Rhetoric, rivalry both on the rise
Candidate wants council to get it right on airport, arena, LRT
The rhetoric is building and the rivalries are intensifying as the Oct. 21 municipal election draws closer.
One hundred and nineteen people are vying for city council and school board seats across Edmonton, the most since 1971.
Mayoral hopeful Karen Leibovici took swings Thursday at candidates Kerry Diotte, whom she called “a naysayer,” and Don Iveson, whose big vision she suggests is unaffordable, in a speech to supporters. She also called on the province to make municipal infrastructure grants permanent.
The standout candidates in the Ward 1 race are Bryan Sandilands and Andrew Knack, two people with similar positive visions to build Edmonton. But while Knack’s name is far more known in the neighbourhoods of this west-end riding, Sandilands has more experience. Most importantly, he is most likely to provide crucial input on Edmonton’s LRT, airport redevelopment and arena projects.
The Ward 1 field has a spectrum of candidates, representing numerous viewpoints. Six candidates are running, including: Sean Amato, 27, a CFRN-TV cameraman and reporter who wants to see the West LRT built before the Mill Woods LRT; Rob Pasay, 37, a computer and technology specialist who thinks it’s important to fix up our current neighbourhoods before we allow more sprawling suburbs; Jamie Post, 31, a socially progressive candidate who is also against sprawl; and Sharon Maclise, a longtime Edmonton real estate agent and community volunteer who ran for the Wildrose Party in the 2008 provincial election. Maclise, 63, entered this race because she wanted a plebiscite, not a city council vote, to decide the fate of the closing City Centre Airport, and also because she’s against the downtown arena deal.
The handling of the airport closure is a live issue with voters, Maclise says. “It is just festering with people.”
Knack, 29, is younger than Sandilands, 41, but he has a good mix of business and community experience. He’s a University of Alberta commerce grad who has managed the Bose store at West Edmonton Mall for the past six years. “You deal in customer service and that’s what this (city councillor) job is a lot of time, basic follow up. Someone comes to you and says, ‘I have a problem in my back alley where it’s not being paved.’ … So you need to try to find a resolution. That’s basic customer service skills.”
Knack first ran for council at age 23. He then got involved in the Meadowlark community league, becoming president 18 months ago. With that job, he worked on the West LRT consultation process. He says he will push to see the West LRT built at the same time as the Mill Woods LRT.
He announced early on that he’d run in this campaign against incumbent Linda Sloan. He got early backing from Edmonton’s business community. Such was his momentum, he looked like he might beat Sloan, but she decided to retire from council this summer.
Sandilands understands Knack is the front-runner. He rightly sees Knack as a gentleman and a terrific campaigner. But Sandilands, a health economist, believes his greater experience makes him the better choice.
As a young man, he worked as everything from the manager of Earl’s Tin Palace to a social worker. He has a masters of economics from the London School of Economics and was president of the Edmonton Social Planning Council. He recently chaired the provincial and territorial blood liaison committee that oversees the blood donation system. He took a lead in difficult negotiations with the Canadian Blood Services (CBS), holding them below a billion dollars on a major budget. Afterwards, the CBS thought enough of Sandilands to hire him to help bring together a national system for organ and tissue donation.
Mayor Stephen Mandel’s council struck deals on three huge projects: LRT expansion, the redevelopment of the downtown airport and the building of the downtown arena. It’s this new council’s job to push ahead on all three projects, Sandilands says.
“Edmonton needs to be competitive, we need to have things to do, and we need to build on a vision that has been set in council.”
To have the confidence to invest here, business leaders need to know the major city projects are proceeding smartly and competently, he says, but that’s a tough assignment for a council that will have at least six new members.
“This election, Edmontonians need a know-how candidate. ... We have three of the largest projects going on, that have been decided, and we need people who understand the scope of the budgets, who know how to manage projects on budget and on time,” he says.
My bottom line: Knack is solid, but Sandilands’ experience on major projects pushes him to the top.