How the Ottawa municipal election is stacking up

If the countdown clock on Roland Stiedas campaign website is reliable, there are, at the time of writing, 285 days and several hours to go until Ottawa heads back to the voting booth to elect the next city council.

In most democracies the period between a candidates nomination and election or defeat is measured in days and weeks, not 10 months. We humans can conceive and give birth to a child in less time.

And yet there Stieda stands, so far the only person in the running to be the next councillor for Innes Ward in the citys east end. That was confirmed Tuesday, when political veteran Rainer Bloess announced that during a pensive paddle in the Caribbean last week,he reached the decision not to run for re-election.

Bloesswill now have plenty of time to spend sitting in his kayak, or wherever else he wishes. And that was the primary reason behind his retirement. While hes not councils most elderly member, he is 62.

This is a time to travel, not when youre a senior citizen that cant move too well anymore, Bloess told reporters Tuesday at City Hall.

But he had another motivation. I think the timing is right to step asideand in the interest of democracy to give candidates the full year, the full election period to work on this, and not to keep people hanging and waiting to see who should run.

There are, at the moment, 26 candidates signed up to run. Theres little doubt there are many, many more who are hanging and waiting to see what the incumbent will do. I know, because Ive spoken with some of them.

In our electoral system, incumbents enjoy a significant advantage thats undeniable.

So far seven Mark Taylor, Tim Tierney, Mathieu Fleury, Diane Holmes, Stephen Blais, Scott Moffatt and Allan Hubley have filed their nomination papers. Several others, including Mayor Jim Watson, have announced they will run for re-election, but havent officially entered the race.

Its interesting to note that only two of those incumbents who have filed Diane Holmes and Stephen Blais so far face adversaries. The others (all elected for the first time in 2010, as it happens) are the only names on their respective ballots. Their early announcements will help some would-be challengers decide against embarking on a gruelling, costly, and often thankless campaign.

Conversely, Bloess decision will almost certainly encourage others to join Roland Stieda in Ward 2. Just look at Gloucester-South Nepean, where Steve Desroches announced he wouldnt run for re-election either: Four candidates have signed up to take his place, and its only mid-January.

The election may be more than nine months away, but the numbers on that countdown clock arent slowing down. Other councillors should take Bloess cue and consider extending the same courtesy to the hangers and the waiters. They should either declare their intentions, or step aside. And if they havent decided, maybe its time for athoughtful, solitary paddle in a kayak.