River City Writer

From the moment his green Mercedes-Benz pulled out of the parking lot on the east side of Queen Elizabeth Park Road, until he turned off toward the Legislature a few blocks later, Mayor Mandel was tailgating me like a dog chasing it’s own tail.

OK, so the mayor wasn’t really tailgating me. From what I can tell, he isn’t a terrible driver, either. I admit it, I’ve written a tabloid-style headline to get you to read this post.

In reality, the mayor appears to be a pretty normal driver, dealing with rush hour traffic the same as anyone else. I really wish he had been a terrible driver, though, when we were briefly stuck in traffic together.

I wish he had cut me off, or tailgated me, or given someone the finger. I wish he had thrown litter out his window and shown disrespect to the city he’s supposed to care about.

I’m obviously glad that he didn’t do any of those things, but it would have given me something pretty great to write about. I mean, come on, Mayor Mandel, don’t you know that I’ve got a blog to write? Give me something salacious to talk about! Give me something juicy to share with the city.

Especially since there is a civic election coming up in just a few weeks, it would have been great to have something wonderfully tabloid-y to write about Edmonton’s mayor, especially since he might as well be running unopposed. The other candidates are essentially fringe candidates, either because of inexperience, or because they’re just fucking nuts.

As much as I’ve been impressed with Mandel during this past term, he’s done a few things that have made me wonder whether he’s the right man for the job. Unfortunately, since he appears to be the only serious contender, I might be forced to vote for the man (I’m not really a fan of “protest votes,” and I believe that voting by abstention should only be done in the most dire of circumstances, where are truly no candidates worthy of your vote; I also believe that, if you ever find yourself in such a situation, you should seriously consider running yourself come the next election).

There is a good chance I’d have voted for him anyway, even if there were other legitimate candidates running, but I’d prefer to have a greater choice in the matter. There is also a chance that I’m underestimating the other candidates. Maybe, after I do some more research, I’ll find out that I’m wrong, and that I actually want to vote for one of them. Time will tell, I suppose.