Edmonton Election 2013: Update #4

On tonight’s #yegvote Hangout we had special guest Kathleen Smith join us! You’ll probably know her better as KikkiPlanet, her sassy online persona. We talked all about signs, the race in Ward 5, candidates’ use of social media, and Kathleen’s own political ambitions. It was a fun hour – thanks for joining us Kathleen! Check out the video at YouTube or embedded here:

Here’s my latest election news roundup:

• I’ve started curating election-related news using Flipboard. Check out the #yegvote 2013 magazine and let me know if you have any feedback!
• I’m also aggregating election-related events over at ShareEdmonton. If you have an event to add, let me know or use the form.
• There are a lot of little tidbits in this article from the Journal: First week in September marks unofficial start to Edmonton election season.
• Did you catch Karen Leibovici’s Telephone Town Hall tonight? I listened in for a bit. There were concerns about roads, lack of public consultation, public transit safety, and much more. It was interesting that they used the opportunity to capture quick polling information from callers. If you missed it, there’ll be another in early October.
• The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce has surveyed their membership to identify their key issues: Infrastructure, Debt/Fiscal/Taxes, and Regional Cooperation.
• It feels like the big thing to happen this week was signs. We’re seeing a lot more of them popping up around the city. And we’re also hearing more and more about sign theft.
• Jamie Post has announced he is running in Ward 1. Here’s the Journal article about it.
• Ward 11 candidate Max Merrett has dropped out of the race due to personal health issues. Hope you’re ok Max!
• Ward 5 candidate Dan St. Pierre posted an interesting piece today on transparency and expenses. “If I am elected to City Council, and if the current Council has not yet addressed the issue of expense disclosures, I will reach out to and work with my fellow City Councillors to put into place bylaw and policy that makes it mandatory for the Mayor and Councillors to publicly disclose their expenses.” Hey Dan, please make sure that mandatory disclosure happens via the Open Data Catalogue!
• CBC is looking for your feedback. What would you ask the mayoral candidates?
• There’s a couple new responses to The Local Good’s questionnaire: Tish Prouse in Ward 7, Jim Gibbon in Ward 5, and Candas Jane Dorsey in Ward 6.
• Here are some new profiles from Ryan Hastman: Nita Jalkanen in Ward 2, Kyle Brown in Ward 6, and St. Albert City Council candidate Gilles Prefontaine.
• Mustafa Ali launched his campaign in Ward 2 recently. He’s focusing on crime.
• It seems the Edmonton Sun will print just about anything. Here’s a piece by Lorne Gunter: Edmonton does not need another ‘big spending visionary’. I couldn’t help myself and wrote a quick response last night.
• Keep an eye on this student-related website: Your City. Your Vote. Should be launching later this month.
• Here’s another blog post on a topic we’re going to hear much more about during this election – urban sprawl. “Who wants to make Edmonton not only one of the fastest growing cities in Canada, but also one of the SMARTEST growing cities in Canada?”
• Nomination day is just over two weeks away. Check out the latest list of declared candidates here.

Photo by Paul

You can follow Edmonton Election news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegvote and you can see my coverage here.

What have I missed? Let me know!

Disclosure: I’m actively volunteering for Don Iveson’s mayoral campaign.