The dance card for the mayor’s ball just added one more.
Rookie Ward 6 Ald. Joe Connelly took square aim at past decision-making at city hall as he announced his candidacy yesterday for mayor, telling supporters: “Five years ago we were a great city; now I think we’re merely a good city.”
Connelly, former vice-president of Tourism Calgary and longtime city businessman, questioned the sense of projects like the controversial pedestrian bridge, saying he would run the city more like a business, with a focused set of priorities.
“Without a strong sense of what we cherish most about living here, we simply float around aimlessly in the air of complacency,” he said.
Connelly joins Paul Hughes and Jon Lord as the only declared candidates.
Ward 12 Ald. Ric McIver is expected to announce his bid for mayor later this month, and there’s speculation former mayoral candidate Alnoor Kassam will also enter the race.
