At least until someone else declares. Even then, there's no local politician I could think of who would be a better candidate. Alex Munter? Jan Harder? Alex Cullen? Ugh, please. So, yeah, for now, I'm pleased that Mr. Watson has thrown his hat in the ring.
Anyway, Jim Watson would likely be the best mayor Ottawa has had since... well... Jim Watson.
Okay, not much more to say on that front, but I think I will take this opportunity to reflect on the tenure of our current mayor, Larry O'Brien.
First off, Mr. O'Brien was an embarrassment; not a Mel Lastman or Kwame Kilpatrick embarrassment, but an embarrasment nonetheless. Insutling the homeless, standing trial for corruption - that's not what you want in a spokesman for your city.
Despite all that, I do not regret voting for Mr. O'Brien. There are two main reasons for this: 1) Bob Chiarelli; 2) Alex Munter. These were my choices. Despite all the problems with Mayor O'Brien, I am still confident that extending the Chiarelli administration or created a Munter dynasty would have been far worse. Further, it seems to me that there is little to chance of Mr. O'Brien winning another term. So, as embarrassing as he was, it was just a stop gap measure. We've gotten past the Chiarelli era, and Mr. O'Brien will hopefully be a bridge to a new, better era (whether that be under Mr. Watson or not).
Of course, if Mr. O'Brien does win another term, I may start regretting my decision.three years ago.
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If the goal is financial discipline, the debt ceiling is not a viable
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I think the key here is that we have a number of choices. I think that Watson provides some familiarily as he's held the position before, but thats not to say he will be a great mayor. I can fully understand your support for O'Brien at the time, but I don't know if I'd support him now given the current mess at city hall.
ReplyDeleteCrazySam,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I support his candidacy right now, but that may change as the race heats up.
If I could ask for a clarification, you write, "I can fully understand your support O'Brien at the time, but I don't know if I'd support him now given the current mess at city hall." Are you saying that you can't support him right now, or that, knowing what you know now, you couldn't imagine supporting him then?
I should perhaps be clearer. I look forward to Mr. O'Brien no longer being our mayor. I just think things would have been worse with Chiarelli or Munter (or Kilrea)... though that's not a huge endorsement of O'Brien's reign.