A City of Entitlement.

A City of Entitlement.

I was in the gym yesterday and while I’m never at a loss to find ‘humor’ in the gym I was struck by something that is almost a pandemic in this city, entitlement. To review, in case you’re not overly familiar with the use of Entitlement in this case:

Entitlement - the right to have something; something that one is entitled to (or believes that one is entitled to (source Wikipedia).

In this case what I’m referencing is the over arcing sense of entitlement that I see in this city and yesterday was a stark reminder. While working through my circuit in the gym a gentleman, who had previously noted that I was working in the area, began his client on one of the machines I was using. No big deal this is remedied quickly via the simple request, “Can I work in?” The trainer looked at me and said, ‘sure,’ and then returned to his conversation with his client who remained sitting on the bench. Not a big deal I’ll head somewhere else and finish but it struck me as odd that in an empty gym the ability to share wasn’t put into play.

You’ll see this in other aspects of life here, the train for example, of where our ‘sense of entitlement’ hinders the flow of life. The train will pull to the doors of a station and there will be people behind me who need to get out, I will step off the train turning quickly to place my foot in front of the sensor so everyone can get off and then back on quickly and someone who is standing on the platform will begin to force their way onto the train against the flow of people and seemingly oblivious to the people who stepped off the train to make room for people to leave. I was actually shocked a few years ago when I found myself stranded on the platform unable to return to my spot because of this.

Calgary, we need to drop the sense of entitlement and work on being nicer and kinder.

Be good to each other.

The train…

The train pulled to the station this morning and even though I was lacking my first cup of coffee I noticed someone who wanted to exit the train. Sure I’m big enough I could just push past them but instead I opted to move away, I have always thought it was more polite to move out of the way. When I moved to allow for this person to leave the train the two people behind me forced there way past me to get onto the train. Keep in mind we weren’t downtown so the train only runs one way, we were all going the same place.

I’ve been noticing little things like this in the last little while. A little politeness to your fellow citizen seems to result in someone walking over you to get what they want. We seem to have lost our ‘niceness’ Calgary. When I first moved out here ten years ago people held doors, gave way for others and were generally more polite. Now it seems that, like our parking costs, we’re attempting to emulate New York.

Now before someone accuses me of being Anti-New York I will quickly let you know that on my most recent trip to the Big Apple I was surprised with how gracious and kind the people there were. From stopping to help someone figure out the subway to the gentleman who paced my wife on the sidewalk so he could hold his umbrella over her head when the rain picked up. She wouldn’t have noticed except when she turned and saw a man holding an umbrella over her head while he got rained on. His answer, “I figured you wouldn’t want you hair getting wet.”

My homework for you? Find a door to hold open, find someone to help or even throw a couple of coins in a meter prior to it expiring. Do something nice, random and anonymous and let’s turn Calgary back into the friendly city it once was.

Jono

Sprawl...

What I find funny is the huge sprawl our city has undergone. We’re like a fat guy who undid his pants after a large meal and the resulting cascade of body mass just went where it wanted without any significant appearance of planning. When I think about where I currently live I remember back to when I moved to Calgary 10+ years ago and where my house is there was nothing but a field. For that matter the entrance to my neighborhood didn’t even exist and it’s 3km (give or take) from my front door!

Sure you want a backyard, I want a backyard we all want a backyard! Do we need a backyard though? I justified my purchase because it provided my dog with a backyard to play and hang out in but on a recent trip to NYC I saw dogs of similar size living in townhomes with a yard a third the size. The owners, like me, ran their dogs daily and cared for them so clearly a large backyard isn’t a requirement of dog ownership.

My other reason for purchasing my house where it is was proximity to my parent’s place. This works nicely because I can pop in to help them when needed and when my wife and I don’t feel like cooking we can usually convince my mom to BBQ. Hmm, I could just add 5-10 minutes to my drive and be living in the beltline somewhere. Okay, so being close to my parent’s place isn’t a necessity.

My final reason was price. Let’s face it I pay next to nothing in property taxes and my house was (at the time) close to $100k less than a comparable property downtown. Okay, I’m trying to be more fiscally conservative so I can justify this as the reason. But can I? Let’s evaluate.

1. I spend close to an hour each direction on the bus/train. Don’t even get me started on the insanity that is Calgary Transit.

2. If I want to shave 15-20 off my commute I drive to the train station and pay my $3 for a pass.

3. The train is next to impossible to work on so this time is a write off.

4. Heat in the summer and cold in the winter?

So when I look at it I lose close to 2 hours a day commuting to downtown, this is time that I don’t get back! I could spend that with my wife, with my dog, in the gym, playing guitar, learning a new language…. Okay you get the idea.

So why do we all live in the burbs if it is such a pain in the ass?!?

As your mayor, I would put together a focus group to look at this problem and present solutions. Not a focus group that wanders away and after three years of drinking coffee and eating doughnuts comes back with some sort of noncommittal report but a group that is tasked with a preliminary report in 6 months and required to present a time line on their solution. I’ll have to let my dog know that he is losing his large backyard but I think he’ll be happier knowing that I can potentially spend another two hours a day with him….

Jono

Political Backers.

It’s kind of like a food label when you think about it. The politician accepts money from ‘businesses’ or ‘citizens’ as a means to fund their campaign. The booster is then expected to sit back and watch as the dream they invested in comes to fruition. However, there are good examples of where financial backing has come with more strings than a bank loan.

If company X decides to support a candidate for a position and the candidate is successful in achieving their goal wouldn’t said company be entitled to some sort of back scratching? Running for office isn’t cheap and if you or I invest our hard earned dollars into a campaign should we not be entitled to a nod or wink from the elected?

Maybe, maybe not but the question you have to ask yourself is, “Are we going to be able to control for all outside influence?” No.

So why don’t we demand transparency?

I will promise you that I, if I have to take money (let’s face it we’re almost an online community and getting your voice heard is next to free), will publish were every cent I take comes from. This way you could look at my site and go, “Hey man, you took money from Business X and they were successful in securing a city contract.” At which point I would expect you to hold me to task to explain why they were chosen and what, if any, influence I had on the decision.

Clarity! It ain’t just for water.

Jono

PS – This would hold true for any support even if no money trades hands.

When the popular kid runs...

So Barb Higgins has decided that she'll run for mayor. What's funny is that at first she said she wouldn't and then she decides she will. Does this bode well? Not sure to be honest.

What this reminds me of is when the super popular kid in school would wait until the last minute to run for student council. They sometimes had good ideas but usually it was an attempt to further elevate their social status.

If she wins she's most likely going to get voted in based on her name alone. She could be a good mayor but you have to wonder how quickly she'll transition back into her roll as a journalist should she fail to make the seat.

Should we be skeptical? Maybe, but then again I require everyone near me to question what is being presented.

What do you think? Should someone run based on their name alone or should they have relevant experience in the position they seek?

Jono

....but why?

Hello all,

I'm Jono and I want to run for mayor of Calgary. The thing is I don't want to wade into the random fray of what's currently going on and am hoping to create a little bit of a buzz on line. I'm going to begin posting ideas on how I'd chance things and why I think I'd be a good mayor for Calgary as the weeks go on. For now I'll present a few of what I would consider my 'key changes' and go from there.

1. No more "in camera" votes. When council goes "in camera" they do so to debate a highly contested topic. Usually this is to protect their image with their constituents, the people who voted for them, so that they don't know how their councilor or mayor debated or voted on a topic. I understand that sometimes a topic is so inflammatory that discussion needs to be kept private to protect the ability to speak freely but you, as the voter, should always know which way we voted.

2. Funding for the police. I don't want to increase the chance of getting a speeding ticket more than you do but we do need more police on the street. Not 19 year olds fresh out of high school but educated officers with life experience. Simply put, more officers on the street means we can free them up for more proactive policing and community outreach which is what a police force should be.

3. Mayor for a day. Once a month I would allow for a resident of our city to join me to 'be the mayor'. You would join me for all discussions, all events and everything I do that day as mayor. Come join the process and see what happens in our city.

Please feel free to contact me and let me know what you think.

Jono.