City Notebook: Voters had their say

By COLLIN GALLANT on October 23, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Once upon a time, “Good night, Ted,” was the line long-time News editor Pete Mosey used in his column to needle then Mayor Ted Grimm to bed on Monday nights.

But it’s probably needling enough for outgoing Mayor Ted Clugston that Grimm himself introduced incoming Mayor Linnsie Clark on election night last Monday.

That night Clugston supporters were outnumbered three to one by those for challenger Linnsie Clark (profiled in-depth elsewhere in this edition).

The results are a surprise to some, and there are plenty of folks who think this town is headed to the dogs.

Was it COVID fatigue, or challengers promising the moon, as his supporters, as well as Clugston, have suggested?

But they are the results

Say what you will about Clugston, and voters had their say this week, I doubt there’s anyone who loves the city more than the man who was mayor for eight years.

Politics are politics, and Clugston not innocent when it comes to playing them.

Was there a press conference where he didn’t insert some jab about Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi or pick a fight with the previous government’s environment minister, Shannon Phillips?

Still, he practically oozed trivia about the city, City Hall, and its operations. He loves policy, and above all, probably, loved being the top man in the town he grew up in.

Your author’s first recollection of interviewing him was regarding the opening of the two-way weigh-scale at the city landfill. Previously, the legion of Hatters with branches or couches would surrender right of way to whichever side was backed up more.

“It’s going to be like the microwave,” declared Ald. Clugston of the new system in 2010 or 2011. “People will wonder how we ever lived without it.”

It’s a good metaphor for his whole view of government, really: make life better for Hatters in small ways, don’t over reach.

There’s lots of big stuff from his tenure – the News will provide a more in-depth look at Clugston’s time in office, including a major expansion of the city’s power plant and the creation of a dedicated endowment fund to hold power profits, in the week ahead.

But, the man ardently believes in limited government, which creates a sort of paradox in the Hat where City Hall is seen as the be and end all.

It also probably lines up well with the average Hatters’ views as well, and Clugston wasn’t being astute or political, he was likely just being honest.

The stance was also undeniably part of his undoing this week.

However, things change, and one can only hypothesize that how the way people view government’s role in their lives has changed during the pandemic.

How much was their view of Clugston affected when he clung to his unyielding principles that the province handles health matters, and the less government action the better?

That might be for history to decide.

Speaking, historically

Clugston is the city’s fifth-longest serving mayor with eight full years, having won two four-year terms in the position.

He ranks only behind heavyweights Ted Grimm (24 years) and Harry Veiner (22), then Isaac “Ike” Bullivant (13) and Hector Lang (10). Both of the latter served before the 1950s, and back then, mayors were elected annually. All those expect Huckvale served non-consecutive terms, which leads into an interested question about what’s in Mr. Clugston’s future.

Flats perks up?

The former St. Louis School is set to become an apartment block, the News revealed this week.

Another new housing development on Dominion Street is called “McKenzie Mews” which, interestingly, is an accurate description of the buildings going up around the McKenzie-Sharland residence.

People who can still spell “dictionary” have long had a bone to pick with land developers who choose from a list of fancy-schmancy words to improve the marketability of their projects. So you get a lot of “boulevards,” “gates,” “greens,” and “meadows” on the map when it the names couldn’t be any further from the truth.

A “Mews” is defined as a group of houses that have a common courtyard that do not front onto a public road.

As for the development, it hearkens back not only to the time of the 100-year-old grocery store, but also of the late 2000s, when there was a veritable redevelopment boom going on in the Flats.

A look ahead

A new city council is heading to a series of orientation meetings this week before a swearing in ceremony on Nov. 1.

Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com.