What is going on in College Ward?

College Ward is proving to be a microcosm of what is right and wrong with this election.

In College Ward there are four candidates; the incumbent Rick Chiarelli and the challengers Guy Annable, Craig MacAulay and Scott McLarens.

This ward has four distinct categories of candidates.

Scott McLarens is ‘The Rookie’.  I will never say a bad thing about anyone that puts their name forward for election; it takes guts to put your name on a ballot. Scott, with all the best intentions was not prepared and it showed in his debate performances.  I hope that this has ingnited a further fire inside to be a working part of his community.

I call Craig MacAulay ‘The Example’.  The example of why we need more stringent rules and qualifications to be a candidate.  In the debates I have seen, he is disruptive and comes with little in the way of a substantive platform.  His antics take away from the debate that should be taking place.  If you don’t believe me watch the College Ward debate that was aired on Rogers TV.

I give Guy Annable the name of ‘The Excitable’.  Guy can be undisciplined in his presentation, but that comes from the enthusiasm he has in this campaign.  He has presented his ideas about green bins, garbage and using existing rail infrastructure to expand the O-Train (Press Conference Oct 22nd City Hall 11am). He is holding Chiarelli to account for bad decisions (not reading contracts) and more importantly has promised to do what is expected of a Councillor – know what they are voting on.

For the incumbent Rick Chiarelli, I’ll call him ‘The Australian’.  Why?  Because it seems as if in this election he has gone on a walkabout.  He casually strolls through this campaign uninspired looking tired and bored.  Many see this as a walk in the park for the incumbent, but he should be reminded that he was once the newbie councillor who defeated his own goliath back in 1988 for a seat on the old Nepean City Council.  It’s been proven time and time again, history does repeat itself.

“The Rookie”, “The Example”, “The Excitable” and “The Australian” won’t be on the ballot on Monday the 27th, but what the type of candidate they represent will be.

With all due respect to Scott and Craig, the vote comes down to who has worked hardest in this campaign for the vote in College Ward.

Who would you like to have represent you, the “same old same old” going through the motions or someone who is campaigning like they REALLY want your vote?  College Ward, you get to decide.

I invite you to share your ideas by commenting to this post or any post on my blog.  You can also email me directly at robdekkeroc@gmail.com.

I can be found Twitter @robertdekker, on Facebook at http://tiny.cc/n5l97.