By Michael Connors
As the clock ticks down to the Oct. 13 nomination deadline for this year’s municipal election, Coun. Elisabeth Arnold remains the only candidate running in Somerset ward.
But supporters and critics alike say they expect a challenger to come forward.
“There’s still a long way to go until nomination day,” said Arnold, who has held the city council seat since 1994. “I’m not making any assumptions.”
Through three elections, Arnold has styled herself a defender of the residents of downtown. However, some say she isn’t responsive to business interests. Peter Harris, who ran twice against Arnold, winning by about 200 votes in ’91 and losing by about 80 in ’94, has been her most outspoken critic.
“She’s really tied into the left-wing interest groups, and I really think people are sick of that,” he said.
Harris, who isn’t running himself because he has a business to look after, says he has also heard that another candidate may be coming forward.
“I know that people are very concerned about not having a more balanced candidate, because it’s been very clear that the present councillor is extremely anti-business,” he said.
While Arnold loves supporting higher taxes, rooming houses and “all the underprivileged people,” Harris argues she has done nothing to address parking problems in Centretown, particularly along Elgin Street.
Also, Harris says parts of Somerset are in danger of turning into slums.
“She may have her sign with traffic calming out front, but all it’s done is clutter up the neighbourhood,” he said. “In terms of property standards and drugs and prostitution, it’s worse than it’s ever been. And it’s really scary.”
Arnold says through the downtown revitalization plan, which aims to stimulate development in the city core, she has shown she can work with a broad range of people.
“We’re all asking for the same thing,” she said. “We’re asking that downtown be made a priority, that we have more people living and working here, that we make it clean that we make it safe, that we make it acceptable.”
Retiring regional Coun. Diane Holmes, who introduced Arnold at her campaign kickoff in Chinatown on Sept. 14, disagrees with Harris’ view that Arnold is anti-business.
“I think that Peter Harris was good at spreading that word, and he didn’t succeed, so obviously people didn’t believe that,” she said.
“Both the city council and the regional council have done a lot of things to try and spur development, reducing all kinds of fees that developers pay, investing public money to try and get more businesses to come down there.”