Municipal Election Breakdown - Regina Ward 6

Ward 6 has looked like one of the most interesting races for quite some time, as challenger Brenda Mercer got an early start against two-term councillor Wade Murray and has put together a strong campaign in the time since. So what can voters expect from the race?

Brenda Mercer - video profile - website

Mercer boasts one of the more detailed platforms of any candidate for Council, with particular attention paid to better representation, affordable housing, safety and community. Of particular note among this year's crop of council candidates are Mercer's recognition under the "safety" issue that any attempt to deal with crime needs to deal with underlying social issues, as well as her commitment to effective services as a matter of community-building.

So how much profile has Mercer been able to build for that platform? Between a Facebook group featuring 118 supporters and a video profile that's received more views than any other Council candidate other than Chris Szarka and Heather McIntyre, there are plenty of positive signs that she's been able to get her name out into the public. But it remains to be seen whether that will be enough to overcome Murray's advantage as an incumbent (and indeed one who faced a contested defence of his seat in 2006).

Wade Murray - video profile

I've mentioned a few times that several incumbent councillors are running entirely on a platform of "more of the same". But while a few other candidates have tried to run based on the council as a whole rather than standing on their own records, Murray looks to be leading the charge in that direction.

Notably, Murray's video profile is almost devoid of any content other than a vague reference to entrepreneurship and a cookie-cutter "property values and crime" message. Meanwhile, his official candidate bio focuses mostly on implementing studies which have already been carried out and his "cohesive Council" position which I've addressed before.

Endorsement

Not surprisingly in light of the above, ward 6 is probably the first of these breakdowns where I see virtually no difficulty endorsing one candidate over the others. While Murray epitomizes both the insularity and the lack of policy vision of the current council, Mercer offers up clear commitments to improve both the issues being discussed and the type of representation citizens can expect in the process. So the endorsement for ward 6 goes to Brenda Mercer.

A culture of entitlement

The examples of insularity and patronization at City Hall seem to be piling up just in time for Regina's voters to decide as to who they want representing them on Council. Following up on the examples of Wade Murray and Jerry Flegel, we now have Pat Fiacco refusing to participate in any debate other than the $45 breakfast sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce - arguing in the process that he's too busy occupying the mayor's office to justify why he thinks he should be re-elected to the position.

And for an added bonus, Paul Dechene points out an anonymous councillor's suggestion that challengers should be glad to avoid public debates on the premise that they might not know "the details of how municipal government works or even the minutiae of what council's been up to lately". That claim of course runs counter to the reality that it's normally frontrunners with plenty of name recognition who seek to avoid debates so as to prevent anybody else from building a message about them (see Fiacco, Pat above). But more importantly, it also looks to reflect a stunning degree of arrogance and ignorance in the assumption that challengers won't have done their homework as to what's happening in the city before putting their names forward.

So multiple members of the current Council have now effectively suggested that Regina should simply assume they know best, rather than defending any of their actions on the merits. And that should only provide reason to worry that the same attitude of infallibility might be pushing those same councillors to be equally dismissive of the concerns of citizens in general.

On exclusivity

Far too much political commentary seems to be based on the idea of drawing distinctions between the interests of the unwashed masses and their ruling betters. But it isn't often that a candidate goes so far as to campaign on the idea of keeping out any new blood lest it interfere with the club currently in charge.

Which brings us to Wade Murray:

Ward 6 -- In this northeast and central Regina ward, incumbent Coun. Wade Murray is seeking a third term based on his hard work for the community through participation at the ground level and track record at council. He plans to work to implement the many studies undertaken by the city. He noted his goal is to "keep council a cohesive group"...

Needless to say, it seems unlikely that there are more than about 11 people in the city who are more concerned with preserving the chumminess within the departing council than with making sure that the next council listens to their concerns. And if the best argument Murray can muster to try to defend his seat is that he thinks City Hall should be protected from anybody who might have new ideas to offer, then he'd seem to be ripe for replacement.