Apparently there are a record number of candidates running for municipal council this year. For those looking for some alternatives to the status quo, this is good news. Only one candidate is running unopposed, and several incumbents are retiring – so no matter what, we'll see new faces on council this year. And it's good for our local democracy to have a lot of people show their interest in serving their community. In the coming months, we'll have a chance to look at the ward races in detail. Folks are still launching campaigns, so the field is shifting. I'm reluctant to step in and start analyzing each race at this point. But as someone who has a keen interest in seeing more women in elected office, I couldn't resist doing a little calculation. According to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, women make up 13.9 per cent of mayors and 23 per cent of councilors – pretty much on par with other levels of government, and contributing to Canada's dismal international rating for women's participation in politics. FCM wants to raise Canada's average to 30%, and have been running campaign schools and workshops across the country for a few years now. Local councilors Marianne Wilkinson and Jan Harder held a campaign school for women here, which from all reports was well attended.

What a difference a few weeks make. It seems we have a mayoral race. It wasn't much of a surprise when Mayor Larry O'Brien announced his intention to seek re-election. With the passage of Lansdowne Live, he likely concluded he had accomplished enough to run on his record. Sure enough, that was the focus of his re-election announcement (as awkward as it was). O'Brien declared that he wants the election to be about leadership, which he says is about “getting things done”. “We've finally gotten over the constipation of amalgamation”, he said. It's an odd statement to make for a mayor who leads a fractured council that often split along urban/suburban/rural lines, that has flip-flopped on multiple decisions, that cost taxpayers millions by canceling the former light rail contract, and that unnecessarily prolonged a bus strike. Yet when it came to budget time, the council seemed to be able to get things done in spite of the Mayor. But is it a more functional body than when Larry O'Brien took office? Hardly. And as others have pointed out,  O'Brien is quick to claim the credit for projects that were started well before his time or which have been spearheaded by someone else. And as for those voters who have been paying closer attention, he is counting on a certain number of them overlooking the flaws, and focusing instead on the promises he has kept.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Knowing the ropes: do voters give it too much weight?"][/caption] Much has been written about the need for fresh faces on Ottawa's city council. From community coalition Our Ottawa to the high profile residents behind Fair Chance, from columnists like Randall Denley to bloggers like Blake Batson, the call for change at City Hall has been loud and clear. There's no question that Ottawa's pattern of re-electing incumbents is not exactly healthy for our local democracy. But is a clean sweep what we need? What are the pros and cons of supporting incumbents versus voting in new faces and new voices? Incumbents: On the pro side, incumbents have no learning curve. They know the ropes, they know the rules of order, they have relationships with staff and know how to answer constituents' issues and resolve problems. There's no waiting while they set up an office and hire staff – they're ready to go as soon as they take office. They also know what to expect – they understand the pace of a councilor's lifestyle, so there's no adjustment period while they get used to the evening meetings, the event-after-event weekends, the reduced family time and the lack of privacy. But incumbents get tired. They might get lazy, or take voters for granted. They may resist new ideas, or ignore some communities in favour of the constituents that voted them in. Some are quite parochial in their approach, focusing on the narrow interests of their ward instead of the city as a whole. Some get defensive when challenged by residents (Gord Hunter, for example, is notorious for his quick email trigger).

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="In lieu of fresh thinking, will candidates rely on the old stand-by?"][/caption] It's true that elections are no time to debate policy – between the hot button-pressing and the sound bite speaking, no one seems to want to do any actual big-T Thinking. But municipal elections are slightly different than their provincial or federal counterparts. Candidates can register as early as ten months before election day, so they can start spending money and get their message out to prospective voters. With six months to go, it's still early, so it's not too surprising we haven't seen much from the front-running mayoral candidates about their vision for Ottawa. But perhaps it's time they started throwing out some ideas. Six months is long enough to get people talking. By the time September rolls around, schedules become packed, the media starts paying more attention, and candidates have less control over the debate. So why not get ahead of the game and set the agenda while you still can?

As I write this, I'm enjoying a family holiday in Vancouver. Travelling always makes me feel a little wistful, especially when I come across great public spaces or city services we don't see much of in Ottawa. Sure, it's easy to be envious of the big things – great parks, great transit, and so on. But what gets me going are the little things. Like public washrooms in playgrounds... open ones! In March! Or fenced dog runs tucked into unexpected spaces. Or street signs that ...

Editor's note: Voting day is still eight months away, but with candidates such as Jim Watson and Alex Cullen already in the running for the mayor's chair and several long-time councilors announcing plans to leave office at the end of this term, interest in October's civic election has already started to build. Spacing Ottawa is launching our commentary on the 2010 municipal election with this post from veteran blogger -- and former candidate for Kitchissippi Ward -- Vicky Smallman. Vicky will share our CityVote column with commentator and media consultant Ian Capstick. What is it about a municipal election that makes the campaign seem so long? Well, it's not just a feeling; municipal elections are a drawn-out process. Candidates can register starting in early January, but nominations don't close until September 10. From a candidate's point of view, the jockeying for attention starts from the moment of their announcement, but most of the action (debates, canvassing, and media attention) occurs between the close of nominations and election day, which is October 25. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to write about right now. Take the mayoral campaign. Nine candidates have registered so far, including veteran councilor Alex Cullen and former mayor Jim Watson, who resigned his position as Municipal Affairs minister and Member of Provincial Parliament to seek the mayoralty. Incumbent Larry O'Brien says he'll make up his mind in June. Homelessness advocate and 2006 candidate Jane Scharf is also running. As for the others, there is not a lot of information about them at this point in the campaign.