Oshawa - A 2014 Political Primer

Our politicians are not hooked on crack - as far as I know - but, with kidnappings at gunpoint, police take-downs on the council floor and more lawsuits than there are new models planned for the GM assembly lines, there's never a dull moment in Oshawa politics.

That's what make this municipal election so much fun. And thanks to the elimination of the ward system and the introduction of elections for the Durham Region Chairman, there are 13 - yes, thirteen - different 'X's I can mark on October 27.

What other election offers that kind of choice? What other election offers that much fun?

The race for the Mayor's seat offers the most intrigue (though it is but one 'X' of 13) as nine candidates - a rogues list of kooks, shit disturbers, hard-core radicals (and a sensible one) and an ex-Mayor - try to unseat the incumbent, John Henry.

This tempest has been brewing for most of Henry's four year term, as a group of local activists has taken to attending council meetings en masse to voice their displeasure over the decisions made by the Mayor and his allies (affectionately known as the Bloc of Eight), with their presence described as being a cross between a thorn in his side and a hive of hornets down his pants.

A key issue of contention has been the controversial purchase of a former call centre on Wentworth Street for a new works depot for the City, a deal that ultimately led to the cops-in-the-council-chambers take-down last year.

See, the council watchdogs thought the City paid too much for the property and cried foul, a stand supported by Ron Foster, Oshawa's then-auditor-general. Foster released a damning report on the purchase, which noted among other things that City staff tried to sabotage his investigation.

Council then hired George Rust-D'Eye, a noted municipal lawyer who once represented Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (Coincidence? Not with Toronto and Oshawa councils seemingly Separated at Birth) to prepare another report, which naturally concluded Oshawa did not, in fact, overpay for the property. Oh, and perhaps we can eliminate the auditor-general position while we're here.

Which is what the Gang of 8, by a vote of 8-3, did. And then the shit hit the fan. When decorum was returned Bill Steele, in handcuffs and with blood trickling down his nose after being wrestled to the ground by a security guard and two undercover cops,  was arrested and charged with assault. Another activist, Dan Hammond, was also charged.

Charges against the two were later dropped. The security guards were subsequently charged with assault as well and those charges also disappeared.

The video of the event, naturally, went viral.

Bill Steele

Steele is now running for Local Councillor while Hammond is taking a shot at the Mayor's seat. Hammond is also defending himself from criminal harassment charges involving Councillor Roger Bouma, a Bloc of Eight member who is not seeking re-election. Hammond's personalized licence plates - they read NOBOUMA - were a regular sighting around town until Service Ontario cancelled them.

And Foster is threatening to sue the City unless his job is restored.

Other council watchdogs are also in the race for Mayor. There's Lou DeVouna, who has been embroiled in a legal dispute with the City since 2011; and there is perennial contender Bill Longworth, who this campaign decided to distance himself from his fellow activists by ignoring issues like corruption and the economy to concentrate on a single subject: the return of the ward system.

Joe Ingino is running as well. Joe runs a local newspaper (alleged) called the Central (which I interviewed for once in the mid-90s. Our session was brief.) and has alienated an entire generation of social media users because HE ALWAYS TYPES IN CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE HE'S SHOUTING.

But there is one Council contrarian who has risen above the fringe level of her fellow agitators: Rosemary McConkey, the Sensible Radical, who has campaigned against rampant development up in Columbus for years before switching her attention to Henry and Oshawa Council in 2010.

But even McConkey, who calls herself an Accidental Activist, has legal issues to deal with. She has been ordered to pay $10,000 in court costs to real estate giant RioCan (full disclosure: the company I work for would cease to exist if not for RioCan contracts, making the developer - Canada's largest - my defacto boss) but her campaign had promise, at least until John Gray entered the race.

Gray, who has been doing some fear mongering lately as to the future of General Motors in the city, was a two-term Mayor who was defeated by Henry in 2010.

Gray made his biggest splash in office when he initiated a comedic feud with Stephen Colbert - over hockey of course - in 2007. The trash talking put Oshawa in the spotlight for a while and culminated in a bet over a junior hockey game between the Oshawa Generals and Colbert's beloved (kinda) Saginaw (Mich.) Spirit.

The Gens lost the game, Gray lost the bet and March 20 (Gray's birthday) was declared Stephen Colbert Day in Oshawa, an event held at the General Motors Centre that was attended by some 3,000 people, including Don Cherry.

Stephen Colbert

(Cherry, for his part, called Colbert a "leftie pinko" who, if he played hockey, would probably wear a visor. But I digress.)

Chris Topple, who ran provincially for the Liberals in 1999 and 2003, and Don Woermke have also thrown their hats into the ring for the Mayor's race.

And that's just one of the 13 delicious choices I can make on October 27. With seven representatives on Durham Regional Council, I have a lot of options there as well. Some, like Bouma, have had enough of the circus and are going back to private life. Other Bloc Eight members, like Amy England (who made headlines for her stand in favour of breastfeeding) and former Mayor Nancy Diamond, are sticking around.

Diamond, who was sitting in the big chair when I arrived in the county in 1992 (her 12-year term made her the city's longest-serving mayor), is taking another shot as a Regional Councillor.

Tito-Dante Marimpietri, one of the councillors on the other side of the majority voting bloc, is also looking to grab one of seven regional spots again. I don't know Marimpietri, who is in a legal battle of his own, having been ordered to pay $9,500 in court costs to City Solicitor David Potts, the first salvo in a $2 million lawsuit filed against Potts (which is related to a $1 million suit brought against the City by former real estate manager Chris Harper), but he's a childhood friend of my pal Santo so he gets my consideration at least.

There's some new blood as well, such as local television personality and public speaker Dan Carter, who I believe will bring a civil and circus-free approach to council.

That would be a breath of fresh air.

There are also three Local Councillor spots available, with Bruce Wood hoping a return to council will mean his vote will mean more than just the usual 8 to 3 losing proposition, and a few promising fresh faces, such as Stuart Smith

There is one name notably missing from the ballot, however, and that's Robert Lutczyk, a former councillor now residing in Lindsay's super jail facing a shopping list of charges stemming from an incident from two years ago.

Always a bit off the wall - he once advocated caning as a form of punishment for inmates and called for Oshawa to add the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean to its urban boundaries - Lutczyk snapped two Octobers ago, (allegedly) abducting Potts, Oshawa's in-house lawyer, and taking him to a warehouse in south Whitby. Barricaded inside with a cache of weapons and explosives (allegedly), the standoff lasted more than 24 hours before Lutcyzk finally gave himself up.

Robert Lutczyk in better days

The case has come before the courts several times since, with Lutczyk, armed each time with volumes of legal briefs, electing to defend himself. He never found the time, however, to update his drivers licence, which is the reason the City gave when they denied his last minute application to run for council.

From jail.

It's too bad, really, because that would have been too awesome.

I've also got the Regional Chairman post to vote for, with incumbent Roger Anderson (who I've also known since I arrived in Durham 22 years ago) squaring off against a handful of political neophytes.

There's a school trustee I can cast my vote for too, though with my tax dollars going into the public school board and my last school-age child in Catholic school, there's not much point in casting a ballot.

I may anyway.

It's the Mayor's race that has piqued my interest, however, and handicapping it has proven interesting. It appears to be a two-horse race between the two Johns - Henry,  who Jake and I met in rural Columbus a year or so ago - an incident now known as The Day Jake Told the Mayor he was Missing a 'D' from his Last Name - and Gray, with McConkey emerging as the wild card.

I'm torn at the moment in deciding between Gray and McConkey for my vote, with Henry on the the outs because of the spelling of his name.

As the J Man said last year, the Mayor is missing a 'D.' And as every sports fan knows, you can't win without the D.

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As this is a beer blog I thought I should finish by talking about a few beers. I may not drink before I vote on October 27, but I'll certainly drink after.

I was going to write one more story from the mini vacay Jake and I took to Rochester and Niagara Falls - our visit to the Strong Museum's vintage games exhibit, to be exact, when I took the boy to school in pinball, Galaga, Pac-Man and table top hockey - but I decided not to mention it and talk about beer instead.

Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA from Delaware and Epic Pale Ale from Auckland, New Zealand. Two outstanding ales.

The 75 Minute IPA is a 7.5 % ABV blend of the brewery's 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IIPA; cask conditioned and post-hopped. There's lots of citrus and pine with some tropical fruit and sweet malts. Beautifully balanced with a decent bitter finish. I would expect no less from this brewery.

Epic's Pale Ale was even better, which is a pretty good trick for a 5.4 per cent beer. Fifteen different hops were used during the brewing process and the result is a beer with plenty of 'wow' factor. There's citrus and tropical fruit - passion fruit, maybe? - along with some pine and floral notes. There's a peppery spiciness as well, making this beer quite different from anything I've had before, and quite tasty. A world class pale ale.

Cheers! (And don't forget to vote October 27!)