbers justify putting tracks in, and people should be connected with the line via buses, biking, walking, on-demand transit, taxis/ubers, etc. She used the example of DATS, which is very much over capacitated and thus has large wait times. Overall, she wants something done to improve transit in that area, but wants to make sure that whatever happens offers the best value and service possible.
3. The VIA Rail station's location
This actually was not on her radar at all, and she'll look into it. I argued that it is far too remote, has minimal pedestrian/transit connections, and leaves tourists and visitors in the lurch unless they rent a car. It should be in a more central or southern location of the city, where people can get to and from the station without cars, where there are nearby amenities like shops or destinations, and/or close to the future high speed rail line's Edmonton station. it shouldn't just be a waypoint between Toronto and Vancouver.
I'm not a huge fan of her skepticism of the Valley Line LRT, but I'm definitely leaning towards voting for her instead of Sohi. I haven't been impressed by his lack of "organic" outreach (his campaign never responded to my email), and they didn't even send me a lawn sign even though I requested one twice over the spawn of a couple months. In contrast, I'm very impressed that Watson offers times where people can engage with her one-on-one, and I loved that she actually gave honest answers and explained *why* she thought that way, instead of sticking to a script. We had an actual conversation, and that is an important thing in my eyes.
Also, I told her about this site and sent her a link, so be on your best behaviour
thommyjo
Senior Member
Hmm. Somewhat disappointed by her views of the west LRT. I understand the large price tag is worth criticizing. We should have questions about it.
But idk about the speed, and above or below arguments.
The only reason its helpful to be above or below is if we still want to put cars at the top of the transportation priority list. But if we want to become a modern city for the future, we need to prioritize the most efficient, sustainable, affordable forms of transit. Trains and bikes need to top that list.
And speed isn't everything. It'll still be comparable to driving times depending on times of day itll be much faster. And it moves thousands more people than cars can, especially for major events, games, concerts DT. Roads can't handle surge demand like that.
I understand BRT as an alternative, but im not sure in edmonton that will spur TOD. Its not seen as reliable or permanent enough. And the snow causes so many issues for buses. I have 5 or 6 stories about literally abandoning buses in snow storms and us all having to walk to others places.
Fast, raised trains are still a suburbs to DT mindset to me. Not a 15 minute city, integrated, walkable neighbourhood model
But idk about the speed, and above or below arguments.
The only reason its helpful to be above or below is if we still want to put cars at the top of the transportation priority list. But if we want to become a modern city for the future, we need to prioritize the most efficient, sustainable, affordable forms of transit. Trains and bikes need to top that list.
And speed isn't everything. It'll still be comparable to driving times depending on times of day itll be much faster. And it moves thousands more people than cars can, especially for major events, games, concerts DT. Roads can't handle surge demand like that.
I understand BRT as an alternative, but im not sure in edmonton that will spur TOD. Its not seen as reliable or permanent enough. And the snow causes so many issues for buses. I have 5 or 6 stories about literally abandoning buses in snow storms and us all having to walk to others places.
Fast, raised trains are still a suburbs to DT mindset to me. Not a 15 minute city, integrated, walkable neighbourhood model
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
I can't say I agree with her on West LRT. I mean, the project agreement is already signed, so what is she proposing, to rip it up? Can't see how that is business-friendly or any way to move the city forward.
Gronk!
Senior Member
Not supporting the Valley Line West LRT is a non-starter for me as far as I'm concerned. I wonder how many people know that Cheryll Watson lives in the west end?
I think I'm leaning more towards Sohi. But I think he needs to dwell less on his past accomplishments and more about what he is actually going to do.
I think I'm leaning more towards Sohi. But I think he needs to dwell less on his past accomplishments and more about what he is actually going to do.
Platinum107
Senior Member
I'd have to try having a talk with her too to see where she's coming from, but I definitely think that LRT point was weird and kind-of "Nickel-ish" coming from her. Whether you agree or disagree that street-level LRT was the right mode for this rapid transit line (I still have doubts myself about it), A) It'll be a soild LRT line and will fit its designed purpose of being an easily accessible service connecting people and neighborhoods in a reasonable amount of time (as opposed to a grade-separated high capacity high speed metro), and B) What we think doesn't matter at this point anyway because it's under construction after years of planning and consultation. Trying to stop it now really is foolish and will only harm the city for many years to come from all perspectives. If capacity and speed become and issue in the future then so be it, we as a city can figure it out somehow.
The BRT comment is really disheartening to see too. The city's been over this like 5 times at this point and it's getting annoying to hear again and again. More expensive to operate, less ridership, little to no TOD.... shall I go on?
The BRT comment is really disheartening to see too. The city's been over this like 5 times at this point and it's getting annoying to hear again and again. More expensive to operate, less ridership, little to no TOD.... shall I go on?
archited
Senior Member
^^^^ ... yes please do (I hate when you make perfect sense, but yes, go on).
ChazYEG
Senior Member
I gotta admit, I was rather disappointed with her standing in regards to the LRT. As @Platinum107 said, sounded a little bit too much like Nickel for my taste. That and the rumours of a certain conservative alignment make me a little bit uneasy about her.
As imperfect as he might be, if I could vote, it would be for Sohi, from a very pragmatic point of view (purely political calculation), especially with the looming Federal Election.
My second choice would be Krushell, and a third place tie between Oshry and Watson.
All in all, I would've loved if they all had rallied behind one candidate and ran for the council on separate ward.
As imperfect as he might be, if I could vote, it would be for Sohi, from a very pragmatic point of view (purely political calculation), especially with the looming Federal Election.
My second choice would be Krushell, and a third place tie between Oshry and Watson.
All in all, I would've loved if they all had rallied behind one candidate and ran for the council on separate ward.