Yes, Most Certainly In My Name

The City of Ottawa may yet become divested of the services of its current semi-disgraced Mayor Larry O'Brien currently undergoing trial for a rather clumsy attempt at influence-peddling to get another candidate to stand down in the run for public office for the mayoral chair. He will not be missed. He may have been a successful businessman, but as a mayor, even one on a learning curve, his sharp business practices did not translate well to public office. His bluster and overbearing confidence led the electorate to mistrust him and with good reason.

He was elected primarily on the strength of his promise to the voters of the city that he would keep property taxes down. He would deliver the same strength of municipal services to which we had become accustomed and expected to continue, but he would do it on the basis of trimming costs, cutting back on unneeded personnel, enhancing efficiencies, ensuring that streamlining municipal processes would proceed apace.

And then discovered that rhetoric is no replacement for practical realities.

He made an absolute hash of public transit upgrades, leaving the city without its anticipated entry to the world of high-speed or underground transit. And he reigned over a council that bickered among themselves constantly, unable to reach consensus on meaningful municipal decision-making. Taxes were increased, as they were required to do, with a municipality falling deeper into the red whether through mismanagement or redundancies, and municipal staff were let go.

It's time this capital city had a more responsible, responsive municipal governing body under the direction of a competent mayor. Councillor Alex Cullen appears as a real possibility, one of a handful of good councillors who have the best interests of the city and its denizens in mind. He has recently raised the possibility of a poverty-reduction strategy into which could be introduced a 'living-wage' policy whereby no city worker would earn less than $13.25 an hour, whether working part-time, on contract or as a summer student.

The minimum provincial wage of $9.50 an hour can hardly be called a living wage. Mr. Cullen has announced his intention to run for mayor in 2010, and on the basis of his devotion to alleviating the plight of the working poor in the city, he would have my vote. His opinion is that is the city's responsibility to ensure that those who work for the municipality and those who work for contractors on behalf of the city should earn a living wage. He's right, and they should.

And I am prepared to pay higher property taxes to ensure that this becomes a reality.