ISSUE 5 - Mayoral shenanigans abound
Welcome to another issue of #munipoli Matters, discussing all about municipal elections and the usually unreported stuff in between when it comes to the wild and wacky world of local government.
This week there are a couple of stories related to mayors that I would like to highlight, so here we go:
Eastern Ontario city loses their mayor
Last time I mentioned that the GTA city of Richmond Hill would be needing a new mayor, but now another city in Ontario has had to replace their mayor as well.
First elected in 1997 as a councillor, Brockville Mayor Jason Baker was first elected to the job in 2018 and wasn’t planning to run again in 2022. But due to a technicality in the Municipal Act, Baker had to step down from office as of October 6.
According to this story from the Ottawa Citizen. Baker believed at the time that his recent purchase of a house outside Brockville’s city limits did not disqualify him from holding the mayor’s job because he has an ownership stake in a local business.
Under the Municipal and Municipal Elections Act in Ontario, one of the qualifications to hold office as a mayor or councillor is that you either have to be a resident of the municipality you’re running in, either as a homeowner or a tenant, or you have to be a business owner owning property in the city.
But as the Citizen story revealed, Baker's ownership is through a numbered company which leases the building from the land holding company. According to Brockville’s city manager, “The corporation is the legal owner of the land, and a corporation is not a person. Even though Mr. Baker may (own) all the shares and interest in the business, that is not ownership of the land.”
A subsequent council meeting on October 12 appointed Councillor Mike Kalivas, who has also served since 1997 and is a local restaurant owner, to the position of mayor to complete Baker’s unexpired term until next year’s election.
Kalivas is not expected to run for mayor himself and another council meeting on October 26 will decide how to fill the vacancy he left on council. One suggestion was to look at the 2018 municipal election results to find prior candidates that garnered sizable support from the voters to ascertain if they would be interested in filling the council vacancy.
Whitby deputy mayor caught in ‘hot mic’ moment
Onto other “mayoral” shenanigans, the deputy mayor from Whitby, Ontario was caught referring to one of his colleagues in a rather derogatory manner in a moment when he didn’t realize the microphone was on.
During the Whitby council meeting, Deputy Mayor Chris Leahy was facilitating the conversation when he then referred to Regional Councillor Rhonda Mulcahy as “Big Rhonda”. Suffice it to say, Mulcahy was not impressed at the time or even with the apology Leahy offered afterwards.
Steve Yamada refers to another Durham Regional Councillor from Whitby. Mayor Don Mitchell also issued his own statement, on Facebook:
Local commentators opine of state of Hamilton municipal elections
Go give a listen to Hamilton media personality Laura Babcock’s new Youtube show talking about public affairs and local politics in the city known as “The Hammer”.
In this latest episode, her and two other local Hamilton political activists talk about the mayor’s race and break down the potential candidates in each ward.
Since we’re on the topic of mayors, it seems that Hamilton’s main choices are either incumbent Fred Eisenberger, former MP and former mayor Bob Bratina (who might be looking for a comeback) and former NDP MP David Christopherson (who ran unsuccesfully for Hamilton mayor back in 2003).
Babcock and her guests are adamant that definitive changes are needed on Hamilton City Council next year, while lamenting at the state of the mayor’s race in that there is little to no fresh blood or ideas coming forward.
Deep diving into campaign literature
Here’s another one of my forays outside Canada and into municipal election stuff south of the border.
I’m one of those weird political nerds who likes to collect campaign flyers during writ periods, so I really appreciate this intrinsic Twitter thread deep diving into a candidate’s alleged “progressive” credentials and how things aren’t always what they seem. It’s regarding a local election in Bellevue, just outside the City of Seattle, Washington State.
I applaud the intrinsic detail of this analysis, but I’m not sure how this gets condensed into a five minute conversation at the doors...let alone a 10 minute conversation.
Reading recommendations
Finally, here are some books I’m reading now, two of which are very relevant to the subjects covered in #munipoli Matters.
Both can be ordered online from the University of Toronto Press website. The one on the right focuses on municipal elections that took place in Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Mississauga, London and Winnipeg between the years 2017 and 2018. The one on the left dives into the chaotic 2014 Toronto mayoral race, featuring the last minute switch from the controversial incumbent Rob Ford to his brother Doug, now the Premier of Ontario.
I’m also reading the autobiography of the late John Crosbie, former Newfoundland political icon, federal cabinet minister and Lieutenant Governor who was never at a loss for words. His reflections on his political career are very interesting, in that his views of another icon from his province, Joey Smallwood, are distinctively different from what most people care to publicly admit.
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