Municipal Election Breakdown - Regina Ward 1

The series of ward race reviews ends with what was by far the most lively race in 2006, with Louis Browne coming out in front in a nine-candidate free-for-all. This year, only Browne and third-place finisher Shawn Kuster (who finished only 400 votes behind Browne) are left from that field, while Andy Asherbranner has joined the race as well.

Andy Asherbranner - video profile - website

There's lots to like about Asherbranner's campaign in the department of communicating with voters: he's made a concerted effort to respond to questionnaires (and pointed out his opponents' failure to do so), posted plenty of interesting content on his regularly-updated website, and included some noteworthy twists like a "wall of shame" showing areas of Ward 1 in need of repair.

But sadly, Asherbranner doesn't fare nearly as well when it comes to the question of what he's actually communicating. Not only does he start off with a taxes-and-crime boilerplate message (including an unsourced claim to increasing crime rates in the ward) before mentioning services as an afterthought, he's also dedicated a disproportionate amount of his website content to attacks on incumbent Louis Browne. Which would seem to have him nicely positioned to play the role of Andy Schmidt this year - but there's probably a reason why Schmidt fell short last time.

Louis Browne - video profile - website

If you take the time to seek out Browne's brochure (warning: PDF), you'll find some highly worthwhile ideas about environmental sustainability and strengthened municipal democracy to go along with the usual talk about tax and crime.

But unfortunately, Browne's first choice of message is a one-two punch of the current council's "vision statement" and a recitation of the city-wide poll about Council satisfaction. And from that starting point, it's hard not to conclude that the positive ideas are afterthoughts at best compared to his interest in preserving the status quo.

Shawn Kuster - video profile

Kuster's most distinctive idea is a plan to ensure that home renovations don't give rise to property tax increases - which makes for a possibility worth discussing, if perhaps one which could have plenty of unintended consequences. And he too provides at least a balance of other concerns, with interest in establishing a curbside recycling program and working on green space to go with talk of tax and crime.

But again, there's reason for concern that Kuster's campaign is based less on those issues than on an entirely superfluous one (that being a focus on Browne's residence outside the ward).

Endorsement

Needless to say from the above, there's something not to like about each of the candidates. But for those who don't feel like writing in Mark Docherty's name, let's go with the theory that Louis Browne is more likely to be able to work with progressives on council if he sees a shift in that direction.