Calgary Alderman - Ward 7

Jag Aithal is focused mainly on security and public safety. His background is in strategic studies and emergency preparedness - both of which he says the city needs, in spades.

Jag's issues for the city and the ward include:

• Affordable Housing
• Tax Caps
• Disaster Management
• Crime Reduction
• Council transparency and accountability

EDIT: In keeping with his stand on transparency and accountability, Jag released a list of donors to his campaign on September 25th. It is located on his website. You can read more about Jag and his policies on his campaign website, here.

Barry Eldridge was 2nd in the race for mayor at one point in the campaign... problem is, he's not running for mayor. He briefly considered filing nomination papers for the mayor's chair, but instead is running for Alderman in ward 7. He feels the incumbent ignores the communities on the outskirts of the ward in favour of the "sexier" downtown core, and its headline-grabbing problems. He has no website.

Druh Farrell has been the Alderman for ward 7 since 2001. Much of the ward has since been designated for revitalization - what had been neighbourhoods abandoned to crime and disrepair are becoming trendy, condo communities over-run with yuppies. She has been nick-named "The Queen of Traffic Calming" for her support of nimby-types who insist that no one should be able to drive on the roads in their community (which all Calgarians pay for, by the way) unless they live there.

Farrell's big issues include:

• Council accountability and transparency
• Crime prevention
• Homelessness solutions
• Prevention of "cut-through" traffic (see above)

The Farrell campaign can be found here.

Merle Terleski (or Terlesky) is a regular feature on the "letters to the editor" page on the Calgary Sun. Merle's got a lot of opinions, so he's doing the democratically responsible thing and coming forward to run for office.

Merle's ideas include:

• A graduated taxation system for senior home owners
• More frequent C-Train service, with 4-car trains
• Cancelling of the curbside recycling program
• Giving some policing responsibilities currently only under the Calgary Police Service to bylaw officers

Merle's website, which could really REALLY use a spell-check program, is here.