O'Brien Ramping Up Mayoral Campaign

Over the past couple of weeks, Larry O'Brien's bid for mayor has slipped into a higher gear.

From rising a whopping 12 points to 20% in the late September Decima/Ottawa Citizen survey to the recent Leger Marketing poll which placed O'Brien at 33%, the evident public desire for change has become crystal clear with incumbent Bob Chiarelli now trailing the pack.

Media Highlights

From CFRA News last Friday: Voters Want Ottawa to Focus on Crime: Poll

Four in Five Ottawa residents want City Hall to crack down on crime and improve public safety in the community.

A Leger Marketing poll conducted for CFRA/A-Channel/Ottawa Sun suggests 81 per cent of voters believe crime is "something the city has to focus on"

The Leger Marketing poll suggests Larry O'Brien has emerged as a crime fighter.

90 per cent of voters who will definitely vote for O'Brien consider getting tough on crime the most import issue.

From the Saturday Ottawa Citizen :Mayoral campaign picks up steam

O'Brien should also be satisfied with his week. His performance in the talk radio debate was markedly more assured and informed that at the beginning of the campaign. O'Brien sounded much more like a leader, avoiding the mudslinging favoured by Chiarelli and copied to a degree by Munter. During that debate, O'Brien offered some insight into his management philosophy, saying "a leader says what, not how."

From Today's Ottawa Citizen:Tax talk sure to get voters' attention

Larry O'Brien says his battle cry of "zero means zero" is real and under his watch, taxes would be frozen, not increased or kept at the rate of inflation.

"'Zero means zero' actually means zero," he said.

Mr. O'Brien believes the root cause of the problem is runaway spending. He says amalgamation promised huge savings, but, instead, in six years has delivered a 35-per-cent spending increase -- a figure routinely quoted by rural activists, but hotly disputed by the city. Mr. O'Brien sees the city as a bloated bureaucracy and wants to "reinvent government" and set it on a lean and fiscally-responsible path.

To streamline government, he would introduce "alternative service delivery methods," which means contracting out delivery of city services to the private sector to save money and improve efficiency. Mr. O'Brien says he'll spell out the details later in the campaign.

"It is going to require a culture change, it is going to require the council to decide that we want to reinvent the way city Hall works," he said.

"When you start running a more efficient city, the spending decreases and when spending decreases, you are going to control taxes. ... Spending relief will ultimately lead to real tax relief for the citizens of Ottawa."

Mr. O'Brien acknowledges there'll be cuts, but says these can be done humanely, largely through attrition, to ease the pain.

He says Ottawa residents deserve better than his two rivals' plan to peg taxes to the annual cost of living.

"What they are saying is, 'We are going to have a 10- to 12-per-cent tax increase over the next four years. I don't think that's good enough," Mr. O'Brien said.

From A-Channel this weekend, view O'Brien's appearance with Sandra Blaikie:




O'Brien is becoming increasingly comfortable with the political environment and it shows. It should also be noted that he still has more gears left.

On a curious note: From the Citizen Tax Story Today:

Mr. Chiarelli dismisses his opponents' contention that spending has gone up under his watch and his budgets have led to annual deficits. If the mayor has any new ideas on handling property taxes, he is not letting anyone know just yet. But he says cities around the province, including Ottawa, face massive financial pressures and there is no "magic bullet" for the problem.

"People will say it is an expenditure problem and it is not a revenue problem, but every city in Canada will tell you it is also an expenditure problem," he said.

Read it once again, now - only Slower to catch the full effect.

More things that make you go "hmmmmm".