I thought I would dedicate my 90,000th tweet to some thoughts on the upcoming civic election. Parts of this come from my own personal observations, parts from discussions with thousands of other people, and some from family members and close friends.
I've also tried to balance some sound logic, combined with wisdom.. and a little bit of help (okay, I lied..a lot of help) from reading a most excellent book by the renowned author John Perkins, entitled "Hoodwinked". Hint.. google or bing "hoodwinked john perkins" and perhaps check out some of the various entries and youtube items.
As I write this post, the only one to step up for the Mayor's position has been Kerry Diotte. I personally like the approach Kerry takes, because he has a desire to listen to anyone. Just because you don't live in his riding doesn't seem to matter. He is one of the few people that wants to stand up for doing things better, rather than just pushing things through. Some heckle him for his supposed "lack of participation" in council, but his *logic* is sound. Yes, he didn't like the arena deal. He's not opposed to an arena, just a deal where taxpayers pay literally everything, and get nothing back. Sure, you could argue "but the city as a whole will" and that is very questionable.. Everywhere this type of project has been done, under the type of terms of this project.. has failed. To think we could be the 'universal exception' is insane. And I've heard he wants to re-think the bike lanes. Putting aside the need or not... the WAY they have been done is stupid. And this again points to just how many STUPID things council, administration, and planners have done. Anyway, as a side note.. there is this "but he doesn't do anything, he sits there and tweets all the time". And much of that comes from his assistant, not from him..
In my humble opinion, someone needs to reign in the insanity of stuff happening, because for sure we can't keep doing stupid things that waste money.
As far as Mayor Mandel goes, I doubt he will run again. Term after term has been full of lies after lies and deception combined with misdirection. A lot of people would like to see him charged criminally.
Next in the list would be Don Iveson. He's said he will not run for council again, but will run for Mayor. Don is the cute guy with the pretty wife, the "picture perfect" scenario that people love to believe in. And many think that the folks that back Mandel will pass their financial support to Don.Well... you will probably find (sadly, not until after the election) that a lot of huge corporate support will be behind anyone that was "pro arena" on council, because those corporations have a vested interest in seeing what THEY want done and for the most part.. that means what is good for them, not for you and me. Many have suggested Don will be a bought and paid for Mayor. That's not what I want. Top that off with his statement about the arena deal (paraphrased by me) suggesting that this deal was the best deal "we" could make. And he is right. It is. Except it's for Katz.. not for the city and certainly not for the taxpayers. But don't take my word for it, ask any valid unbiased economics professional and they will all say the same thing. Taxpayers have been screwed. There is also the issue with the airport. Don tweeted a "booyah" comment (around last summer I think) and I responded to him that he shouldn't be so happy because a baby died (likely) as a direct result of the best runway being closed. He had the nerve to respond by cutting ME down and accusing ME of trying to take advantage of the death. Well Don, facts are facts. Council was made aware of this baby's death and your attempt to me me look like the bad guy in it just smacks of your morals. Typical political pondering with words... insult the people.. to hell with the baby... who cares... *Jerk.
Who else will run, I have no clue on. So the next step would be the council side of things.
For the most part, most of those left on council are nothing more than "yes men" for Mandel. I have refereed to them as being "lap dogs" because they seem to come at the beck and call of the Mayor, and play 'fetch the stick with the message I wrote on it that I want you to say for me'.
Kimmie is a joke. She says she asks the "tough questions", and I guess asking what time dinner is served is pretty hard. (joking).. All you need to to is look at council transcripts and see she has been full of the "nudge nudge wink wink" things involving the CFO and City Manager. (side note.. both need to be fired when a new council comes in.. my opinion of course.)
Loken is another joke.. and another proven liar. Look at his election promises from before (I never really paid attention because he is not 'my' person, but the facts are out there) and from my own personal experience in dealing directly with him, he has lied to me. Again, all of that has been posted before. Not that long back, Loken was pissed at me because I was telling the truth. Not something that I had been screaming at him directly for days and days on end. Just the odd statement here and there. Many are aware of the thread, and he was forced to apologize "generically" but he never did apologize to me. Oh no.. The forever classy Mr. Loken decided that he would abuse his position as a council member and "suggest" to the police that I was a threat. And of course the police called to investigate, and harassed me over this. FOIP records from both EPS and the City show this. The cops for the most part (paraphrased again) knew his complaint was 'brain dead' but I got hassled none the less. Whats the matter Dave? You can't take the truth so you abuse the process to get your digs in? What a failure you are as a council member and as a human being. So petty, so pathetic..
There are a few on council who apparently have been 'bribed'.. (a term told to me by a trusted source within the City) with various things. Its been said that one council member was given the Mayors trip to China, in exchange for his arena vote. Circumstantial evidence would appear to imply that, since this council member came out with a huge "why we should" just before the trip..
I am not that totally aware of the others, but I have had much experience with my own council member, which is Caterina. Tony has got to be one of the biggest jokes I've ever seen.The lip service from him and his office is mind boggling to say the least. I've been after him for YEARS to set up an appointment and sit down with a coffee to discuss issues in my ward. I'm still waiting. .. A few years back, the city just showed up and covered over our concrete sidewalk with asphalt with zero warning. A complete waste of money, and I did complain about it. Someone came out and said "look, this will last for years" and I politely told them they were full of shit (again, paraphrased). Naturally, the next year it has started to fall apart and now its pretty much in a worse state than it was before... Anyway, the taxes for asphalt are less than for concrete.. and I've complained to Tony several times. Nothing has ever been done, and he has never once even returned any of my phone calls. So we keep paying more than what we should. And he clearly could care less. Add that in with his swishy-washy stance on the arena... Bottom line, you know what they say about how useful tits on a board are. Yep, that's my Tony. You are just another one of the many that do not deserve to be in the position you are in. I hope you are looking for another job, my friend..
Again.. please.. if you are going to comment on this, and start giving me crap about how out to lunch I am and that I don't have a clue what's going on.. I remind you, I am not a kid... at 59 years old I have been around the block several times, and I have way more life experience under my belt, in situations and conditions that no normal human being should ever have to live through.And I remind you... until you have read "Hoodwinked"... well.. then you just don't know.
Ignorance is bliss. It's your choice on staying that way, or looking for the real truth. Bottom line is, if you don't vote with wisdom, or you don't vote at all... you are part of the problem, not the solution. I simply ask you to open your eyes, and remove the blinders. I will not be upset if your opinion differs from mine, AFTER you see the real truth. And if you don't get that "New and Improved" really means that we changed the product (now its new) and 'improved' means we have cut down on the quality and/or quantity (we make more profits, hence 'improved') .. then you are guilty of being gullible to marketing.
You are the horse. .. Over there is the water .. I could take you there ... only you can decide if you want to drink.
P.s. - arena - maybe it will generate a lot. It probably won't, but that remains to be seen. What is true, is that Katz has been given a gift that will probably exceed in $600 million in personal profits for his own pocket. And for that, you get to have a nice warm fuzzy feeling. That is.. until the projects prove to be false in 20 years down the road, and you get stuck with a major tax hike to pay the outstanding bill. Kinda like pretty much every other arena deal done in North America has turned out. And don't be swayed by all of the 'announcements' of development which never showed their heads... until AFTER the last council meeting. If these projects really had ANY merit of truth, they would have ALL been brought forward a long time ago in order to show their support. Once again, this is nothing more than a slight of hand, preplanned marketing tactic.
Oh.. wait.. just like every other deal as well.. we are the exception to
that.. Right? We must be. Our politicians have promised we will be...
Let's also not forget, the Provincial Government has a huge responsibility here to listen to the people, and to modify the MGA from it's vastly outdated rules... The people need a voice. And they continue to not allow that to happen. I patiently wait for someone to prove me wrong... but I kind of doubt the people will be allowed to speak. I mean after all, we can't let a poor billionaire lose out on 600 million dollars more in profits, can we..
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