The mayoral race in Calgary is getting even more crowded, after Councillor Andre Chabot announced his intentions to run for the city’s top job.
The Ward 10 councillor told News Talk 770’s Danielle Smith the atmosphere at council has become combative.
“I haven’t been overly pleased with the leadership of the city of Calgary,” he said. “I think that things have devolved into more of an adversarial nature and I don’t think it’s productive.”
Chabot said rather than researching ahead of time and taking action from there, motions have been put forward on the fly and it has fallen to administration to research and provide solutions.
He says that has left administration with a workload that is increasingly difficult to manage.
Chabot pointed to the recent delay in approving angle parking in cul-de-sacs as an example of this.
“My staff was working with administration to come up with a solution and they were prepared to come forward with a report in July,” Chabot said. “But then, we debated it on council floor … with all of these highly paid staff in the room, sitting there twiddling their thumbs, waiting for us to make a decision on this before we could move forward on items that were actually on the agenda. Meanwhile the work was already underway.”
READ MORE: Calgary Councillor receives dozens of complaints about parking, asks for change
Chabot also suggested council is taking on too much and needs to narrow their focus.
“We’re taking on a whole bunch of responsibilities that aren’t really within the authority of the municipal government,” he said.
“Listen, I get it. There’s a social need out there. But, let’s hold the government who’s responsible to account and get them to step up to the plate.”
READ MORE: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi announces plans to run for re-election in 2017
In addition to Andre Chabot and Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Calgary businessman Shawn Baldwin and David Lapp have declared their intentions to run for the city’s top seat.
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