Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a race. And it should be a dandy.
It's time for a change. That theme carried Barack Obama to the White House and Mike Savage is hoping it will propel him to Halifax's mayoralty. Savage made his candidacy official yesterday, making him the fifth candidate so far to challenge incumbent Peter Kelly. He's now the anti-Kelly camp's big hope to unseat the three-term mayor. Savage told the huge crowd of supporters that turned out for his announcement that "we must do better than a mayor who governs in private and communicates in talking points. We need a mayor of clarity and conviction." Savage's name recognition and political experience make him perhaps the most credible challenger Kelly has faced in any election. And with a dump-Kelly movement active this campaign, we could very well have ourselves a new mayor when the votes are counted October 20th.
Some familiar names were on hand for Savage's announcement yesterday. Nancy Regan, the former tv host and daughter of ex-premier Gerry Regan introduced former federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough to the stage yesterday where she introduced Savage to several hundred cheering supporters. Sheila Fougere was also on hand to back Savage despite the fact Tom Martin's also a mayoralty candidate. He ran Fougere's unsuccessful campaign to oust Kelly in the last municipal election. Former Tory cabinet minister Tim Olive, NS Homebuilders Association president Paul Pettipas and developer Jim Spatz were among the crowd of Savage supporters as well. Spatz was a contributor to Peter Kelly's campaign in 2008.
Mayor Kelly has yet to officially declare his candidacy, though he's indicated on several occasions it is his intention to seek a fourth term. Kelly has no plans for an announcement soon. He says with the transit strike on and budget deliberations soon, he doesn't want the campaign to take away his focus on the job at hand. Kelly, when he does make his announcement, will have to match the splash of Savage's event yesterday at Alderney Landing, an impressive showing indeed.
And lest we forget, there are 4 other candidates running for the mayor's job in October. Ex-cop Tom Martin was the first to declare. Halifax entrepreneur Fred Connors, taxi driver David Boyd and Dal student Matt Worona have also put their names forward.
City council meets this afternoon and we can thank Councillor David Hendsbee for the session. Late last week the clerk's office announced there'd been no council meeting today because there were no items on the agenda. Hendsbee felt the transit strike alone was reason enough for a session, so he rallied the troops. A majority of councillors agreed with him and forced a reversal of the decision. It's my belief Mayor Kelly, who sits on the executive committee that determines council's weekly agenda, didn't want a council meeting this week, fearing a show of force by the striking bus drivers.
Are big organizational changes coming at city hall? Councillors Hendsbee and Jerry Blumenthal were guests on my News 95.7 afternoon radio show yesterday. Both say they are unaware of reports the city's new CAO Richard Butts is planning significant changes in how business in done at city hall including council meetings only once a month. Stay tuned for possible developments on that front in the coming weeks.
Federal NDP leadership hopeful Thomas Mulcair got himself plenty of Nova Scotia support yesterday. Finance Minister Graham Steele, Culture Minister David Wilson, MLA Brian Skabar and provincial party president David Wallbridge are all in the Mulcair camp for next month's leadership convention. Premier Darrell Dexter however remains on the sidelines. He had backed Robert Chisholm's candidacy until the Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP dropped out of the race. The pundits believe Mulcair and former national party president Brian Topp have the best chance of replacing Jack Layton as party leader.
Have a great day. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
