Municipal Politics

[thommyjo]

I have some strong misgivings regarding Cartmell personally. It won't be the end of the world if he does end up winning a term (he's not Nickel), but again some strong personal misgivings.

But yes, Ashley has strong and good urbanist vibes and will have full support when she runs in the future.

Yeah. I think I feel mixed. He’s not a nickel/populist type guy. I think he’s smart, even though I don’t agree with him on everything (ex. West valley should be BRT in his view). And I think he balances others on council well. He’s likely a good diverse perspective with the right council, as long as it doesn’t all go conservative next time. And he might bring more of the business focus we need as a city, which especially for a term or two could be huge. Feels like a true “progressive conservative”, which is probably best to have engaged so the more far right wing people don’t get in. He gets the moderate conservative type support. We don’t want moderates feeling like it’s Janz or a far right person, cause they won’t go Janz.

 

[David A]

Cartmell will win if he runs is my guess. Hopefully Ashley can serve after.

I'm not totally comfortable with some of his positions, but he seems like a fairly sensible person.

 

[IanO]

A fiscal conservative that is focussed on pragmatism and accountability, while still seeing the value in some city-building projects.

I like it.

 

[tkoe_]

Cartmell tried to stop the WLRT from proceeding at the 11th hour and just recently advocated for all sorts of projects in his ward and then proceeded to vote against the budget. He lacks vision, doesn't seem to work with his colleagues and advocates against things Edmonton desperately needs. I'm no Sohi fanboy, but we could definitely do worse.

 

[SarcasticMarmot]

Cartmell tried to stop the WLRT from proceeding at the 11th hour and just recently advocated for all sorts of projects in his ward and then proceeded to vote against the budget. He lacks vision, doesn't seem to work with his colleagues and advocates against things Edmonton desperately needs. I'm no Sohi fanboy, but we could definitely do worse.

His willingness to bypass council by politicking with the UCP on policing and road expansion in his ward is deeply concerning. Having strong principled conservative voices on council is an important balance to represent the whole city and keep us progressives accountable. However, Cartmell's willingness to act , what is in my opinion, unethically to get what he wants which makes me very concerned about him being mayor.

 

[Kosy123]

Yeah I don't want to derail the thread some more since this is about parking and not the Municipal Politics one, but he's done some actions (WLRT as BRT) that made me raise an eyebrow, and the whole bypassing council (with Sarah Hamilton) on the UCP's task force concerned me extremely. As someone who works in close conjunction to the provincial political field, I have some very strong opinions on that particular action. Mostly negative, and it left a very sour taste in my mouth.

Anyway, I do hope the parking lot issue gets some more oomph with some councilors starting to loudly voice opinions on it. I also saw Janz be somewhat vocal for it on Twitter, so let's hope to see some momentum regarding this.

 

[Barnaby]

We sure do complain alot on here.

Why don't we use this energy to file development compliance complaints to the city? We can work off the provided map, and hit every lot.

If anyone wants to work on a Google docs with me, let me know. I'm sick of these gravel pits.

 

[Greenspace]

Good idea, happy to contribute.

 

[SumAqua]

Edmonton city council gets mixed reviews at term’s halfway mark - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

Two years ago, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi was elected mayor of Edmonton. He and this council are now half through this term. One political analyst weighs in.

globalnews.ca

 

[Kosy123]

Honestly, what I might say is unpopular to some here, but mixed two years in, for municipal politics in the country, is quite good. Now, now some of you might accuse me of being a Sohi fanboy but two years is genuinely an eternity in politics, and a lot can happen based on the goldfish memory of an electorate. Usually you get big ticket items within the first 2-3 years while the last few focus on re-electability issues. I'd argue that the ZBR, bike lane investment and the property tax increases are the big ticket items for this Council. I wouldn't think of seeing anything else too crazy within the next 2 years that'll rock the boat.

It's not an issue that's just isolated to Edmonton. Calgary's council and Gondek are in a bad spot popularity wise, and I'd argue that they're in a bigger hole since they don't have as much to show for results wise (besides that Arena deal). They had to backtrack on voting down that affordability study measure. Vancouver will also probably be in a similar boat.

 

[CaptainBL]

Edmonton city council gets mixed reviews at term’s halfway mark - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

Two years ago, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi was elected mayor of Edmonton. He and this council are now half through this term. One political analyst weighs in.

globalnews.ca

Council as a whole and especially Sohi as mayor have been very disappointing in my opinion.

Sohi's performance as mayor will certainly be challenged and I do not see him making it to a second term, if challenged. Outside of calling out different levels of government, he has demonstrated himself to be wishy-washy and spineless on most files, and not a city building visionary on any files. When you think of legacies that previous mayors have left on the city (Mandel and city building, Iveson bringing collaboration to the region) I struggle to think of what Sohi will leave.

The one supposed benefit of him was his Federal Liberals and Trudeau connection and even that has not necessarily benefited the city in terms of more fundings or investments.

 

[Avenuer]

Council as a whole and especially Sohi as mayor have been very disappointing in my opinion.

Sohi's performance as mayor will certainly be challenged and I do not see him making it to a second term, if challenged. Outside of calling out different levels of government, he has demonstrated himself to be wishy-washy and spineless on most files, and not a city building visionary on any files. When you think of legacies that previous mayors have left on the city (Mandel and city building, Iveson bringing collaboration to the region) I struggle to think of what Sohi will leave.

The one supposed benefit of him was his Federal Liberals and Trudeau connection and even that has not necessarily benefited the city in terms of more fundings or investments.

Sohi's Liberal / Feds connection was one that I was really hoping he would use to the City's advantage, but we haven't really seen much come from that other than the usual Federal funding announcements that happen in all major Canadian cities.

One issue that this Council is dealing with that Mandel and Iveson did not have to deal with is a worse financial position due to COVID and less Provincial municipal funding transfers, so they have had a more difficult time deciding what to fund, cut, etc. than the predecessor Councils.

 

[David A]

Council as a whole and especially Sohi as mayor have been very disappointing in my opinion.

Sohi's performance as mayor will certainly be challenged and I do not see him making it to a second term, if challenged. Outside of calling out different levels of government, he has demonstrated himself to be wishy-washy and spineless on most files, and not a city building visionary on any files. When you think of legacies that previous mayors have left on the city (Mandel and city building, Iveson bringing collaboration to the region) I struggle to think of what Sohi will leave.

The one supposed benefit of him was his Federal Liberals and Trudeau connection and even that has not necessarily benefited the city in terms of more fundings or investments.

I actually like Sohi and if I were to choose a politician to have a nice pleasant dinner with, he would be high on that list.

However, I feel being a nice guy can mean being walked over by everyone, or at least that is my conclusion so fair.

At this point he needs to stand up for Edmonton and stop trying to please others.

 

[thommyjo]

Council as a whole and especially Sohi as mayor have been very disappointing in my opinion.

Sohi's performance as mayor will certainly be challenged and I do not see him making it to a second term, if challenged. Outside of calling out different levels of government, he has demonstrated himself to be wishy-washy and spineless on most files, and not a city building visionary on any files. When you think of legacies that previous mayors have left on the city (Mandel and city building, Iveson bringing collaboration to the region) I struggle to think of what Sohi will leave.

The one supposed benefit of him was his Federal Liberals and Trudeau connection and even that has not necessarily benefited the city in terms of more fundings or investments.

He was the safe vote vs Nickel for most. And all other “leading” voices were ok, but none amazing.

Cartmell and Salvador are like the next few terms unless a new player hops on the scene and makes a splash.

Puneeta…?

 

[Kosy123]

He was the safe vote vs Nickel for most. And all other “leading” voices were ok, but none amazing.

Cartmell and Salvador are like the next few terms unless a new player hops on the scene and makes a splash.

Puneeta…?

Honestly no one so far, at least in my eye. You could have someone outside the municipal sphere come in and run, similar to Horwath in Ontario (lmao Mayor Notley), but frankly from my current observation (that could easily be subject to change), there's not really anyone else who has that ambition. I'd even put out the hot take that Cartmell won't run in the next election cycle, but the one after.