[thommyjo]

He already has the experience from being on council before, arguably one that was better than the current one. I don't think being a credible candidate running to be mayor should just be limited to current councilors.

While it is often current councilors who run and become mayor we have also had some notable mayors in the past who had experience of being councilors but were not current councilors when they ran for mayor.

Agreed. But just a big hurdle to climb when there are 2 incumbents who both have had very strong support in both their wards for 8 years. And you’re trying to play to the middle of them both.

 

[policyenthusiast]

The AUC stops homes from producing more energy than they use, Tim. A net-zero off-grid home is great for the purposes of the experiment, but without producing a surplus, Blatchford homes need to be connected to the central utilities grid.

 

[TAS]

First poll

"Coun. Andrew Knack has a slim lead over his competitors with 12 per cent saying they intend to vote for him, followed by 10 per cent for Coun. Tim Cartmell, 7 per cent for Michael Walters, Rahim Jaffer at 5 per cent and Omar Mohammad at 4 per cent. However a whopping 48 per cent said they are undecided or don’t know who they would vote for."

A LOT to be decided.

New poll shows Edmontonians feel city is on wrong track, Knack with slight lead in tight mayor's race

With just over six weeks to go before the municipal election, a new poll suggests Edmontonians feel the city is on the wrong track.

edmontonjournal.com

From a political scientist I talked to, fwiw, he says two incumbents are fairly safe - Paquette and Janz. The rest, not so good. We shall see.

I enjoy my hockey pools, may need to do one for this council election - see who is most politically astute in our forum! Ha

 

[IanO]

 

[TAS]

Surprised about Omar as high as he is but he is doing a lot of paid social media.

Walters got in very late, and there is time, but he will need to step it up.

To me, Cartmell, Knack and Jaffer have been most visible out there campaigning.

 

[policyenthusiast]

First poll

"Coun. Andrew Knack has a slim lead over his competitors with 12 per cent saying they intend to vote for him, followed by 10 per cent for Coun. Tim Cartmell, 7 per cent for Michael Walters, Rahim Jaffer at 5 per cent and Omar Mohammad at 4 per cent. However a whopping 48 per cent said they are undecided or don’t know who they would vote for."

A LOT to be decided.

New poll shows Edmontonians feel city is on wrong track, Knack with slight lead in tight mayor's race

With just over six weeks to go before the municipal election, a new poll suggests Edmontonians feel the city is on the wrong track.

edmontonjournal.com

From a political scientist I talked to, fwiw, he says two incumbents are fairly safe - Paquette and Janz. The rest, not so good. We shall see.

I enjoy my hockey pools, may need to do one for this council election - see who is most politically astute in our forum! Ha

I would be interested in placing some dignity-based bets. I do hope Michael gets another term, but Josh Doyle is campaigning very heavily. Remains to be seen if it pays off.

 

[Gronk!]

From a political scientist I talked to, fwiw, he says two incumbents are fairly safe - Paquette and Janz. The rest, not so good. We shall see.

I'm surprised that Ashley Salvador and Karen Principe aren't deemed safe.

 

[policyenthusiast]

I'm surprised that Ashley Salvador and Karen Principe aren't deemed safe.

Caroline Matthews had solid support last election, and Salvador's ward is a bit up in arms about anything and everything lately. Principe is running functionally uncontested IMO.

 

[SarcasticMarmot]

I'm surprised that Ashley Salvador and Karen Principe aren't deemed safe.

As I had previously been flamed for pointing out, Ashley may be the Urbanist's favorite councilor but she has been decidedly Meh as a ward representative. Her office regularly doesn't respond to local calls, emails, invites, concerns. She has not done a good job responding to ward concerns around rezoning, encampments, repairs, etc. I know quite a few folks in her ward north of the river have gotten into the habit of reaching out to Paquette when they want a response. She is not very visible at local events, and atleast my part of the ward is used to being represented by Irwin who is Everywhere! Matthews is pushing hard, and if she didn't have the UCP taint via Cartmell I think she would easily win. Salvador may still win, but it's not a slam dunk. Last time was a 3 way race and this one seems to be shaping up to be a 2 way race.

 

[David A]

This feels to me like the mid 1990's election when Edmontonians were really not very happy with the state of the city and around half of the council was replaced.

I don't think very many incumbents are safe, although probably a few more than that will get reelected for various reasons (campaigning hard, name recognition, lack of strong opponents ...).

If this poll is correct, the mayoral contest seems wide open now. Interesting how Jaffer is not far off from three main contenders. Oddly Caterina seems to have high recognition and low support, past before before for him?

 

[TAS]

As I had previously been flamed for pointing out, Ashley may be the Urbanist's favorite councilor but she has been decidedly Meh as a ward representative. Her office regularly doesn't respond to local calls, emails, invites, concerns. She has not done a good job responding to ward concerns around rezoning, encampments, repairs, etc. I know quite a few folks in her ward north of the river have gotten into the habit of reaching out to Paquette when they want a response. She is not very visible at local events, and atleast my part of the ward is used to being represented by Irwin who is Everywhere! Matthews is pushing hard, and if she didn't have the UCP taint via Cartmell I think she would easily win. Salvador may still win, but it's not a slam dunk. Last time was a 3 way race and this one seems to be shaping up to be a 2 way race.

I watch a fair amount of council + committee meetings and Salvador is consistently one of the most prepared and asks probing questions of admin.

She always shows respect and speaks to people that way and her social media often provides valuable insight on council decisions or on issues. Definitely see her engaged in her ward.

Matthews did not show up for the first ward forum last week so it was just Salvador and another candidate.

Principe (like Matthews a Cartmell party candidate) did not show up for hers either, but the two candidates who did I didnt find particularly strong.

 

[thommyjo]

I watch a fair amount of council + committee meetings and Salvador is consistently one of the most prepared and asks probing questions of admin.

She always shows respect and speaks to people that way and her social media often provides valuable insight on council decisions or on issues. Definitely see her engaged in her ward.

Matthews did not show up for the first ward forum last week so it was just Salvador and another candidate.

Principe (like Matthews a Cartmell party candidate) did not show up for hers either, but the two candidates who did I didnt find particularly strong.

Yeah, I feel like I see Ashley at a lot of stuff actually. And she literally was the one to get the derelict property bylaw passed….so that’s more than anyone else has done on that front.

But I’m sure there are people who don’t feel “heard” when Ashley doesn’t agree with them on infill and the like. She’s got a purely mature area ward, so a lot more infill and safety type issues vs the suburban mixed wards where those hit button issues are balanced with road safety/traffic/lack of amenities complaints for new suburbs. A bit more contentious in the central areas I’d argue.

She’s smart, level headed, responsible, and doesn’t play to politics like Janz and Cartmell, which is refreshing. I’d see it as a big loss to lose her.

 

[TAS]

 

[TAS]

Omar is polling within 3% of Michael Walters.

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[Gus Haynes]

Omar comin'.