Municipal Election All-Candidates Forum

I am surprised there is no topic for this already…is anyone else watching this live right now.

For the most part, everyone is doing pretty if I had to rank from best to worst so far:

Councillors:
1.) Nelson Kinney
2.) Jennifer Rice
3.) Rob Vallee
4.) Anna Ashley
5.) Christo Holmes
6.) Gina Garon
7.) Joy Thorkelsen
8.) Conrad Lewis
9.) Judy Carlick-Pearson
10.) Gabe McLean
11.) James Kirk
12.) Farley Stewart (for not showing up)

Mayor:
1.) Kathy Bedard
2.) Jack Mussallem
3.) Corinna Morhart (she is in over her head!)

Jack taking shots at Kathy, Corinna and existing council was pretty shitty IMO and not what tonight was about. He is also a shitty speaker…but for Mayor there ain■t much choice…Morhart confirmed for me tonight that she is in over her head and lacks experience to be able to successfully complete this job.

Jennifer Rice and Rob Vallee has TOTALLY got my vote after tonight…these are two perfect examples of people we need on council and I am glad they are leading the local polls.

I understand the reason for it, but one minute really isn’t enough time to answer most of the questions. This will be many people’s only exposure to the candidates and it’s far too hard to properly evaluate a candidate and their ideas when they are cut off mid sentance. My thoughts on this is in the furture have a couple of debates on broad themes such as the economy, spending and taxation, and social issues. This way you can give the candidates more time to talk on each question, and people can show up for the issues that are important to them.

As for the actual debate, if you call it that, I wasn’t really surpirsed by anyone’s performance. The people who I expected to do well did, and those who I expected to bomb did. The only exception was Conrad Lewis. I really liked his answers, and I think he had the best response to the youth entrepreneur question.

I agree that they didn’t have much time to speak. However, it does give a good picture of how well each candidate could: prepare, respond and think on their feet on short notice.

First the Councillor candidates, Imho: Joy, Gina and Anna did well. Nelson played to the crowd a bit too much. He’s been around too long, I think. He’s getting too glib. Seniors face very serious issues and although he mentioned that he was a major supporter, he didn’t offer anything specifically proactive on their behalf; Judy and Jennifer were pleasant surprises, as were Rob and Christo. Farley, if you didn’t give notice, you’ve lost my vote. Jim and Conrad were too nervous. Get over it. You only get one more chance to get your platforms out and win over the public. Gabe, well, was Gabe.

Personally, I am looking for councillors to get along, but more importantly, I want them to put them in there to get things done, not spend time consulting their peeps all the time. I want decision-makers, not group-huggers. Last night’s performances were a good indication to me where I can get my hugs.

Just make sure you get out and vote. If you don’t vote, don’t bitch about Council!

PS Suggestions for the next election:
-have a website or dropbox somewhere central where people can submit their questions ahead of time and the media committee could scrutinize them well ahead of time;
-use a site like the Skeena.org site to give candidates a monitored forum to respond to questions.

Now for the mayoralty candidates:

Corinna offered nothing tangible to show me she could lead what could be a group of intense individuals and focus them on issues. In the case of a voting deadlock, she didn’t show me that she could cast ‘the big bad guy vote’ if needed. What are you bringing to the table for: experience? connections and savvy - political, business, etc? Wynn said it all in his response. Corinna’s over her head as mayor. Start on Council or some of it’s committees first.

Kathy acquitted herself quite well, I thought. But, she still has to convince me that she can be ‘the bad guy vote’ if needed.

Jack disappointed me with his apparent disdain for the questions and overall lack of patience. He wasn’t prepared very well - it seemed to me that he was unfamiliar with his responses, because he had to read them so closely (and poorly, I must add). He’s a much better speaker than that. Poor showing overall, Jack. As for the angry tirade about the 160 municipalities, so what? What do they have to do with Prince Rupert City Council? I expected much more from you.

I was out of town so I missed the play by play , did someone say that Farley did not show-up for the forum ? When and where is the next forum being held ?

I’m going to vote for the lesser of two evils. Jack who we’ve all seen (or not seen) pretty much do nothing, so,…Kathy Bedard your getting my vote, you have 4 years to prove yourself or you’ll be out the door too. Good job at the forum Kathy, that’s the only reason your getting my vote and Jack…you need to earn the seat, it’s not an entitlement.!!

Not sure exactly what Ms. Bedard has accomplished on council over all these years to generate your enthusiasm.

Shouldn’t we consider the full record of all the candidates rather than a few words at a tightly regimented forum?

Have you seen Jack’s red ad in last night’s paper? A desperate act in my opinion - kind of reflects his performance.

As for Farley - he’ll have some excuse - has he done any campaigning?

As for Kathy Bedard from the little bit which I caught on the news , is just another way of selling what she does not have , as in Shaking babies and kissing hands. So for the BIG Seat it is going to be rough trying to see where the vote counts , I sure wish that Scott would of considered . But what do I know …

Just curious…
Doesn’t Kathy live in Port Edward?

[quote=“rupzuk”]Just curious…
Doesn’t Kathy live in Port Edward?[/quote]

At least it’s close. Russell Weins lives and works in the Peace somewhere. He now expects the Board (taxpayers) to pay for him to teleconference the meetings?

I just don’t understand people that don’t live here on a day to day basis wanting to be involved as representatives on council, school board etc.

Other than perhaps being on the tax rolls in some capacity and hoping to shape that, what is the lure?

Someone explain the logic of it all to me please?

[quote=“Smurfette”]I just don’t understand people that don’t live here on a day to day basis wanting to be involved as representatives on council, school board etc.

Other than perhaps being on the tax rolls in some capacity and hoping to shape that, what is the lure?

Someone explain the logic of it all to me please?[/quote]

I cannot explain it, but that being said I think that Jack Mussallem’s “Election Alert”, printed in barely legible red in the local viewpaper, is a bit tacky:

“Jack Mussallem is the only candidate who is a resident, a land owner in our city, and local taxpayer.” We are then urged to re-elect Jack on November 19.

After 3 years as Mayor one would hope that he has a bit more to say about himself. Does he have any vision or plans for the future, or is this all that he has to offer?

[quote=“BTravenn”]

[quote=“Smurfette”]I just don’t understand people that don’t live here on a day to day basis wanting to be involved as representatives on council, school board etc.

Other than perhaps being on the tax rolls in some capacity and hoping to shape that, what is the lure?

Someone explain the logic of it all to me please?[/quote]

I cannot explain it, but that being said I think that Jack Mussallem’s “Election Alert”, printed in barely legible red in the local viewpaper, is a bit tacky:

“Jack Mussallem is the only candidate who is a resident, a land owner in our city, and local taxpayer.” We are then urged to re-elect Jack on November 19.

After 3 years as Mayor one would hope that he has a bit more to say about himself. Does he have any vision or plans for the future, or is this all that he has to offer?[/quote]

LOL, I really should look through that thing from time to time, doesn’t the Mayor own property in the Bulkley valley as well,?

Might come in handy as a parachute I guess.

For the most part I still think that an incumbent is hard to beat unless he completely screws up his or her campaign

With that on the back burner, You know if I was to offer up advice to the Mayor, the best I could come up with is just don’t say anything, it might be your best strategy.

For those of you who missed the All-Candidates Forum:

[quote=“Soggy”]For those of you who missed the All-Candidates Forum:

Thanks for posting this for us, much appreciated.

Hi all,

I’ve uploaded the entire Prince Rupert All Candidates Forum online in HD Quality. The first two parts of that upload have already been posted here, but it is actually in 5 parts.

I have created a page here:

votejenrice.com/all-candidates-video-recordings

Where you can view all 5 parts, including a comprehensive timeline of each part so you can skip to individual candidates without having to watch the entire thing.

For example, in the Part 1 Video, the beginning timeline is:

Opening Speeches

0m, 10 s – Gina Garon
2m, 10s – Judy Carlick-Pearson
4m, 15s – James Kirk
6m, 35s – Rob Vallee
8m, 28s – Corrina Morhart
10m, 38s – Conrad Lewis
13 m, 00s – Joy Thorkelson
15m, 15s – Jennifer Rice
17m, 35s – Kathy Bedard
19m, 50s – Gabe Mclean
22m, 20s – Christo Holmes
24m, 45s – Nelson Kinney
27m, 05s – Anna Ashley

etc

The 5 Parts:

Part 1 – Opening Speeches, CityWest Question
Part 2 – CityWest Responses Continued, Ideas For Moving City Forward Economically, Infrastructure Priorities and Funding Questions
Part 3 – Infrastructure Continued, Youth Entrepreneurship, Crime Rate Questions
Part 4 – Crime Rate Continued, Airport Question & Concluding Statements
Part 5 – Concluding Statements Continued

votejenrice.com/all-candidates-video-recordings -> to view the entire all candidates forum online in HD.

Hi all,

I’ve uploaded the entire Prince Rupert All Candidates Forum Online in HD Quality. The first two parts of that upload have already been posted here, but it is actually in 5 parts.

I have created a page here:

votejenrice.com/all-candidates-video-recordings

Where you can view all 5 parts, including a comprehensive timeline of each part so you can skip to individual candidates without having to watch the entire thing.

For example, in the Part 1 Video, the beginning timeline is:

Opening Speeches

0m, 10 s – Gina Garon
2m, 10s – Judy Carlick-Pearson
4m, 15s – James Kirk
6m, 35s – Rob Vallee
8m, 28s – Corrina Morhart
10m, 38s – Conrad Lewis
13 m, 00s – Joy Thorkelson
15m, 15s – Jennifer Rice

etc…

The 5 Parts:

Part 1 – Opening Speeches, CityWest Question
Part 2 – CityWest Responses Continued, Ideas For Moving City Forward Economically, Infrastructure Priorities and Funding Questions
Part 3 – Infrastructure Continued, Youth Entrepreneurship, Crime Rate Questions
Part 4 – Crime Rate Continued, Airport Question & Concluding Statements
Part 5 – Concluding Statements Continued

votejenrice.com/all-candidates-video-recordings -> to view the entire all candidates forum online in HD.

Hi Lee,

Thanks for recording and uploading the videos. This is awesome. Would you mind if we chopped them up and uploaded them on skeena.org as well? We’ll give you (and Jen’s campaign) full credit, of course.

[quote=“Smurfette”]I just don’t understand people that don’t live here on a day to day basis wanting to be involved as representatives on council, school board etc.

Other than perhaps being on the tax rolls in some capacity and hoping to shape that, what is the lure?

Someone explain the logic of it all to me please?[/quote]

$$$, free trips, perhaps?