Centretown will be losing a great advocate on city council come January. Elisabeth Arnold has decided she will not run for re-election in November.
For the past nine years, both as a member of council for the former City of Ottawa, and now with the amalgamated city, Arnold has fought for affordable housing and environmentally friendly development. Recently, she was front and centre as funding was restored for a pedestrian bridge across the canal and when sod was turned to mark the beginning of development for a new Plant Pool.
In addition to her duties as a councillor, Arnold has also contributed her time and efforts to community projects such as business improvement associations, non-profit housing corporations, and a lobby group dedicated to guiding the development of LeBreton Flats.
With Arnold so involved in municipal affairs within the city — including a few issues impacting on her ward like the Queensway widening, 20/20 plan, and emergence of the Flats as a tourist destination — it is difficult to comprehend why she flip-flopped a decision she made in January and decided to leave politics.
However, the political climate at the municipal level, which may have strongly influenced the decisions of Arnold and colleague Alex Munter to not seek re-election, may also deter some of the best candidates from throwing their hats into the ring.
Over the past decade, the federal and provincial governments have downloaded the funding for a number of service and infrastructure costs onto the shoulders of municipal councils. These decisions force local politicians to make difficult decisions such as directly handing constituents a tax hike or implementing user fees for services. At present, there is no sign that co-operation between all levels of government will improve.
Also, the City of Ottawa is in a position where it is struggling with its development. City boundaries and differences of opinion between very diverse populations have made planning extremely difficult to co-ordinate. Priorities and service-delivery models have not been agreed upon as widely throughout the city as expected when the provincial government legislated amalgamation in 2001.
Likely, when the dust is settled after the election and the new council takes over, it may have to make unpopular decisions such as raising taxes or increasing user fees.
A councillor’s salary of $56,000 per year is not necessarily enough to draw a successful business person away from the office on a full-time basis
Maybe there is reason both declared candidates to date, former city and regional councillor Diane Holmes and activist Bill Driver, have yet to face more competition.
For nine years, Arnold, an expert in urban planning, made that sacrifice for her constituents in Somerset Ward. With all the uncertainty facing city council these days, it is unlikely those voters will find the same value for their dollar the next time around.
—Adam Bramburger