The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 27

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN BREAKING NEWS AT OnAWACITIZEN.COM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16. 2010 C3 MUNICIPAL ELECTION 2010 Candidates clamour for ownership of ward Road. He also promised to link Innes ward to the airport through an extension of Hunt Club Road. All four candidates support the east-west light-rail plan through the downtown core and the plan to redevelop Lansdowne Park. To cap tax increases at cost-of-living levels, they support measures that would cut administrative costs at City Hall.

The issue of how to balance growth and development 2 Bloess has represented the area since 1994, when he was first elected to Gloucester council. Before that, he worked for the Blackburn Hamlet Community Association. In the 2006 election, he handily defeated his sole challenger a sharp contrast to 2003, when he narrowly edged out another opponent. This time, Bloess faces two other first-time candidates in addition to Jansa. Furman-cyzk is a retired public servant with a background as a financial analyst He said he's running because ward residents deserve better accountability and fiscal restraint.

Fraser is a public servant, a union representative and a father of two teenagers. He said he wants to bring "common-sense management" to City Hall and give ward residents a greater say on issues that affect them. Bloess indicated he's running again to tackle unfinished business. He pledged to continue work on transit and road improvements to ease traffic congestion, particularly on Highway 174 and Innes Jansa is a 25-year-old occupational health and safety manager at the Canadian Electricity Association. He said he's running for council "to end the years of local residents not being heard." If elected, Jansa promised to create an advisory council of ward residents to ensure the community has a voice before key decisions at City Hall are made.

Throughout the campaign, Jansa and Bloess have traded barbs on the issue of community engagement. The other challengers, Roger Fur-manczyk and Chris Fraser, have also tried to paint Bloess as being out of touch with his constituents. In response, Bloess has accused his opponents themselves of not having a track record of being involved, particularly in public consultations during the city's annual budget-planning process. "I've never seen my opponents come to any of those meetings to talk about budgets and go through it line by line," Bloess charged at the all-candidates meeting. Balancing growth, development during lean times a strong issue in Innes BY PAULINE TAM Three political newcomers are challenging Rainer Bloess, but the sitting councillor for Innes ward has trained most of his attention on only one of his opponents.

At a recent all-candidates meeting near the Blackburn Hamlet Community Centre, which he called his "home turf," Bloess invoked his roots in the ward. He addressed constituents by their first names, talked about coaching soccer and hockey teams in the community and kibitzed about the bike paths along the nearby Greenbelt And in a ward where francophones make up one-third of the population, Bloess, a three-term incumbent since amalgamation, was the only candidate who fielded questions posed to him in French. "I'm part of your communi- how disqualify me from representing the best interests of Innes ward residents is beyond ludicrous, and reeks of contempt for voters," said Jansa. When asked why he chose to run in a ward he doesn't live in, Jansa said in an interview: "A lot of where I do business, shop, play is actually within the Innes ward. My wife and I are looking to move there." Rural ward wary of community development plans 1 i' 1 CXtawa ty," he told the crowd.

"I live in this community. I don't think all the candidates can say the same thing." The remark was a dig at his opponent, Keith Jansa, who lives in Fallingbrook, in neighbouring Orleans ward. Jansa later issued a statement criticizing Bloess for resorting to personal attacks. "To imply, as Mr. Bloess does, that living on the wrong side of a street would some don't want the growth, or at least not the way it's so far been presented to them.

Webster a Richmond resident is especially critical, alleging that Brooks personally helped Mattamy along the road to city approval. (Some of the residents of Richmond are appealing that approval at the Ontario Municipal Board, and Webster helped them out by making a presentation.) At a debate in Richmond, where Webster has been president of the village association, Brooks faced tough questions about his handling of the community development plan and the presence of big developers in Manotick and Richmond. Brooks says managed de Ward J1 INNES Ward 21 during belt-tightening times resonates in the east-side ward, which has succeeded in attracting a number of businesses, restaurants and large retailers to the area in recent years. The ward has about 40,000 residents and encompasses the communities of Blackburn Hamlet, Chapel Hill, Orleans Village, Chateauneuf and Notre Dame des Champs. READ MORE ward profiles on our election site CSBD ELECTI0N2010 KRISTY NEASE, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN ties in Ottawa the ability to deal with small, hyper-local issues by themselves, saving council time and money), and keeping tax increases in check are the key elements of his platform.

He says that, with the exception of emergency services funding, budget increases should only move with inflation, if they have to move at all. Brooks concedes that Webster has been consistently active in the ward, but he says the rest of his challengers only appear to show themselves come election time. "The people have been very supportive of me for 33 years," Brooks says. "Would that suggest to you that I've been doing something right? Yes. "If the people want a change, that's really the essence of democracy.

The people take a look at the candidates, they take a look at what they're offering, they take a look at how involved they've been in their community, and they make a choice. "And I'm prepared, as I have always been, to live with that choice." Challengers to Glenn Brooks say residents of Rideau-Goulbourn ward don't want new growth in Manotick or Richmond, at least not the way it's been presented. velopment is key, and that hard and soft infrastructure needs to be in place before developments move forward. In Manotick, Brooks says he believes most people are on side with Minto's slower, more managed proposal for expansion. And in Richmond, he says that until Mattamy presents its final subdivision proposal with finished studies to the community, there's not a lot to be gained from debating it.

Young gun Moffatt stands apart from his fellow challengers on the development issue. Moffatt says rural growth is not only unstoppable, it's "essential." Citing struggling businesses and empty storefronts, he says more people are needed to in crease community vitality, a point he actually shares with Brooks. But the bread and butter of Moffatt's campaign comes down to representation. He says the ward's councillor not only needs to represent constituents better, but be better heard by other councillors city-wide. And he says he's hearing from residents that they want a councillor who will focus more on the "everyday" issues they face, such as snow plowing and keeping rural roads from narrowing.

He believes he stands a-good chance in his second race for the councillor's chair. In 2006 he came second to Brooks with 30 per cent of the vote. McCallum managed 13 per cent. Candidate Jim Stewart got 12 per cent of the vote that time. Moffatt says Stewart is backing him this time around.

Webster, like Moffatt, is campaigning hard on leadership, and he has no problem throwing political punches. "They're very, very definitely looking for a change in councillor representation," Webster says of the voters in J3 Ottawa iiCiTiZEX Rideau-Goulbourn. "They don't believe right now that (Brooks) is as connected to the ward as he should be, he's not listening to the residents." Webster actually supported Brooks in 2006, saying that when the ward changed shape, adding a slice of the former Goulbourn to the bulk of the former Rideau township, an experienced handler was needed to navigate city hall. But in the time since, Webster says Brooks has become disconnected. The cornerstone of Chrustie's campaign he's the self-identified newcomer on this year's ballot slip is fiscal responsibility and cutting down on waste.

He also believes the developments in Manotick and Richmond are too dense and coming too fast McCallum, meanwhile, is relying on his varied career experiences to guide him into the good books of voters this year, and he wants to abolish the city's current transit plan as it exists now. Brooks says the borough system he hopes to convince city council to institute (which would give communi- 4- Challengers assail veteran Brooks as out of touch BY KRISTY NEASE Glenn Brooks, a 33-year veteran of politics in southwestern Ottawa who's famously never taken a dime from anyone for his campaigns, is facing one of his toughest battles yet. Leading up to Oct. 25, the incumbent's four challengers say the residents of Rideau-Goulbourn are keen for a change in leadership, that Brooks has been around long enough, that he's lost touch. But Brooks refuses to buy their message.

Focusing on his decades of leadership experience and what he says is a healthy track record of activity in the ward's many communities (he's been accused of focusing his efforts mainly in Manotick), Brooks isn't lying down. He's certainly facing a lot of competition this time around in Bruce Webster, Scott Mof-fatt, Iain McCallum and Bruce Chrustie. They'd all like to take Brooks' seat, but they're also making it extra tough on each other by splitting the vote. The ward's main political hot topics are common to rural wards: development and taxes. Minto's plans to build in Manotick and Mattamy Homes' plans to do the same in Richmond have caused a stir in both communities, where the majority of Brooks' challengers say the people 1: NADbank 0910 Interim report tiiii mABA THIS is how 8 out of 10 newspaper readers start their day JiClTIZEX Ottawa Wf- r4 WfS 4j" 1 2 :6 t'1 a.

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