Just Don't Let Her Drive

Congrats to MUNTER on his latest endorsers. Former Liberal MPP Claudette BOYER is a fine example of how people elected to public office should act in the face of justice.

Alex, you may want to screen those endorsing you before you flush out a press release; you are after all the only ethical candidate in the race, right????

Clarification

Alright, judging by the e-mails and comments, we need to clarify our position that the Mayor's race has turned into a two candidate show.

Here are why we believe that only two candidates are going to matter until voting day;

1) Kilrea has lost all integrity that he had prior to endorsing the man he has challenged on every major municipal public policy issue over the past three years. He is going more than likely going to fail in his bid for a council seat as a result.

2) So what if Kilrea threw his support behind Mayor Bob? Hypothetically if Kilrea had 10,000 hard core supporters, odds are about 8,000 now believe he is like "every other" politician and don't give a shit who he says they should support. The people who were behind Kilrea don't like Bob, they despise Alex and therefore will make their minds up freely on who to vote for.

3) O'Brien was taking voters and supporters away from the minor league Kilrea campaign; odds are a significant number of the above noted 8,000 in point 2 are headed to the ballot box to place an X beside Larry.

4) Bob's campaign up until now has been garbage. It is one of the most tired political campaigns that we can remember. A bad campaign equals a bad result on election day....Mayor Bob is headed for defeat this year.

5) Alex is worried, you can hear it in his voice. He is a smart politician and realizes that his chance to win this campaign by a vote split is gone, fin, au revoir....his campaign team now must sell him to win. This won't be easy to do, despite his attempts to distance himself from the many special interests associated to him.

6) Alex is talking ethics, you know the old "I'm more ethical than you" card ( "I don't accept donations from developers"). Any political novice knows that one way or another developers donations make it into any major contenders campaign, it's simply a matter of who is signing the cheque. We challenge Alex to publish a list of all donations to his campaign, odds are some of those people are employed by the development industry.

We're not quite ready to divulge who we think the two main candidates are in this race. However, since the question of who benefits the most from Kilrea's exit is on every newspaper and radio program we will tell you. Larry O'Brien ( who quite possibly is the next Mayor of Ottawa).

A Cup of Coffee Puts It All In Perspective

In politics, partisanship is a force that can make things happen. But too far, it blinds us to whether things deserve to happen.
- David Frum

Starbucks makes it all good.

Defined

in-teg-ri-ty/ Pronunciation Key - [in-teg-ri-tee] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

From what you've sent us, and upon reflection we would suggest that a majority of KILREA's former supporters don't think he has much of the above noted noun.

The real question now is what did Mayor BOB promise the former candidate and soon to be defeated councillor candidate?

Riverside, Ottawa....No California

We're wondering, who from the Ontario legislature is so interested in our little municipal blog????? Better yet, why are they in sunny Riverside, California?????


Number of Entries: 3
Entry Page Time:30th August 2006 10:14:36
Visit Length:5 hours 4 mins 27 secs
MSIE 6.0Windows XP1024x768
Returning Visits:Location: California, Riverside
Hostname:gateway.ontla.on.ca (192.75.172.1)

Something BIG is About To Happen

08:30 hrs. Sources (reliable you may call them) indicate that KILREA might initiate an exit strategy and instead take a run against CULLEN.

11:30 hrs. First we congratulate KILREA on his move. Strategic on his part....and still proves how totally disorganized the conservatives are at the local level. They are afterall backing a very public Liberal mayor.

Sources also indicate that the O'BRIEN campaign is in total disarray and will more than likely not make much of an impact on what we are now declaring a two candidate race for Mayor. With a little more than two months to go before the vote, Larry has yet to release one public policy option....not a winning strategy in our eyes.

Oh and by the way- we called this twist of events about a month ago.

All Together Now.......

.....Property Tax Increase

Start saving friends, it's on the way-no matter who is victorious in November.
(But you should blame a majority of those who are currently elected)

Campaigning 101

The three other mayoral candidates should fear Alex MUNTER; the guy knows how to campaign....he seems to make an appearance at most events throughout the city...reminds us of another guy who used to be the Mayor.

Ward 11- A Platform To Federal Politics?

In the event of a snap federal election....could Ottawa-Orléans Liberal's be looking to this guy as a potential candidate to carry the torch?

That sucks....

Mayor BOB can't even get his Liberal compadres to endorse his re-election. Vanier Liberal MP Mauril BELANGER has "thrown his support" behind Alex MUNTER ( Guess Mauril ain't to interested in his own parties leadership-but then again who is?)

What is happening to Mayor BOB, it seems he can't get a break anywhere these days.

On the topic of Alex MUNTER, we hope he'll start offering real, measurable public policy options; his daily whining and bitching about how CHIARELLI hasn't done anything to progress the city forward are not only childish but are also starting to get quite annoying.

The Curious Tale of The BookMobile

Quite frankly we don't have an issue with the Ottawa Public Library Bookmobile being in this year's PRIDE parade.

What we do take exception to is the fact that it was approved for use by the Chief Librarian and not the entire board.

Oh yeah, and we stand with Rick CHIARELLI in demanding that this Bookmobile be available for every single Christmas parade that it is requested to be at.

Impressive

Larry O's website for Mayor is quite impressive (although it lacks in true content), to be quite honest we wouldn't have expected less being he is from the high tech sector.

However, electoral campaigns are not won or lost on the web; they are won in the streets, which from what sources tell us, Alex Munter was doing in the East end of the city today.

Fly Away Into Retirement Please

Increasing taxes, budget's that don't add up, decaying municipal infrastructure, and oh yeah a controversial 1 Billion dollar choo choo train; but whatever let's debate whether or not the swans should be put in the water. Seriously what planet are some of these elected officials living on? Another example of why you need to retire some city council jerseys this November.

CFRA.COM 21 Aug 2006

Council To Debate Fate Of Royal Swans Cindy Clyne and Dan Pihlainen Monday, August 21, 2006
The free the Royal Swans campaign heads to city hall this week.
Locked up this summer because of the threat of avian flu, the birds' fate is now in the hands of city council.
Baseline Ward Councillor Rick Chiarelli will be leading the charge to release the birds. He's convinced city officials are overreacting.
Capital Ward Councillor Clive Doucet says the time has come to debate whether or not allow the swans to roam freely down the Rideau River. City council weighs in on the fowl up on Wednesday.

Bob-You There?

Is Bob CHIARELLI even running for re-election? The whisper campaign is in full effect and several sources are advising that Bob may drop out of the race prior to the mid-September deadline.

Apart from his daily mayoral duties, CHIARELLI's campaign (if you can call it that) has been quite lack-lustre. Just look at his website, it hasn't been updated since it was first posted three months ago.

If this is his idea of campaigning, he is in serious trouble.

Is This The New Campaign Manager For O'BRIEN?

PRESS RELEASE : Kilrea Appoints Campaign Chair
For Immediate Release
June 19, 2005
Kilrea Appoints Campaign ChairLocal Strategist, Joe Varner, Joins Kilrea For Mayor
(OTTAWA)- 2006 Mayoralty Candidate, Terry Kilrea has appointed strategist Joe Varner to chair his municipal election campaign. Varner, a Professor of Homeland Security for American Military University and former provincial PC Candidate, brings with him campaign experience at all levels of government.
“Today marks the beginning of the campaign for a better local government in Ottawa”, said Kilrea, who added, “the announcement of Joe Varner as my Campaign Chair is just the first of many more who will be part of my campaign to take back this City for the everyday citizen of Ottawa”.
Varner, for his part, welcomed Kilrea’s announcement and expressed enthusiasm for his new post. “Terry Kilrea is a man of the people”, said Varner, “Terry represents what is good about Ottawa. He is honest, hardworking and he knows what the people of Ottawa need, I am honoured to be Terry Kilrea’s Campaign Chair and I know he will make a superb Mayor of Ottawa”, added Varner.
Kilrea, the runner up in the 2003 Mayoralty race in Ottawa, intends to roll out his campaign team this summer and fall, in the lead up to his 2006 municipal run.

Hmmmmm.....the O'BRIEN team might want to clarify VARNER's position....and soon!

A New Addition To Team Bob

Sources have advised us that Mayor Bob's office recently added a new Liberal hack to their team. Acting as a policy advisor to his worship, Mr. Hollands is the newest addition to Team Bob. The problem that we, and most of the public may have is that the hiring of a policy advisor on the public purse in the middle of a hotly contested election is pretty poor optics.

Hopefully the Mayor can explain this sudden hire....and stating that his qualifications are the sole reason won't fly with us.

The 411 on Sherring

It's time for The Ottawa Sun to find a new scribe to write on local political issues. The rubbish coming from the pen of Sherring is starting to make us wonder if she has a hidden political agenda when it comes to the Mayoral race.

Effective today we will never ever link to any piece penned by her.

Munter Talking Trash

Candidate MUNTER is talking trash when it comes to the landfill problem facing Ottawa. His assertion that under an Alex-Regime both the Carp and Navan dumps will not expand is pure campaign rhetoric. MUNTER states that with his "60 diversion program" ( he has a fancier name, but we don't recall it verbatim) residents will be so committed to recycling that we won't need to expand any local dump.

This talk is political trash if we've ever heard it. Does MUNTER actually truly believe that citizens in this city will follow his lead and start to recycle at such a rate that no new landfill space will be needed?

He knows the answer and so do you, NO. People need to change their attitudes towards trash by themselves, and no publicly funded campaign will change that. The only result of this propsed plan will be a waste of public dollars on the type of PR campaigns witnessed during the pesticide ban.

We would have posted a link to the press release related to this announcment, however Team MUNTER has yet to post it on the official website. Which indicates to us that this is more an exercise in public opinion rather than sound political policy.

A Message From Mayoral Candidate Anweiler

We don't really know what it means, but maybe someone out there does;


Piotr Anweiler panweiler@.ca
Sun, Aug 13, 2006 at 11:11 AM
Reply-To: Piotr Anweiler
To: election@ottawa.ca

It is not Science Fiction, PRT for Ottawa
Ottawa can be the first city in the World implementing a new transportation system of PRT type.
How can we improve our city if we do not listen to all the candidates for Mayor?
Why, no one except me was thinking or considering alternatives to LRT.
Why others were infinitely talking only about different ‘street car’ solutions (diesel vs. electric, one track vs. two tracks, go to Airport vs. Barrhaven).
HELLO…. There are other transportation solutions!!!
You did not like my Subway idea; you did not even ask me what other methods I see to pay for the expensive Metro project but taking taxpayers money.
Hence, I will show you that exist PRT (Personal Rapid Transit), H2 (hydrogen) Fuel_cell Buses if we worry only about the environment, and few others.
For our local Media not fresh ideas or new faces are important, but the old names repeated again and again. A hundred times I have heard about 3 candidates for Mayor, but I did not hear about 3 other candidates and their ideas.
SHAME for manipulating the public and wasting taxpayers’ money. This is a dis-service to the voters of Ottawa by not allowing them to see all their options for Mayor and fresh new ideas.
Here is a PRT MISTER that I like to propose to all open-minded Ottawans.

To see entire file please see attachment.
To view my other opinions please visit my web page www.anweiler.ca and blogs http://www.blogger.com/profile/25669901.

Sincerely

Piotr Anweiler
Ottawa Mayor Candidate

12: The Rematch

In Ward 12 it's time for a rematch of 2003- Incumbent Counc. Georges " No More Fun In the Market" BEDARD vs. Bruce "Need Your Auto Repaired" McCONVILLE.

Our guess is this sequel is the one that Georgy was hoping wouldn't come to be. Now we know why he's been pimping himself to the media so much over the past three months. The fact is Georges only got the nod in 2003 when now Provincial Fiberal Maddy Meilluir opened her partisan mouth and saved him from defeat.

Hopefully the Fiberals at the provincial level are too busy removing blockades, and raising taxes to meddle in our municipal election.

Shocking News

Not surprising CHIARELLI and MUNTER have already used their "I'm more experienced than you are" card to respond to the O'BRIEN candidacy. Maybe a few ideas from either of the two would go alot further in this campaign of 'ideas'?

CHIARELLI actually took it a step further and used the trademark Liberal campaign move of trying to slander a competitor on a decade old comment...we're sure Mayor Bob has said a few things in his political career he wishes he could take back.... But that's the way those Libs like to play, in the mud.

For his part, KILREA, who stands to lose the most from O'BRIEN's candidacy was the most diplomatic. KILREA welcomed the new challenger into the race and congratulated him on supporting his LRT poistion. See you can take a political shot without making yourself look like a jerk. Maybe Bob and Alex should take some lessons from the people that they believe to be political novices. A little bit of class goes along way, as they both will see on Nov.13th.

Mud-Play

Find A New Idea

Temp. Counc. Bob MONETTE is once again pushing for the city to implement an auxillary police force. Maybe he has been out in the sun for an extended period of time, but this idea has already been dismissed by virtually all those parties involved; including a majority of his fellow councillors.

Our guess is his campaign staff has been spending alot more time with another candidate South of his ward, which has allowed him to speak freely again.

Another weak link on council which will be hopefully defeated this November.

Good Luck

It's official, this city has a race for Mayor. Larry O'BRIEN filed his papers today, and the race, which until now has been comprised of cheap photo-ops and mindless blabble will hopefully start to engage voters.

Oh yeah-DESROCHES we still didn't get a response to your campaign flyer which pissed a number of people off. Only a coward is unable to justify his actions. In our eyes, you are unfit for elected office.

Steve and Steve: The Ambiguously Liberal Duo

Campaign material claims candidate is the councillor
BY DEREK DUNN, Barrhaven Independent

Ward 22 candidate Steve Desroches
remains unapologetic after several homeowners
and opponents took issue with his
campaign material.
At the top of Desroches’ mailout is a
photo of the candidate, along with the his
name in large type. Just below that however,
is the title Councillor Ward 22.
The ward is new, hence it has no councillor
as of yet. The wordage has sparked
outrage among his opponents, including
Robert McKenney.

“He claims to already be the councillor
for Ward 22. I have to say that I am
appalled at the blatant attempt to mislead
the voters of Gloucester-South Nepean, by
falsely stating that he is the incumbent
councillor when this is clearly not the
case,” McKenney said. “This kind of careless
disregard for the truth and disrespect
for the citizens of Ward 22 does not auger
well for a candidate who claimes to put so
much importance on his accountability
plan.”

Part of the problem, say critics, is that
Ward 22 is the fastest growing ward in the
city. Residents are constantly moving in,
some from outside the city, and they might
not know that there is no current councillor
for the ward.

However, Desroches’ campaign manager,
Steve Blais, dismisses the criticism,
saying the campaign literature merely
indicates the position Desroches is seeking,
not the one he currently holds.

“It’s standard to indict the position you
are running for,” he said. “I think this is
more about mud slinging and going negative
on Steve, who the other candidates
probably perceive as the frontrunner.”

Shane Kennedy administers the election
on behalf of the city. He said freedom of
speech allows candidates to write virtually
whatever they feel like on their material,
including the claim of incumbency.

“It’s up to the electorate to inform themselves
and base their decision on how candidates
conduct themselves.”

Steve and Steve-The ultimate duo for Ward 22.....a perfect couple; if you'll recall the one Steve is connected to another of our favorites, Temp Coun. Bob MONETTE.
Residents of Ward 22 should ask themselves if they are comfortable with this standard for their representation at the council table. Wonder who else is working for Steve, the candidate that is....a Liberal orgy in the cities South end.

We Have The Flyer

Steve DESROCHES is starting to be our least favorite candidate in this current municipal election.

His recent flyer which states 'Councillor' under his huge name and smily portrait, leads us to believe that this guy and his campaign team are willing to play dirty in the mud....something that we believe is not acceptable at the municipal level.

If you want the flyer, drop us a line at our e-mail contact.

By the way Steve, us and the ten or so people that read this site are still awaiting a response.

Awaiting A Response

From: Common Sense
To: steve@stevedesroches.ca, ddrans1535@rogers.com, eric@electericlamoureux.ca, robert@mckenney.ca, info@tanyathompson.com
Date: Aug 3, 2006 12:31 PM
Subject: Ward 22 Brochures

Hello to all,

We are continuing to follow the developing story in Ward 22 regarding a candidates brochure and the implication contained within it that they are the current ward councillor. Kindly respond as to what your campaign's position is towards this incident. Your response will be posted on the website, listed below.

-- The Hall Monitor Team
www.thehallmonitor.blogspot.com
"Keeping An Eye On The Corridors Of Ottawa City Hall"


Response 1) Robert L. McKenney

From: Robert L. McKenney
To: Common Sense
Date: Aug 3, 2006 2:04 PM
Subject: RE: Ward 22 Brochures

I have recently received a new piece of campaign literature from Steve Desroches, my distinguished opponent in the Ward 22 Council race. I have two serious concerns arising from this flyer.

Firstly, at the top of his flyer, he claims to already be the Councillor for Ward 22. I have to say that I am appalled at the blatant attempt to mislead the voters of Gloucester-South Nepean, by falsely stating that he is the incumbent Councillor when this is clearly not the case. Although this is not technically a legal violation, it certainly is an ethical one.

This kind of careless disregard for the truth and disrespect for the citizens of Ward 22 does not auger well for a candidate who claims puts so much importance on his accountability plan. If he is willing to play fast and loose with the truth on this, how can the voters in ward 22 trust him to fairly represent their best interests with bigger issues at city hall?

The second concern arising from Mr. Desroches’ flyer is that he leaves the impression that he is only concerned with the issues in his neighbourhood of Riverside South. His flyer is titled “Riverside South Update” and the headline on the back page says “Putting Our Community First”.

I would like to remind Mr. Desroches that Ward 22 encompasses many communities, like Chapman Mills, Davidson Heights, Findlay Creek, Gloucester Glen, Havenlea, Hearts Desire, Honey Gables, Leitrim, Stonebridge and Riverside South. Furthermore, a Councillor in the City of Ottawa needs to look at the needs and concerns of citizens from one end of this city to the other, not just their own ward or the neighbourhood where they live.

In contrast through my AAA approach to Government – Affordable, Accessible, Accountable – I pledge to be a strong voice for our community, representing the views and concerns of the residents of Ward 22 while working for a better City of Ottawa.

Response 2) Eric Lamoureux

From: er.lamoureux@sympatico.ca
To: Common Sense
Date: Aug 3, 2006 3:24 PM
Subject: Re: Ward 22 Brochures

Memo to Hall Monitor:

Team Lamoureux Position:

This is not the first time Mr. Desroches ethics have come into question. I am very disappointed that Mr. Desroches feels he has already won this race. His most recent flyer states that he is the City Councillor for Ward 22, as opposed to a candidate within the race. In my opinion, this is crossing an ethical line that voters simply can't tolerate. Clearly we need tighter rules to ensure candidates do not cross such a line and imply false facts. It is unfortunate that such rules need to be in place, but if a candidate can’t abide by basic moral standards relating to campaign conduct, then the City must ensure that stricter guidelines are in place.”

During the last week of July, Steve Desroches, a candidate for ward 22, released a brochure that failed to indicate that he was in fact a candidate in the upcoming municipal election, and instead titled himself Councillor. Currently there are no rules stating that a candidate must place the words “vote”, “elect, or “for councillor” on all of their campaign materials, Eric believes there should be. Mr. Desroches has run a campaign platform based on accountability, releasing four points that he says will bring accountability to City Hall. Unfortunately, this recent activity has put a serious blemish on that campaign promise. The rule I suggest is a very basic one, but without it, candidates can negatively impact the fairness of a race.

It has surprised me how many people have contacted me with concerns over this flyer. Many have expressed outrage that he would make the suggestion that he is the councillor. People have really taken offence to the suggestion that my opponent assumes that he can hold public office without facing the electorate. I suppose come November the electorate will have a chance to voice their opinion of Mr. Desroches conduct. From day one, I have been dedicated to running an open and honest campaign, one of action and not empty promises. I am committed to ensure that the voices of Gloucester-South Nepean are heard at City Hall. Through my work as a Legislative Assistant to a Conservative Member of Parliament, I am well aware of the moral and ethical boundaries that politicians must abide by.

Embarrassing

Today is most certainly one of the most embarrassing days in modern day post amalgamation Ottawa city politics.

Between Rick CHIARELLI blaming Canada Post for his publicly funded magnet drop to A-Channel interviewing one of Temp. Councillor Bob MONETTE's assistants for a story on flooding in the East end, today Ottawa residents were privy to the way politics is played in this big city-dirty-.

The Self Proclaimed Councillor of Ward 22

Is candidate Steve DESROCHES trying to pull a fast one over his electorate?

We've learnt that DESROCHES' new campaign brochure heavily implies that he is the current councillor of Ward 22 ( maybe in a make believe world, since this is one of the cities NEW wards). This type of slimy political exploitation can mean only one thing; his campaign advisor has alot more time to focus on screwing over only one ward in the city after being let go from Mayor Bob's team.

We are disgusted with this attempt to manipulate the very people that he seeks to represent. DESROCHES, who claims to be "Putting Our Community First" is clearly only interested in one person.....himself.

Chiarelli Is Full of It

Rick CHIARELLI's political misstep in sending out magnets to residents of a ward he is currently not the representative of shows his complete lack of experience in campaigning.

Furthermore, his excuse that Canada Post screwed up and sent them by mistake is complete and utter B.S. Rick, you knew what you were doing and it back fired....step up to the plate and show some leadership. Another example as to why a significant majority of current councillors need to be forced into a career change this year.