Hey there, ganjavih
You wrote:
The fact that Mississauga votes in McCallion with ~90% support each time and has done so for decades tells me something is broken in Mississauga.
ganjavih, the choices last election other than the Mayor were Barber or Hillis. I mean, seriously.
This is the kind of phenomenon you'd see in Saddam-era Iraq.
Check out the 2006 Election results:
Barber, Donald---------5,571-----5.18%
McCallion, Hazel------98,293-----91.41%
Willis, Roy N.-----------3,667-----3.41%
Now take this into account:
"The official results indicate voter turn out was 25 per cent this year. The City of Mississauga had a total of 445,964 eligible voters, 110,248 of which cast ballots."
110,248 out of 445,964 or 24.7% voted.
The City of Mississauga has 5000 employees who'd have a vested interest in how Mississauga keeps "Moving Forward" as is. And that's not just 5,000 votes but also those potentially of spouses, adult children, parents etc etc.
And JUST on the mississauga.ca website today --this announcement:
Mississauga Celebrates A Growing Achievement – City Reaches $1 Billion in Construction 10 Years in a Row
Feb 05, 2007
The City's year-end total value of building permits reached $1.05 billion, making 2006 the 10th consecutive year Mississauga exceeded $1 billion in prescribed construction.
You can bet people who've benefitted from development and the construction industry also made sure to cast their ballot.
At the ward level many had little more than a total of 8,000 votes spread among all candidates. Check this one out:
Ward 11.
Carlson, George-------4,789-----66.86%
Judd, Peter------------2,094-----29.23%
Pasicolan, Xavier G.-----280------3.91%
Total votes 7,163
All Incumbents need is Their People showing up.
Those with vested interests --anyone from the developer living in his mansion lakeside in Port Credit/Clarkson to those receiving Mississauga Corporate Grants for the Arts etc, --you bet they are voting for As-Is.
I want to deal with just one other of your observations. ganjavih , you wrote:
Add to this...a local paper that's more like a mouthpiece of the city government.
Agreed (with the exception of RANDOM ACCESS, John Stewart's BLOG). But ganjavih, by far, the worst of all, is Rogers Cable 10. Now you want to talk about a mouthpiece of the city government.
The Cable 10 "news guy" is even broadcasting over at the mississauga.ca website RA-RA-RAHing Mississauga! I mean SERIOUSLY --
Having said all this, though, I've got to say that I've attending a lot of meetings now and ...and I really respect Hazel McCallion.
I feel badly though about those struggling --the working poor, for example. They hear about Mississauga's prosperity and experience little of it in their own lives.
That, ganjavih, is what makes
me "squeamish".
The Mississauga Muse