Bell: Mayor Gondek attacks — insists Calgary city hall isn't broken
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek pulls no punches, proving once again how politics is a blood sport, especially if you're fighting for your political life.
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She takes aim at city hall politicians and those wanting to be city hall politicians who say Calgary city hall is broken.
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The mayor mentions the word chaos. She is almost certainly referring to this scribbler's column of almost a year ago when Sonya Sharp, a member of city council, said Calgary city hall was in chaos.
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'Calgarians have clearly indicated they are seeing improvements at city hall,' says Gondek.
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'This business of tearing each other down and this business of saying we are a city in chaos is simply not a fact.
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'If you want to send a negative signal to Calgarians keep being negative yourself. Keep talking about chaos.
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'Anyone who is tearing down our city and calling it a city that is not doing well simply doesn't love Calgary.
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'When you're elected to do a job your job is to make things better, not explain about what didn't get done. Get in there and fix it and make it better.'
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In Gondek's mind she has changed in the last year and a half since a poll found her approval rating in the ditch with disapproving numbers worse than any previous Calgary mayor.
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'Good leadership means you take a step back and you look at what's happening around you,' says Gondek.
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'When you consistently are seeing people disappointed in what's coming out of city hall and a lot of it is based on not communicating with them you've got to step up and say: We need to do better.
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'You have to listen to what Calgarians are saying in order to deliver the results they want.'
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