Bell to seek nod for local Greens

Councillor Bob Bell will try tomorrow to secure the nomination to represent the local Green party in the next federal election.

That was announced in a press release from the party, which curiously did not mention that activist Bill Hulet had previously announced a similar intention. Bell will compete with visual artist Russell Ott to wave the party's banner.

We'll have more in the paper tomorrow.

In the interim, perhaps Mr. Hulet, a frequent recent visitor to this blog, might share some thoughts on why he is apparently out of the running?

Comments

[Bill Hulet]

I only put my name in the odd chance that no one better came along. ;-) Obviously someone better did.

[Bill Hulet]

I tried to post earlier but it didn't who up. I put my name in because there was pressure from the head office to have someone nominated. I only did it under protest that I would only do it if no one better came along. We someone did, so I am not even running for the nomination.

[Scott]

Fair enough Bill. Thanks for putting yourself forward in the first place.

[Sandy]

I wonder what Bell's take on stepping down as councilor as compared to Kovach's??

[Scott]

I think Gloria set the local precedent on that one. I also suspect if Bell thought getting the nomination meant he would have to step down he would not be putting his name forward.
Let's be honest - the Greens have built up some support here, but do you think anyone is going to seriously challenge Valeriote?

[Edward Pickersgill]

Frank has a lock on the local election. Hell he could start an organization promising to eliminate poverty and a majority of electors would still take him seriously.

Pardon?

Oh sorry, he did that already?

Well, I rest my case.

[Neil Dubois]

I think Bob Bell would be a terrific candidate.

If you look at the job he did by getting the wet/dry waste system reactivated while securing the Waterloo regions cooperation he has clearly shown that he can both talk the talk AND walk the walk.

He's a perfect fit for both the Green Party and Guelph.

[Bill Dunlop]

Wait a sec - Mr. Bell is responsible for building the new compost plant AND getting the contract to take Waterloo's compost??? I thought it was the AIM people, working with Guelph's waste staff who brokered that contract? Wow, if Bell can single-handedly run City Hall and Council, maybe he could build us a library and a rec centre too?

[Charles Smith]

Let the political games begin at Council. Mr. Bell will now feel he has to comment on anything and everything at Council (remember Ms. Kovac's performance the last election.)

So much for voting Green the next election.

[Rosa]

Lets be honest here.. Bob Bell as the candidate? We will clearly see the vote for the greens fall below what Nagy accomplished in the previous election. Living in Ward 1 we all know the promises Bell made in the municipal election and all of the promises he failed to bring us.. example being East End Shopping...So many residence would love to be able to stay in our ward to go shopping but all Bell delivered us was a library...it seems funny how he pushed for that library so hard yet we are only minutes away from both the Bullfrog Mall and Main branch. Bell is a joke..I've already heard from a group of Green supporters that they wont vote for him and if Russel Ott is a great as the reports have made him out to be why didn't they choose him? I guess the Greens really want to fail in Guelph..It's a shame May didn't run here the Greens could have actually picked up a seat!

[Cam Guthrie]

Rosa,

Just to let you know. When the motion came forward to build the new grocery store at the Walmart location and other exspansions of commercial at that corner, Bell voted against it specifically to take a stand against the lack of services in your area. I'm not even in your ward at all and I'm more than happy to stand corrected on what I'm saying here, but I truly beleive Bob has gone to bat and continues to go to bat for your area.

[Mike Nagy]

Yes Bob did take a stand on the Wallmart expansion specifically because expanding Wallmart reduced the chances of the east end getting retail services. Bob was also good enough to take me door to door in the ward during the election, he encouraged the residences to continue to lobby for retail, there is only so much a councilor can do on their own short of buying the land themselves and developing the site. To my knowledge at every turn Bob has tried to get retail development there.
That said I wanted to address a couple of other comments made. Bob is going to take a leave of absence from Council when the writ drops, this is the appropriate thing to do and he has been public about this. It is appropriate for many reasons that I am sure you all agree with. In relation to the comment about Bob losing all the gains that the Greens have made, I am not sure what this comment is founded on. Anyone who knows Bob understands that he is rarely home as he is out there working long hours for his Ward and or his local manufacturing business. His commitment to his new position of the federal Green candidate will be taken on with similar passion and integrity. Bob is my friend and do you know how I became friends with Bob and Anna? It was solely through my work with the local Greens, they supported me as they were committed to Green values and improving Parliament and putting a Green MP from Guelph in Ottawa, and we almost did had the by-election not been canceled one day before the vote.
As for Elizabeth May coming to Guelph to run or not, Elizabeth recognised that Guelph, although very welcoming and gracious to her, prefers homegrown/local candidates and was confident that a competent candidate would come forward, which certainly has happened.
Regardless Bob can speak for himself as he is known for being available. I felt it important to let you know how I feel directly about Green support in Guelph after 3 elections and 5 years of work since Rosa brought it up. It is simple, all one has to do is look to Ottawa to see how green the Liberals really are (now supporting delay on action for climate change, support the Tar Sands etc..), and to see how Canada is now the laughing stock on climate change heading into Copenhagen because of the government's positon, to understand that being progressive and Green only at election time is the same trick over and over. The Green support is there in Guelph, but people have to be brave and vote for what they want not what they don't.

[Rosa]

Cam,

I beg to differ.. You don't live in this ward therefore you don't know what is going on in this neighbourhood. I run into people the grocery store, at the bank etc from this area and most of the people who live on this side of the ward are not satisfied. Bob is only in tune with the downtown section of ward one. He recently spoke to an issue in this ward that needed to be dealt with and taken care of, that the city took care of over 7 months ago. Is that someone who is really going to bat for the ward? Do you know how many people are upset that the city chose to build a library over here vs necessities? And now that they can't afford to staff it and are putting the opening off until June, people are outraged by the money wasted on this.

Mike, This information is based on two things, A) Word of mouth, this area of ward one is like hot topics on the view, and B) stats, the greens only had significant gains in the previous election because they were able to take the votes from the Liberals. If you analyze data from the previous two elections you'll see it's in the numbers. Don't be surprised to see the votes drop again for the greens in the next election. People are going to vote to keep Harper from getting a majority. Oh and yes you did almost win the by-election because what would the harm be in electing a green in a by-election.. the government is already formed can't really hurt it. If Guelph really wanted Green you would have won the general election.