Hayter, Others, to Run

Ron Hayter announced today that he will be seeking an eleventh term on city council. Most people should view this as good news. Hayter's difficult to pigeonhole: a fiscal hawk (vying with Karen Liebovici for second biggest such hawk after Mike Nickel), a proponent of rapid LRT extension, and experienced without being a spent force. Hayter claims on his website that the federal Liberals, Conservatives, and Canadian Alliance have all approached him to run as a candidate, which shows that he's not sitting in the pocket of a political party. The voters of ward 2 will almost certainly re-elect him, and that's likely a positive thing for the city - whatever quarrels you might have with him, and however little you might want to see a council composed of thirteen Ron Hayters, there's certainly room for one.

The Journal and the Sun are both reporting that Liebovici, Linda Sloan, Kim Krushell, Ed Gibbons, Jane Batty, and Dave Thiele are all also running for re-election. This strikes us as a little odd, since Krushell (to take one example) told us just last week that she'd be making her announcement in June or July. But absent any denial from any of these councillors, we'll be taking this at face value.

Update: Here is the text of Hayter's remarks.

Cavanagh retires

The big news on the municipal front today is that Terry Cavanagh is retiring at the end of his term, after twenty-seven years on City Council (including two brief stints as mayor). Cavanagh joins long-time colleague Michael Phair in declining to seek an umpteenth term. With Bryan Anderson and Mike Nickel (and Stephen Mandel) having made their decisions to seek re-election public, this leaves eight Councillors who are not yet on the record about their intentions.

In Ward 1, neither Councillor has given any indication either way, but both are likely to seek re-election.

In Ward 2, Kim Krushell seems almost certain to run again, despite unfounded rumours that she may seek the provincial nomination for the Progressive Conservative Party in Edmonton Strathcona (why would she do a thing like that in a riding in which the P.C.s finished with less than a third of the votes that the N.D.P. got in 2004?). Ron Hayter's a little iffier - he retired from City Council once before, and has been back for six years.

In Ward 3, Janice Melnychuk is expected to forego a re-election bid in favour of seeking provincial office, as NDP candidate for Edmonton Manning. No word yet on Ed Gibbons.

In Ward 4, Jane Batty is expected to seek re-election, having commented late last month that she was "leaning in that direction".

In Ward 6, Dave Thiele hasn't yet announced his intentions. He was courted to run for the NDP federally in Edmonton Millwoods Beaumont in 2006, and declined, but was it because he wanted to stick with municipal politics or for some other reason?