strathcona county...

i am on the fence as an undecided regarding the upcoming civic election in strathcona county...

i've had the chance to meet two of the three competitors for the top job. in order of appearence, cathy olesen earlier this year and more recently ken lesniak for 2 or 3 minutes...i still haven't met brent jewell as of yet.

frankly, it's still too early to decide who to vote for...i will say i'm disappointed in the current state of things, i'll save those specifics for another time. history records that more than once on this very blog i congratulated olesen for standing up to mandel in edmonton, (during the height of the regional planning issue) someone who just seems like he needs to put in his place from time to time...that said we need to get moving forward and i don't think olesen has anything new to offer the situation...the mere fact that 2 councilors have been motivated to run against her sends a clear message of issues behind the scenes...

could lesniak or jewel do any better? not sure at the moment. i will say that (in my opinion) all three candidates need to learn more about information technology in general. why is that important? simple, this world is run on it and if you're going to guide this community effectively into the 21st century you can no longer afford to be an info tech neophyte. for example, this election could be more easily won by not only doing all the usual glad handing in public but also launching an aggressive online communication blitz too. what i don't think the candidates know is that much of the advantage could be done for minimal cost and effort. a website is only the beginning, i get the sense however, they feel it's the end of the line in terms of being tech savvy...is it ignorance or arrogance? and anyway what do i know, i'm not a pro-politician like these three...

one gap in my opinion is that strathcona county needs a tech strategy for business...an ICT cluster strategy of its own perhaps, a tech strategy that enables community members to leverage technology that other communities have already adopted successfully... sure growth and regional planning are critical issues, there are many others...i'm going to watch how each stacks up on all of the issues...

my impression of each so far --- the incumbent olesen is unapproachable and disingenuous. i really don't want to say that about her and yet there it is...jewell wants to win so bad that he and his campaign are making obvious tactical mistakes (despite best intentions) which are back firing on him at the moment. lesniak seems to think everyone knows him and the other candidates already (also seems to have the "old guard" on his side), and apparently there's nothing new to say...this is the impression given. (as a person he did seem approachable) however, mr. lesniak i don't really know you or the other candidates all that well. what do you really stand for? my family and i have only lived in sherwood park a short time, like a portion of the local population. that said, rumor has it that you and premier stelmach are old pals and socialize regularly at your home...good? bad? who knows...

anyway it's late and for now my vote stays put - none of the above. hopefully i and the community will learn more at the upcoming political forum on oct 3rd and again on the 4th.

in the meantime i challenge all candidates to do publicize their own version of this.