Waterloo mayoral debate looms
Posted Oct 14, 2010 03:34:10 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Candidates in the region’s most crowded mayoral race will be featured tonight on 570 News.
The Waterloo mayoral debate will air live at 7 PM as part of a simulcast with Rogers TV.
Incumbent Brenda Halloran has three competitors in this year’s race, including two-term councillor Jan d’Ailly. Retired business executive Dale Ross and former Wilfrid Laurier University professor Franklin Ramsoomair round out the 4-candidate field.
Political science professor Bob Williams with the University of Waterloo believes the compelling nature of mayoral races stems from the fact they are “all or nothing” affairs.
“If the bid falls short, there’s no role, there’s no second place,” Williams explains. “For brand new people, it’s a different story. They run, they lose — no big change in their life.”
That naturally increases the pressure on incumbents and, in the Waterloo example, history tends to work against the incumbent. The city has not returned a mayor to the top elected job since Brian Turnbull, who finished a 9-year run as mayor in 1997. Since then, Waterloo has elected a string of three consecutive one-term leaders. Turnbull and another former Waterloo mayor, Herb Epp, were Halloran’s competitors in 2006 when she was elected to her first term.
“It does mean that Brenda Halloran is fighting history and that may have been a factor in Jan d’Ailly’s decision to run,” admits Williams. “But it’s not something that will necessarily continue as a normal course.”
Williams is also a member of “Waterloo Votes,” a voter support committee in the city.
He says fiscal management and responsibility tend to be recurring themes at all candidates forums as Waterloo tries to improve its financial picture.
For more information on the voter support committee, click HERE.
