Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Ben Henderson Don Iveson

daveberta does edmonton city hall.

Yesterday afternoon, I crashed the swearing-in ceremony of the 2007-2010 Edmonton City Council. Here is the documentation.

The crowded hall.

Newly elected Ward 4 City Councillor Ben Henderson is sworn-in.

The first meeting of Edmonton City Council following the swearing-in ceremony.

Newly elected Ward 5 City Councillor Don Iveson in his new digs.

Don Iveson and myself on the temple-like steps of City Hall.

I also took some video footage of Don Iveson’s being sworn-in as one of Ward 5’s City Councillors.

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

edmonton election 2007: the undiscovered country.

It has now been a week after the October 15, 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election and I’ve had a chance to put together some thoughts on this new Council…

New Councillors: Tony Caterina (Ward 3), Ben Henderson (Ward 4), Don Iveson (Ward 5), and Amarjeet Sohi (Ward 6). These new Councillors will definitely shake up the current political structure on City Council.

Returning Councillors: Karen Leibovici and Linda Sloan (Ward 1), Kim Krushell and Ron Hayter (Ward 2), Ed Gibbons (Ward 3), Jane Batty (Ward 4), Bryan Anderson (Ward 5), and Dave Thiele (Ward 6). And of course, don’t forget Mayor Stephen Mandel.

It will be very interesting to watch the new dynamic between members of this City Council.

With Don Iveson defeating Mike Nickel in Ward 5, it looks like new Ward 3 Councillor Tony Caterina is the heir to the now empty right-wing seat on Council. It will be intesting to see if Caterina will take note of Mike Nickel’s missteps and learn that cooperation and collaboration with other Councillors, rather than confrontation, is the only way to accomplish goals on City Council.

With three of four new City Councillors having been elected on progressive forward looking platforms, Don Iveson, Ben Henderson, and Amarjeet Sohi are strong additions to Council and will bring forward some new ideas and fresh perspective in the next three years. They will find allies in Linda Sloan and Dave Thiele, but will also need to cooperate with other Councillors in order to implement some smart change in City Hall.

There are some big issues facing the new Council…

Sustainability and Smartening up Growth

A common theme of many candidates (new and returning) was the need for smarter urban planning. Like I wrote for CBC Edmonton during the election, it’s time this City Council to look outside the box in order to create a plan in order to deal with urban sprawl and growth issues. This includes building up more density in the inner core (smart infill and alternatives such as more Transit-Oriented Development).

Growth issues that this Council need to face is also dealing with the challenges that growth brings to the public transit system. With the expansion of Edmonton’s LRT southwards, it will be critical that the new Council take a serious look at redesigning the current transit route system in order to respond to the needs of Edmontonians – especially those in the far reaching areas of the city. It’s also time for the city to get more aggressive during community consultations in explaining to neighbourhoods the advantages of what Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will being to public transit in Edmonton.

Decades of not properly maintaining our municipal infrastructure have caused major deterioration of Edmonton’s roads and transportation systems (which was partially due to the provincial government downloading services to the municipalities while failing to increase public funding).

As well, affordable housing is a key area that the City of Edmonton will need to step in to create affordable homes for people to live in.

Also, implementing smarter growth strategies and initatives will be the key to delivering more effective and cost-efficient public services in order to improve the quality of life in Edmonton.

Regionalism

Unless the provincial government takes a strong role in creating a regional cooperation and cost-sharing framework, it will be unlikely that the dozens of cities, towns, villages, and counties in the region will come to a decision themselves.

Though it is promising to see that St. Albert’s new Mayor Nolan Crouse is interested in working with the City of Edmonton on regional issues, there still remains a substantial amount of conflict between many of the smaller municipalities (not to mention Edmonton and refinery-rich Strathcona County).

As I’ve written before, public transit is a perfect example of where the Capital City regional municipalities can work together.

Democracy

It’s time for City Council to address some of the key democratic issues in Edmonton civic politics including the ridiculous size of Edmonton’s Wards. Edmonton needs to take a serious look at reforming the Ward system to create smaller, more manageable Wards (perhaps, 12 or 14 Wards). It’s also time for Edmonton to take a look at creating regulations on political donations for election candidates (as a response to the complete lack of any restrictions and regulations on political donations at the municipal level in Edmonton).

It’s also important that City Council position itself to be prepared for the next provincial electoral boundary redistribution to ensure that the growing city doesn’t once again fall victim to the rural Tory powerbase and lose representation in the Alberta Legislature.

There is a lot of potential for this City Council in the next three years and I will be watching with interest…

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

"stylishly disheveled."

heh heh.

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Don Iveson

kerry diotte’s close encounters of the left-kind and other conspiracy theories.

In trying to justify Don Iveson‘s stunning defeat of Mike Nickel in Ward 5 in the Monday, October 15, 2007 municipal elections, Edmonton Sun columnist Kerry Diotte has a new theory.

Instead of giving the much deserved credit to 16,848 Ward 5 voters who cast their ballots for Don Iveson, a strong candidate with a solid platform and very well-organized and dedicated volunteer campaign team, Diotte has declared that Mike Nickel was “short-changed by a vast left-wing conspiracy that was really behind his defeat.

It’s pretty clear that Diotte is short-changing the voters of Ward 5 with his Drudge-style internet conspiracy theories.

And after listening to Nickel’s only election night media comment before kicking the media out of his campaign office, it’s not hard to believe that he rubbed Ward 5 voters in the wrong way:

“At the end of the day, I’m going to go make some money, which I should’ve been doing for three years anyway.”

If there’s a support group for people like Diotte, I suggest he look for one, and invite Mike Nickel too.

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Don Iveson

edmonton election 2007: more on iveson.

From today’s Edmonton Journal…

Iveson’s name recognition campaign planned by skilled volunteers
Gordon Kent, With files from Francois Marchand, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 7:45 am

EDMONTON – The biggest upset in Edmonton ward politics this decade began at a February meeting where Don Iveson and five advisers began to map out his strategy for winning a seat on city council.

Iveson, 28, had never sought public office and was running in Ward 5, where the seats were filled by high-profile incumbents Bryan Anderson and Mike Nickel.

But over the following few months, he and his informal communications team worked out the details about what material to put into the hands of voters, whether lawn signs were needed and the best ways to use the Internet.

Read the rest!

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

election congrats!

Though you wouldn’t know if by reading this blog, Monday, October 15 was a day of Municipal Election Days across Alberta. There are three successful candidates who ran in races in towns and cities across Alberta that I would like to congratulate.

In the Town of Drumheller, Andrew Berdahl was elected after placing a strong second in a race for six seats. This is Andrew’s first-term on Drumheller’s Town Council. Andrew is a younger guy and will bring some fresh perspective to Drumheller Town Council. Congrats and Good Luck!

In the City of St. Albert, former Alderman Nolan Crouse did St. Albertans a favour by keeping two-time former Mayor Richard Plain out of the Mayor’s chair. I first met Mayor-elect Crouse last fall while I was part of the team advocating and lobbying for the Universal Bus Pass (U-Pass) for University of Alberta students in St. Albert (Don Iveson was a key player on our team). Though we didn’t agree on everything regarding the program, I respected his common-sense stance (Crouse voted in favour of the U-Pass). Congrats!

In the north western Alberta City of Grande Prairie, Alderman Bill Given was re-elected to City Council by placing a strong first-place in a race for eight seats. Bill is one of the few Municipal representatives in Alberta to reach out in to the world of blogging and online communications. Congrats!

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Don Iveson

edmonton election 2007: don iveson’s victory in ward 5!

As many of you who came out to the Blackdog to celebrate Don Iveson‘s campaign and victory in Ward 5 will attest, it was a rocking party. Now some of it is preserved on YouTube…

Don Iveson gives an interview following his election…

Don Iveson’s victory speech…

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

edmonton election 2007: the morning after.

I am a little sore after a night of celebrating Don Iveson‘s victory in Ward 5, but I would like to congratulate all the candidates and their campaign teams for their hard work.

Here are some thoughts on last night’s results

Mayor: Stephen Mandel received a much lesser than expected second mandate of 65% (compared to predictions of 80%), leaving last-minute candidate Don Koziak and his Core Values with the 25% anti-Mandel vote. Also, marijuana enthusiast Dave Dowling actually placed third…

Ward 1 – Councillors Linda Sloan and Karen Leibovici road the easy train to victory last night placing +8,000 votes ahead of challenger Andrew Knack.

Ward 2Kim Krushell and Ron Hayter were also easily re-elected (Hayter for his 11th term).

Ward 3 – With the retirement of Councillor Janice Melnychuk, both conservative Tony Caterina and progressive Harvey Voogd fought hard for the Ward 3 seat. Caterina prevailed. Ed Gibbons was re-elected.

Ward 4 – In a very close three-way race, Jane Batty, Ben Henderson, and Lewis Cardinal duked it out in this hot Ward race. Batty placed first with Henderson and Cardinal placing incredibly close to each other in second and third place. Ward 4 will now be represented by Jane Batty and Ben Henderson.

Ward 5 – The story of the night was in Ward 5, where my friend and candidate of choice Don Iveson pwned incumbent-Councillor Mike Nickel.

Don and his team campaigned hard using solid traditional campaigning techniques with a mix of online communication tools (such as a solid website, blogs, Google ads, and YouTube videos) and presented a solid platform (using full-sentences, rather than vague bullet points).

Having knocked on many doors for Don in Ward 5 over the summer and fall, it wasn’t hard to sense an appetite for change.

Don Iveson’s election in Ward 5 proved that incumbency isn’t the all protecting shield that some pundits, such as Jim Lightbody, would preach.

Don also placed not too far behind incumbent-Councillor Bryan Anderson.

Needless to say, I am very proud of my new representation on Edmonton City Council!

I was also live-blogging from the Don Iveson victory party.

Ward 6 – The dogfight between Amarjeet Sohi and Chinwe Okelu ended in a tight victory for Mr. Sohi! Both were strong candidates and I think Ward 6 will do well with Sohi as their Councillor. Incumbent Dave Thiele was also re-elected.

Turnout – Was low.

Next Post: What does this means for Edmonton, City Council, and the future?

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

ward 5 councillor don iveson.

I am very very proud to announce that my good friend Don Iveson is the new City Councillor for Ward 5. Smart Growth. Efficiency. Environmental Responsibility. Vibrant Communities.

Ward 5 have elected a good candidate today.

COUNCILLOR – WARD 5 44 / 44 Polls Reported
Candidate Name # of Votes % of Votes
Bryan Kent Anderson 17867 33.76%
Don Iveson 16848 31.84%
Mike Nickel 14597 27.58%
Brent Michalyk 3610 6.82%

Congrats to Don. Congrats to the campaign team and volunteers, and congrats to Ward 5 for making a great choice!

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Don Iveson

edmonton election 2007: ward 5 showdown/live at the underdog/election results party.

I’m live from the Don Iveson Campaign Party at the Underdog on Whyte Avenue!

8:15 p.m. – The Underdog is filled with Don Iveson supporters. A photographer from the Edmonton Journal is taking picture of me live-blogging as I write.

8:17 p.m. – The Edmonton Journal has a story with me taking on U of A Political Science Professor Jim Lightbody on incumbency re-election.

8:25 p.m. – Live results will soon be posted at Edmonton Election. U of A Students’ Union President Michael Janz is arguing about provincial lobbying with fellow students.

8:29 pm – First results rolling in: Ward 5: Don is in second place with 5 polls reporting…

COUNCILLOR – WARD 5 5 / 44 Polls Reported
Candidate Name # of Votes % of Votes
Bryan Kent Anderson 1264 33.19%
Don Iveson 1192 31.30%
Mike Nickel 1103 28.97%
Brent Michalyk 249 6.54%

There is cautious optimisim in the room as the mood is excited!

8:42 pm – After some computer difficulties, the Underdog is rocking as 17 polls are released in Ward 5:

COUNCILLOR – WARD 5 17 / 44 Polls Reported
Candidate Name # of Votes % of Votes
Bryan Kent Anderson 6540 33.61%
Don Iveson 6487 33.33%
Mike Nickel 5090 26.15%
Brent Michalyk 1344 6.91%

Don Iveson is in a solid second. Still a lot of polls to come in, but volunteers are pumped!

8:44 pm = Beers are flowing as the excitement fills the room. Cautious optimism, but major excitement. The room is now packed. Don Iveson and his wife Sarah Chan are milling with the campaign volunteers in the room.

8:45 pm – DON IVESON IS IN FIRST IN WARD 5!

COUNCILLOR – WARD 5 23 / 44 Polls Reported
Candidate Name # of Votes % of Votes
Don Iveson 9007 33.78%
Bryan Kent Anderson 8940 33.53%
Mike Nickel 6859 25.72%
Brent Michalyk 1860 6.98%

Half the polls reporting! The room continues to bounce. I’m taking another drink! Reporters cameras are going off in every direction. Half of the polls to come in, but this is exciting!

Mandel is cleaning house in the Mayors race. Eugene Plawiuk is here joining the fun!

8:51pm – Tight races in Ward 3, 4, and 6. Still tight in Ward 5, but there is something going on here. The room is now packed. A young excited crowd is filling the room.

8:53 pm – 29 polls reporting in Ward 5!

COUNCILLOR – WARD 5 29 / 44 Polls Reported
Candidate Name # of Votes % of Votes
Bryan Kent Anderson 11716 33.55%
Don Iveson 11563 33.11%
Mike Nickel 9238 26.46%
Brent Michalyk 2402 6.88%

Don is now in second to Anderson and Nickel is still trailing in Ward 5!

8:55 pm – Tight race between Chinwe Okelu, Chuck McKenna, and Amarjeet Sohi in Ward 6. Jane Batty, Ben Henderson, and Lewis Cardinal tight in Ward 4.

My good friend Anonymotron is talking on the phone with the wife next to me about Tony Caterina‘s strong placing in Ward 3.

Still close in Ward 5. The tension in the room is unbearable!

9:01pm – Campaign Manager Chris Henderson, Deputy CM Leanne Brown, and U of A SU VP External Steven Dollansky are closely watching the results. It’s exciting, but still some more polls to come in. It’s very hot in here.

I think Stephen Mandel might win.

Live-blogging is fun.

9:05 pm – It’s been a really long time since the last poll update. The room is booming. I just got another beer. Campaign partiers are crowded around the three or four laptops in the room. thank god for wireless.

9:07pm – The sweat is pouring off the roof of the Underdog. If you’re not busy tonight, come on down to the rocking Don Iveson party. Cautious optimism. Cautious optimism.

9:12 pm – New results – 41 out of 44 in Ward 5 – Bryan Anderson and Don Iveson in the lead. Nickel 1200 votes behind Iveson!

COUNCILLOR – WARD 5 41 / 44 Polls Reported
Candidate Name # of Votes % of Votes
Bryan Kent Anderson 16782 33.73%
Don Iveson 15821 31.80%
Mike Nickel 13773 27.68%
Brent Michalyk 3380 6.79%

The house is errupting. But still 3 polls left. It’s almost done! Can three polls make a big enough of a difference? We shall see. Reporters are crowding in the room. My good friend Don Iveson is doing very well. It’s up to those three last polls!!!

9:16 pm – I just spoke with a campaign volunteer from the Ben Hendsonson campaign in Ward 4, it’s a dog fight in Ward 4. Still waiting for the last three polls in Ward 5!

9:17pm – Councillor Bryan Anderson just called to congradulate Don Iveson. We’re moving to the Blackdog upstairs!

Liberal Leader Kevin Taft has joined the party! So has Tory candidate Raj Sherman!

9:23 pm – Where are those three polls!?!?!?

9:29 DON DON DON DON DON DONDONDONDONDON! It’s DONE Ward 5 has demanded better than their Nickel’s worth! Don Iveson is elected!

COUNCILLOR – WARD 5 44 / 44 Polls Reported
Candidate Name # of Votes % of Votes
Bryan Kent Anderson 17867 33.76%
Don Iveson 16848 31.84%
Mike Nickel 14597 27.58%
Brent Michalyk 3610 6.82%

Don Iveson has been elected. Brilliant. Congrats to all for their hard work.

I’m getting another beer.

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Don Iveson

live from don iveson hq.

Volunteers are pouring in and out of Don Iveson‘s campaign headquarters in Edmonton’s Ward 5.

Phones are ringing off the hook. The website is buzzing. Campaign volunteers are working hard to get the vote out. With an episode of the West Wing playing in the background, the Edmonton Journal has released a new story about voter turnout in Ward 5:

The biggest voter turnout today has been in Ward 5, where two incumbent councillors, Bryan Anderson and Mike Nickel, are facing a challenge from 28-year-old Don Iveson and one other candidate. Ward 5, in southwest Edmonton, traditionally has a high voter turnout; its population tends to be higher income and better educated.

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Don Iveson

where to find the results.

Once the polls close at 8:00 p.m. tonight, updated results can be found at Elections Edmonton and CBC Edmonton.

And of course, I will be providing live commentary from the Don Iveson for Ward 5 Election Night Party at The Underdog.

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Don Iveson

vote today and vote for don iveson in ward 5!

Today is Election Day in Edmonton and it’s important that you get out and vote!

See my previous post for more information on what you need to do in order to and where you need to go to vote!

Also, I encourage voters in Ward 5 to join me in supporting Don Iveson to become one of Ward 5’s two City Councillors.

Don’s ideas for Edmonton and Ward 5 will bring a much needed new perspective to Edmonton’s City Council.

Don has run a substance-based campaign focused around the three principles of Efficiency, Environmental Responsibility, and Vibrant Communities – and more on his campaign website.

Don has also released a number of YouTube videos focusing on Smarter Urban Planning, Public Transit, Affordable Housing, and Community Consultation.

Edmonton’s Jam Union has also released a great podcast interview with Don.

As mentioned previously, I will be live-blogging commentary and election results from the Don Iveson campaign party at the Underdog on Whyte Avenue after the polls close at 8:00 p.m.

UPDATE: I’ve voted!

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

get out and vote tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Edmonton’s Municipal Election, so remember to get out and vote!

To vote, you must:
* be at least 18 years old,
* be a Canadian citizen,
* be a resident in Alberta for the six consecutive months immediately preceding election day (as of April 16, 2007)
* be a resident of Edmonton on election day,
* not have voted previously in this election

Voting stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

DON’T FORGET – all voters must present identification at the polls. The ID, such as an Alberta Driver’s Licence, Alberta Health Care Card or a Canadian passport, must confirm your age and identity.

To find out where to vote, click here.

For more information on the election, click here.

To read profiles of the Mayoral and Ward elections, see below.

Edmonton Election 2007: Race Profiles
The Non-Race for Mayor
Ward 1
The Race in Ward 2
A Race in Ward 3
Something about Ward 4
Choice in Ward 5
Wrath of Ward 6

Categories
2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

election night live-blogging.

Tomorrow is Election Day in Edmonton and I will be live-blogging tomorrow night after the polls close at 8:00 p.m. from the Don Iveson for Ward 5 campaign party at the Underdog on Whyte Avenue (on the extreme northern boundary of Ward 5).

Election results, blogging, and beer. A solid election night combination.