Small crowd gathers at City Hall to sign recall petition against Mayor Jyoti Gondek
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About a dozen people, some waving banners that said ‘Recall Mayor Gondek,’ lined the sidewalk outside Calgary city hall mid-afternoon Saturday, collecting signatures for a petition to oust her from the role.
Holding a writing pad with signed names was C.J. Fietz, an 81-year-old woman who expressed frustration with the city’s recent fiscal decisions, including a 7.8 per cent hike in property tax.
“Mine went up to $60 a month,” Fietz said, adding the increase has even been higher after the city also raised the value of her property, a feature common among other municipalities.
“I’m on a fixed income. This is really insulting to me. Because then I have to cut back somewhere else.”
She also criticized the city’s climate initiatives, one of which was the approval of an $87-billion strategy, which, a recent report shows has made little progress on reducing emissions.
“(Recalling Mayor Jyoti Gondek) will stop her from throwing money away,” Fietz said. “My God, she is spending, spending, spending.”
The petition was submitted by Landon Johnston, a 13-year Calgary resident and owner of an HVAC business.
Johnston said he came up with the idea on a Friday night after feeling frustrated with the single-use items bylaw, which charged customers 15 cents for a paper bag.
The bylaw, which city council has since voted to repeal, was the “last straw” for Johnston.
“She’s the face of the city,” Johnston said. “She’s supposed to unite people. She’s supposed to keep the council together. She’s supposed to be that point person. And this is a job performance review. And she’s failing at her job right now — people are not happy with her.”
The petition has captured the imagination of many Calgarians dissatisfied with the mayor’s performance. Critics say the reaction is part of a broader objection to progressive initiatives by left-of-centre leaders, which people perceive through their cost implications.
The disillusionment has been reflected in Mayor Gondek’s approval rating, which has fallen to 30 per cent, one of the lowest in recent history. Those who disapprove of her most appear to be older males who predominantly live in established communities and households with incomes higher than $125,000, according to a recent poll by ThinkHQ.
Recent densification bylaws, including removing single-family-only zoning, have also garnered criticism among Calgarians in older neighbourhoods.
On some occasions, the blowback has taken a sexist tone. Gondek said in a recent interview that someone told her that “climate activists have been able to get into her underwear.” People have also appeared at her home, and, in one instance, a man left a latex horse’s head and anti-vaccine sticker outside her house.
A protester outside city hall on Saturday told Postmedia, “(Gondek) acts like she’s the queen of a castle, but she’s not.”
“They feel that you are an object, and not a human being, and you are their property in some way because you’re an elected official,” Gondek said in a recent Globe and Mail interview.
The petition, which requires 514,284 eligible signatures in 60 days, is unlikely to succeed, Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, told Postmedia in a recent interview.
“It won’t pass, and won’t even come close to passing, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have some value,” said Bratt.
Johnston said raising awareness of the issue is the purpose behind the petition.
“Even if I was only one out here, and I got, 10 signatures, I would still do it,” Johnston said. “Because I am passionate about what I believe in. And my mom told me, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
The mayor suggested in a news conference on Tuesday that Calgarians who have concerns with local government reach out to council first.
“If you haven’t engaged necessarily with a member of council and you’re moving to a recall without understanding what their position was on something, I find that a little bit odd,” she said.
