Here is another reason why votesj.ca rocks, they just posted an exclusive interview with John Ferguson:

I would encourage everyone to visit votesj.ca to find out more. They are working especially hard to bring election information to you!

Do you enjoy walking along Harbour Passage? Looking to give back to your community?

Well, here is your chance. It’s the 2008 Harbour Passage Garden Party!

When is it?

Saturday May 24, 2008 / 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
(Rain date: Sunday, May 25th)

What do you do?

When you show up, you will find the organizers who will place you on a team with other volunteers. There is a lot of work to do including: help tidy, weed, plant, and spread compost and mulch.

It’s a great way to meet people and contribute to making the trail look nice.

Do you have plants to drop donate?

Plant drop off, Friday 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM or Saturday 7:30 AM.

Need more information?

Jane Barry
Phone: 672-8880
sjfoundation@nb.aibn.com

Karen Speight
Phone:694-1253
karen.speight@kinek.com

As you may have noticed in the newspaper this week, there have been several letters to the editor around comments made by Bruce Court at the Ward 4 debate (comment’s that brought cheers from his supporters).

So what were these comments? Court compared the controversial LNG tax deal with the death of 21 people on June 21, 1977 at a Saint John jail. Just watch this CBC archived video for more information. One man, talks about losing his son, who was being held for using a bad credit card. As you can imagine, these comments have left many citizens in the city demanding an apology.

The first letter was from Kevin Goggan, who apologizes for not calling Court out on his comments right away:

Candidate apologizes

As a candidate for Saint John Council in Ward 4, I participated in the Telegraph-Journal sponsored debate at the Latimore Lake Community Centre on April 30. Though taking part in a political meeting, where points are meant to be scored and votes won, there are lines which should not be crossed and I wish to apologize for an omission on my part.

Another candidate compared the recent LNG deal to Saint John’s Great Fire and the Uptown jail fire as our greatest disasters. Though I did not object at the time, I should have. The LNG deal was badly handled but in no way does it compare to the loss of 20 lives in the jail fire, and the heartbreak suffered by their families, friends, loved ones and our community. Money can be replaced, people cannot.

I wish to express in the strongest terms my personal regret to those in our community who still mourn the loss at the jail, and ask for your forgiveness. If you find my apology self serving, my only answer to you is that no election is worth compromise of conscience.

Kevin Goggan
Saint John

Next next day, another letter appeared that called for a full apology from Court:

LNG comparison requires apology

In the reference to your article in May 5 Telegraph-Journal “candidate apologies” I have to somewhat agree with candidate Kevin Goggan that there should be an apology given out.

I feel it should not be him, but instead from want-to-be councillor Bruce Court for statements he made at a ward 4 debate comparing the LNG tax break to the 21 lives that were lost in the fire on June 21, 1977 at the Saint John lockup.

How could this man make such a comparison? The family members lost maybe their father, brother or son in this real tragedy. The city lost money on the LNG deal which can be replaced.

Mr. Court should stand up and retract the statement and sincerely apologize to the family members of fire victims for trying to gain political points.

Also, the standing room crowd who cheered for him after he made this statement should hang their heads low in shame.

Kenneth Kay
Rothesay

The request has been put out there, the question is will Bruce Court apologize?

Last week, I was invited to talk about Politics on Serf City, a local community radio show about politics and culture in Saint John.

The show takes place Thursday nights on CFHM 107.3FM in Saint John (also available streaming online).

Check out their Facebook group, and listen to the interview below:

I just watched this ridiculous video on votesj.ca.

Now, I will admit that this video is old; however, it’s still the same Titus and Court running again in this election. Just think of this come election day, this is what you could potentially look forward to!

Watch it below:

If you are like me, then you were not able to attend the Mayoral Debate on Friday night.

Fear not! Various videos for all of the candidates are now available to watch online!

Check out Open Saint John’s article for the video links.

I would highly encourage everyone to watch the videos even if you are a decided voter.

I found that a few candidates really stood out, especially when speaking about the pension plan!

Last night, I attended the ‘At-Large’ debate. I also took some notes on each candidate as the spoke. Here are my observations:

Albert Vincent

While I didn’t know him before, I know him now. He seems to enjoy mocking our of our democratic system. He was frequently confused, not interested in answering questions, completely incompetent, and he only seems to be running for something to do. This man really does make our entire system look like one big joke.There were too many strange comments to list, but one really weird one was when he started yelling about a liquor tax. Enough said.

Rick Mantle

This slick former radio show host offered little in the way of new ideas or approaches. He seemed to enjoy slamming the current council. He would also randomly insert the words “LNG” into his sentences. CUPE corner seemed to enjoy it; however, most people were looking for more information on what he would to do if elected.

• On assessments, he wants to reduce taxes.
• On water, he is NOT open to looking at all options.
• On consultation, he says it’s important that the public be informed.
• On priorities, he says it’s up to the citizens.
• On yearly performance reviews, he said that he is against an Auditor General.
• On department audits, he says reviews and audits go hand-in-hand.
• On affordable housing, he says it’s not an easy task. He wants to work with other levels of government.
• On big projects, he asked what can we afford to do. He read a statement saying if we do everything, we will have to pay $221 million dollars and the tax rate will go up 14 cents.
• On recreation, he mentioned a previous report. He stressed the need to maintain what we have.
• On city boards, he says that he likes the new committee system.
• On population, he says there isn’t anything uptown. Says there are too many parking lots.
• On the zoo, he made a strange statement about moving the zoo into Rockwood Park.
• On city services, he wants to restore cuts to the fire and police departments.

Anne Marie Mullin

The newspaper made a reference to her making French statements; however, she really only said a few words in French in the beginning and at the end. Her closing remarks were completely read off a sheet of paper, and she never looked up at the crowd while reading it.

• On assessments, she says we need to work hard and was not in favor of cutting services.
• On water, she played to CUPE corner, and yelled out “not for sale”. She is NOT in favor of looking at all options. She also says we need money for treatment plants.
• On consultation, she told us how much she did for North of Union. She also says she went to most of those meetings.
• On priorities, she says accountability and transparency.
• On yearly performance reviews, she says they make employees feel good.
• On department audits, she agrees with the idea when necessary. She says people aren’t aware.
• On affordable housing, she says we need mixed housing. Says the city needs a plan for the North and South.
• On recreation, she made weird comments. She emphasizes recreation for seniors. She says she spoke with a “couple people” and determined that it’s a priority. She says too many people are “watching computers”. She closed by asking the crowd, “what ever happened to that skate park?”.
• On city boards, she says people need to apply. She did and got a position.
• On population, she said that she lives uptown and then she told a story about an ice rink.
• On the zoo, she made a weird statement about how positive it was that the monkey, April, was stolen and made national news.
• On city services, she says there isn’t good enough bus service for Martinon and Lorneville. She also called the new transit building, a “bus farm”.

Chris Titus

Chris was well spoken for most of the answers (mostly because he read nearly everything off sheets of paper); however, he did come off as indifferent to many of the concerns expressed in the questions.

• On assessments, he says that people need a plan, you can’t just say a number for the tax rate.
• On water, he was open to looking at all options.
• On consultation, he says that electing people puts them in a leadership role to make the choices
• On priorities, his number one priority was safe, clean, drinking water.
• On yearly performance reviews, he said that we do it already.
• On department audits, he says yes, on a regular basis.
• On affordable housing, he says we need to keep lobbying for it.
• On big projects, he says the city needs to prioritize what he wants to do, it can’t simply build everything it wants in four years.
• On recreation, he spoke about the need for maintenance to prevent deterioration.
• On city boards, he says the process in place is working
• On population, he stressed the need to bring people into the entire city, not just uptown.
• On the zoo, he suggested going to the outlying communities for funding.
• On city services, he identified transit as his top issue. He talked about the savings from taking cars off the road.

Danny Jardine

Danny spoke well, and he brought forward a lot of new ideas. He stayed away from solely criticizing the previous council, instead focusing on the next four years.

• On assessments, he says taxes need to be reduced. He brought up Halifax as an example of a possible solution for our city.
• On water, he is NOT open to looking at all options.
• On consultation, he says it is one of his key action items. He wants to have more town hall meetings. He says this is very important to him.
• On priorities, he says it’s up to the citizens.
• On yearly performance reviews, he stressed that we need benchmarks.
• On department audits, he says we need the best bang for our buck. He says city works are doing fine; but, the issues are with the management.
• On affordable housing, he says it’s his day job. Says 1103 people need affordable housing. Says that a boom will rise current rates.
• On big projects, he says he wants to ask the public for priorities on projects.
• On recreation, he brought up private public partnerships.
• On city boards, he says we need more diversity. He says groups that apply for funding should have to prove diversity. He also said that the city isn’t acting on reports from boards.
• On population, he says we need to make uptown more vibrant. Says groups like Fusion Saint John are making a difference.
• On the zoo, he says it brings people to the city. He says he needs to consult with the community to make sure it’s a priority.
• On city services, he says his main priority is sidewalks. He says there is a large return on this investment.

Stephen Chase

Stephen did a great job at presenting his ideas to the crowd. He only got better after a certain group in the crowd started yelling from the shadows. He was very consistent in his message to the taxpayers - that he was looking out for them in all decisions.

• On assessments, he proposed the idea of having an Auditor General, to ensure that council is spending the taxpayers money in a proper manner.
• On water, he says that we need to look at all options available. He says that we need to pick the one the best model and ensure that the taxpayers can afford it.
• On consultation, he says he is completely against closed door meetings. He says the first step to resolving the existing issues are to have sessions in the open.
• On priorities, he says that safe, clean drinking water is his main priority.
• On yearly performance reviews, he says he is in favor. He also mentioned that an Auditor General would help ensure that standards are being met and taxpayers money is being spent properly.
• On department audits, he says yes and that he has been consistent on this issue. He says citizens deserve the best value for their dollar.
• On affordable housing, he says we need more affordable housing. He says the Federal government recently made cuts. He says we need to lobby them to start the funding again.
• On big projects, he says people can’t afford more taxes. He says he made a motion on how to deliver city services more effectively.
• On recreation, he says he has two actions. One is to put out a call for proposals from the private sector. Two is to lobby the other levels of government for more funding.
• On city boards, he says these boards need to be citizen represented.
• On population, he says we need more people, making the city more affordable and attractive will help with this.
• On the zoo, he supports the zoo; however, he needs to know where the money is coming from. Suggests by saving money in service delivery, through efficiencies, we can put more towards other things such as the zoo.
• On city services, he says the main priority is road maintenances (potholes and snow removal). He says we need efficient service, need to look at all options, and select the one that citizens want and can afford.

According to the Telegraph-Journal today, Chris Titus was the big winner at last night’s debate; however, I would disagree and say that Stephen Chase was the one candidate who really shined.

Titus had written responses to nearly every question asked. Now you might call that being prepared; but, I would call that not being able to answer questions as they are asked. Sure, I could write down responses ahead of time and make sure that they appeal to everyone; but, these debates are meant to be unscripted. Candidates should speak to the crowd, not simply read a sheet of paper with your head down (Anne-Marie is also guilty of this).

When the times comes and decisions need to be made, I want someone who can communicate clearly as questions are asked. I don’t want a candidate who will go away for a week, write something down, then come back and read it to me without looking in my eyes.

For that reason alone, I believe that Stephen Chase shined at the debate. He did not simply read a piece of paper. He stood up, he looked at the crowd, he answered the questions as they were asked, and he gave good reasonable responses.

Even with CUPE corner (the group of individuals who stand in the dark shadows and “boo” the reasonable candidates) yelling out angry remarks, Stephen stood his ground, and he focused on the issues that really matter to the people in this city - Water, Fiscal Responsibility, and Transparency.

One of the most interesting points in the debate was when Anne-Marie talked of being an “independent” candidate and slammed the need for an Auditor General - an idea brought forward by Stephen Chase. As you can expect, that’s when Stephen commented that the Firefighters, who are endorsing and supporting her campaign, wouldn’t want an Auditor General reviewing their department. It is scary to think that she considers herself to be an independent candidate - the big yellow signs around town say otherwise.

Many of the questions were around recreation, the zoo, affordable housing, etc - are all items that need money to pay for them. The fact is, for every dollar that we can save on service delivery, that money is then available for other areas. Again, Stephen was the only one who argued that we should be looking at all options available when it comes to service delivery. “My agenda has always been about delivering good service,” Chase said. “We have to deliver services as efficiently and effectively as possible.

It makes you wonder when candidates, who are not yet elected, stand up and say they won’t look at all options before spending OUR MONEY. When your looking for a contractor to do work on your house, do you open the phone book, call the first person you see, and immediately hire them? Or do you call and talk to as many contractors as possible, get quotes, ask about their experience, and ask for referrals before selecting the best person. Why should the city not do the same thing for city services?

I want a real independent candidate, I want someone who will look at all options, I want someone who will listen to all viewpoints, I want someone with the leadership and common sense to make it happen, and the person who can do it is Stephen Chase.