Mayor of Waterloo
The mayoral race in Waterloo is probably the most interesting in the region. None of the candidates are perfect, but none of them are really that terrible either. But I’ve got to pick one, so…
This blog endorses Jan d’Ailly for Mayor of Waterloo
Honestly, I wouldn’t be upset if Brenda Halloran was re-elected. I like how she’s been able to reach out to groups like students and so forth. She’s a good, touchy-feely politician. But I don’t get a sense of substance from her. The pillar of her campaign four years ago was a promise to prevent development on the Waterloo Moraine. It was a promise should couldn’t keep. And she should have known she couldn’t keep it.
Jan d’Ailly is not nearly as touchy-feely as Mayor Halloran, but I feel he’d be a more effective manager. His take on the issues most closely aligns with mine out of the four candidates. He’s the only candidate who sees the long-term need for the LRT, even if it’s politically untenable to go ahead immediately. As councillor for Ward 6 (which encompasses Northdale), I’m not going to claim that Northdale has been expertly handled, but I respect the difficulty in having to deal with bad neighbours (not the students) using a lazy and gullible media to force council to change zoning in order to score a big payout from developers. He didn’t immediately cave to their selfish and disastrous demands. I respect that.
Dale Ross is the only candidate who I categorically would not want to have as mayor. His website headline states why more succinctly than I could: “I believe we need to fix what’s wrong before you can look to the future.” I think that’s a terrible attitude for a leader to have. But as conservative candidates go, he’s no Rob Ford. So there we can be grateful, I suppose.
Franklin Ramsoomair is probably my favourite candidate, even though I’m not going to vote for him (sorry, Franklin). His lawn signs have him rocking some kick-ass shades. His twitter feed is strange and wonderful. He’s a trained hypnotist. His son draws an awesome webcomic. All in all, awesome. But he opposes the LRT, so I’m afraid we’ll have to part company there.
I’d really like to get out to a debate, because I think it’d be fun to watch.
Cross-posted from the flying squirrel