Dear New Councillor,
First, congratulations on your new job.  And it is that, a job.  A job for which you interviewed with the people of Ottawa and who have placed in you the trust and belief that you will make every decision with their best interests in mind.
It is important to not just pay this thought lip service but to actually make decisions that always benefit the residents of Ottawa – the voters that pay the taxes that pay for the salaries and services at City Hall.
Maybe you can put a …

I spent the first half of today at City Hall observing the planning and environment committee.  No wonder voters wanted change.  It turned out to be a colossal waste of time as the committee voted to defer their decision until January 2011. 
They basically took up the morning to debate and vote on a new 3 unit row house that will be built in the Old Ottawa South.  It is a contentious issue because many residents who live on the street because the design is too different from the prevailing frontage …

A loyal reader, dave0, and I decided that it would be a good idea for other readers to submit to me policy questions they would like http://blakebatson.ca/ to ask incumbents during the 2010 municipal election.
Many challengers spend a lot of time developing and explaining policies they feel that would improve the way the city works. They post these policies on their websites, put them on their flyers and discuss them at the doors.  But incumbents hardly ever talk new policies.  They “run on their record” and avoid pinning themselves to …

Councillor Georges Bédard admitted in an article in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday that he has no clue on how to fix some of the problems in his ward. In a piece titled Drop-in centre clash no surprise to Bédard, the councillor confesses he has no solution to the growing discord between new residents and social issues that have been a mainstay since Bédard was first elected.
This only highlights my contention that residents need to elect new councillors. Long time councillors like Bédard are not helping the current situation at …

Today, Ken Gray of the Ottawa Citizen asks “Should Larry O’Brien Run For Mayor Again?”
Here is my reply:
Of course I think the Mayor should run again. As I have said many times on my blog, the Mayor has a number of accomplishments under his belt but some need his support and leadership if he hopes they become realities. If he leaves now, he risks his vision and legacy being dismantled by the next council.
Larry O’Brien is not the out of box politician. His record of missteps and …

If Mayor Larry O’Brien does not run for re-election and with Peter Hume having already declared he will not seek the mayor’s chair, the door is wide open for a right wing candidate to enter the race. Of the currently declared mayoral candidates that are considered front runners, Alex Cullen would ideologically represent the left and Jim Watson would represent the centre right. So, who would qualify to run for the right?

Walter Robinson is the leading name being tossed around to represent the right. The …

The proposed wage freeze of all non unionized city employees is more than just opportunistic; it political theatre. The proposal will save the City $1M. It will not entice the unions to accept to freeze their members’ wages and why should it?
What the City is asking is that the lower paid employees burden the bulk of the wage cutbacks. And to what end? Will it lower property taxes? Will it make the government run more efficiently? Will it boost employee morale?
The answer is “no” …

Fair Chance 2010 just held its second seminar this weekend for potential municipal candidates for the October 25, 2010 election. Again, the attendance was good but I still question the calibre of candidates vying for council positions. It’s not that their intentions are bad, but many of them only scratch the surface of what City Hall is all about.
Some of the candidates would be better candidates today had the decided two years ago that they wanted to run for council. That would have given them the time …

This weekend, Fair Chance 2010, the Ottawa group that is trying to help candidates prepare for the 2010 municipal election, held its first training seminar for candidates and would-be-candidates. Some 60 people attended the session. The seminar included presentations and panels by union leaders, former city staff and councillors (former and current). The focus was mainly on what to expect as a candidate and a councillor member should they win.
The collective general description of the group of attendees is that they are interested Ottawa residents who don’t …

The Seniors’ Advisory Committee passed a resolution last June that asked City Hall to look at a way for the City to coordinate how they implement seniors’ policies and programs. Currently, each department sets their own criteria to deal with seniors’ issues and sometimes this leads to different departments working a cross purposes.
As the demographics of the City changes and the aged population growing at the fastest rate of all age groups, it important for the City to be ahead of the curve on this problem instead of waiting …