This is a simple, tongue-and-cheek assessment of the five
Monaghan Ward candidates for the October 27 election to city council in
Peterborough, Ontario. La politica
has also done assessments, posted separately, for Otonabee Ward, Town Ward, Ashburnham Ward, and Northcrest Ward. Each post has the same introductory paragraphs
provided below. So...you can skip those if you are clicking around.
Intro to the
assessments
The ward assessments rely on two scores out of five for a
combined score out of ten. The first score is based on a candidate’s vibe, with
the second score assessing the stuff and things (stuff n’ things) that the
candidate proposes for Peterborough. The vibe scoring is purely subjective, and
the score for stuff n’ things doesn’t necessarily take a stand on issues (i.e.
parkway, taxation), but simply attempts to assess whether the candidate has
material proposals, or is campaigning on vague promises and areas of interest.
The total score out of ten does not provide a breakdown of
the category scores out of five, because stuff n’ things can have vibe, too,
and some vibe is so off the charts it might even be called a vibe economy, with
material effects on stuff n’ things.
You are confused, but not for long. At the end of the Ward
summary we provide an assessment of who we think might win, and why. Remember:
you get two votes, as there are two council seats for each ward.
Monaghan Ward
Monaghan Ward (also known as “Ward 2”) is the central west
district of Peterborough. In the 2010 election Henry Clarke walked with 4,077
of the 12,712 votes cast, with over 32% of the electorate favoring him. Local
legend and former mayor Jack Doris took second place with 3,520 votes, almost
28%. However, Doris has announced he is retiring from politics, which leaves
only one incumbent in the race for Monaghan Ward’s two seats. The other
candidates this time are Don Vassiliadis, Jocasta Boone, Jeff Westlake, and
David Edgerton.
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| Monaghan Ward (Ward 2) |
Don Vassiladis
Mr. Vassiliadis’s website includes handy information on the
weather in Peterborough, and pictures of himself with his family. He owns the
Shish-Kabob Hut Greek Restaurant, and is an active, long-time member of the
Peterborough business community, having been involved in numerous organizations
and fundraisers. This is a high vibe, low content candidate: Vassiliadis seems
to be asking us to vote for him based his history in the community, with no
specific ideas or platform. Combined score: 5.5.
Henry Clarke
Mr. Clarke was first elected to council in 1997, and is the
only incumbent in Monaghan Ward now that Jack Doris is not running for
re-election. Soft spoken and competent, he has served a total of 13 years, and
prides himself on his accountability to his local constituents. Given his
tenure, it is perhaps no surprise he scores well in stuff n’ things such as
physician recruitment, tax breaks for low-income seniors, the urban forestry
initiative, and the elimination of cosmetic pesticides use. He also claims
bragging rights for “large print street signs”. Yes.
Mr. Clarke is low vibe, but they are good vibes. And he gets
stuff n’ things done, so he scores a surprisingly high 7.5 on the combined
multiple.
Jocasta Boone
Ms. Boone is one of the highest vibe candidates going. Her website has a distinct category titled “A
vibrant Peterborough”, which has twelve steps “for a vibrant community.” These
steps are: jobs; fiscal responsibility; taxation; strong neighbourhoods;
infrastructure; a strong downtown; commitment to the environment; diversity;
arts, culture and heritage; community engagement; innovative forward thinking
leadership; and strategic long-term planning.
Ms. Boone is against the parkway. She has her Smart Solutions platform that focusses on:
sports and recreation; growth and development; and economic development. For sports and recreation, Ms. Boone wants to
look into outdoor rinks with refrigeration capabilities (Bill Templeman in
Northcrest is thinking of this, too). But she goes one step further, suggesting
a large multi-use arena complex. On the growth and development side, she notes
that that the management plan and the development plan for the Loggerhead Marsh
south of Parkhill and east of Brealey Drive are misaligned. As well, she believes that the Lily Lake development is poorly thought out – it represents over half of the 60% of new space (i.e. “greenfield”) that is supposed to be allotted for
development (as opposed to the 40% for “densification” of existing development).
For economic development, she envisions turning Peterborough into a “full
service design hub”.
Ms. Boone scores off the charts on vibe, given that she is heavily reliant on aspirational language well-suited to her marketing background. Some stuff n’ things, but in our view she could still up her game here. Combined score: 6.5.
Jeff Westlake
Jeff Westlake has five main priorities: investing in
infrastructure; controlled spending; tax relief; safe streets; and jobs and
growth. He is openly pro-parkway, and thinks that it should be a top priority,
with spending controlled elsewhere in order to pool resources for this $79
million mega-project. He claims to be able to do this while also reducing taxes
on “hard working families”. His other suggestions are almost entirely
vibe-based.
Mr. Westlake is a Conservative, and the former constituency
assistant and campaign manager for Dean Del Mastro, Peterborough’s federal
Member of Parliament. With a fairly heavy vibe, and a minimal but clear
commitment to stuff n’ things, Mr. Westlake has a combined score of 6.
David Edgerton
Mr. Edgerton was a councillor briefly 25 years ago, and has
run in every municipal election since 1985. In the last election he placed
third, with 2,843 votes, or about 22% of the total – not a bad showing. He is a
military buff and a financial consultant with London Life. However, he is low
vibe and light on stuff n’ things. Edgerton will face an uphill battle against
new comers Jocasta Boone, Jeff Westlake, and Don Vassiliadis. Combined score: 5.
Monaghan Ward
Rankings
The Monaghan Ward rankings for the combined vibe and stuff
n’ things score are, in descending order:
Henry Clarke: 7.5
Jocasta Boone: 6.5
Jeff Westlake: 6
Don Vassiladis: 5.5
David Edgerton: 5
Monaghan Ward
Election Assessment
We expect Henry Clarke to be returned, though there may be
some attrition to Westlake, Vassiladis, and Edgerton. The new councillor will
most likely be Jocasta Boone – there is simply no other candidate in the ward
who competes with her more progressive, high-vibe message, so she will likely
capture the majority of those votes, which will put her over the top.
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