Teddy Ogbonna
Teddy Ogbonna
Candidate for Mayor
Contact Information:
Biography:
Not yet responded.
Survey Results:
Question 1: What work experience do you have that’s relevant to the role of Mayor and how do you feel the skills and perspective you have gained will help you in your role as Mayor?
Political experience: consulted and worked with Canada, USA, British Governments on issues of good governance from a not for profit perspective. Did internships at City of Toronto under former City councillor Adam Giambrone for 2 years. Professional experience: A development consultant- consulted with governments and multilateral organizations on good governance, access to Justice and youth development. Teddy’s experience transcends the development world, Politics, oil and gas, REIT. Marketing , coaching minors , security , janitorial and entrepreneurship.
Question 2: What do you think are the biggest issues affecting Calgary are, and how would you approach these issues as Mayor?
Biggest issue Calgary currently faces?Tax hikes If elected, what are the three policy items you would pursue first? Through building confidence and trust within council and propose to reduce taxes for home owners and businesses over 4 years - 10% cap across board. Introduce a Shadow Youth cabinet and expand BRT and handicap access for Calgarian of all ages.
Question 3: What do you think is the role of a municipal government? Do you think the City does too many things, not enough, or just the right amount?
To serve and provide services needed to Calgarians, collaborate and partner with provincial and federal governments on huge capital investment projects and to solve social inequality issues affecting our City. Finally to engage and listen to communities groups/associations in all ramifications of municipal development. Too many things, not prioritized and pretty much does not put Calgarians first.
Question 4: Do you think property taxes are too high, too low, or just about right?
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Question 5: Over the next four years, should the City spend less in absolute terms, increase spending but by less than the rate of inflation and population growth, increase by the rate of inflation and population growth, or increase faster than the rate of inflation and population growth?
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Question 6: During the introduction of City Charters a few years ago there was a lot of debate about new taxation powers for the big cities. Would you support the City being given any additional taxation powers by the Province? If so, what taxation powers should the City have?
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Question 7: The City often claims that they’ve found savings in various budgets, but instead of actually cutting spending, they just put the savings into a reserve account and then spend that money on other things. If there’s money left over at the end of a financial year, do you think that money should be saved up by the City to spend in future years? Or should it be returned automatically to taxpayers the following year through some kind of rebate?
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Question 8: Everyone says they support affordable housing, but what does that term mean for you? Do you think the City should be subsidizing housing for lower-income residents? Or focused on keeping the cost of all housing from getting out of control? Or perhaps some combination of the two? If so, how?
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Question 9: The Calgary Metropolitan Region Board is currently debating their Growth Plan for the Calgary region. What do you think about the plan? Do you think we should be limiting development in certain parts of the region? If so, are you worried about how that will affect housing affordability?
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Question 10: There’s been a lot of debate about the City’s new “Guidebook for Great Communities”. What do you think about the Guidebook? What do you think should be the split between greenfield and established community growth for new housing? Should the City have a specific target? Should this be determined by market demand?
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Question 11: When the City voted to approve four projects - the Event Centre, the BMO Centre expansion, the Arts Commons transformation, and the Foothills Fieldhouse - they did so against the advice of the City’s own CFO, who said the City could only afford one of them. Do you think that was the right move? Why? If, as the City continues through the process with each of these projects, it becomes obvious that the City’s CFO was correct, and Calgarians can only afford one of these projects, which would you choose?
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Question 12: Do you support the construction of the Green Line LRT as currently envisioned by the City, would you prefer changes be made to the plan (and if so, what changes), or would you prefer to cancel the project entirely? If, as Mayor, you find out that - despite all the previous assurances - there has in fact been another cost overrun on the Green Line, what would you do?
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Question 13: What do you think is the best approach to attract businesses to Calgary? Direct incentives to specific businesses, paid for by slightly higher taxes, or lower tax rates for all businesses?
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Question 14: Should the City be in the business of operating golf courses, or should they privatize or sell them off? How about garbage collection or other services?
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Question 15: Should we defund the police? If yes, what exactly does defunding the police mean to you? If not, what should the City do to address both historical and ongoing injustices?
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Question 16: Do you support the City’s mandatory vaccination policy for City employees?
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Question 17: Council recently dropped residential speed limits to 40km/h, do you agree with that decision, and what do you think about the proposal by some to go further and drop it to 30km/h in the future?
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Question 18: For years there has been an ongoing debate about the City’s public art spending. Some say that the problem is the selection process for what art is commissioned, while others are opposed to any use of public funds for art. What do you think?
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Question 19: Serving as Mayor you are elected by and responsible to all Calgarians, but some policies and government actions inherently benefit one part of the City at the expense of another. How would you deal with a situation where you feel that the best interests of some Calgarians conflict with the best interests of Calgarians in other parts of the City?
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Question 20: While the concept of a secret ballot is essential, many of our supporters have told us that they’d like to know the political alignment of their candidates. So, if - and only if - you feel comfortable saying so, who are you voting for in your local ward race and why, and if you are affiliated with any provincial or federal political parties, which ones and why?
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