Don Atchison's Saskatoon mayoral campaign is like watching Back to the Future

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There's no doubt Don Atchison learned a few things about civic politics in his record-setting 13-year run as mayor of Saskatoon.

One wasbe careful what you promise. In his initial run back in 2003, Atchison campaigned on a platform of zero tax increases. Once in office, that quickly became redefined as less of a promise and more of a goal.

What followed was a long succession of annual tax increases of around five per cent.

Another thing Atchison learned isdon't impose your dress code on others. He made a rule when he came into office stating that anybody visiting the mayor had to wear a tie. It quickly earned him the title of Canada's Craziest Mayor from CBC's Rick Mercer.

Not that it hurt Atchison much. He went on to be re-elected three times.

One lesson that Atchison appears unable to learn is that a successful politician knows when to gracefully withdraw from the field of battle.

Aquestionhanging overAtchison's current campaign is why he wants to do this again. It's pretty obvious that he thinks the other mayoralty candidates just aren't up to the job. It may also be that he believes only he can solve Saskatoon's problems.

Or perhaps the lure of the limelight is just too seductive to resist.

In any event, Atchison is about to discover how hard it is to convince voters that you deserve another chance once you have been turfed from office.

In the long history of Saskatoon civic politics, only two mayors have been able to pull this off: Sid Buckwold in 1967and James Clinkskill in 1911.

Atchison is no doubt aware of this history. In spite of that, he has convinced himself that he is the exception to the rule.

We'll see.

Several aspects ofAtchison's remind me of watching Back To The Future at the drive-in.

For example, he claims that only he has the personal relationship with CP Rail to convince it to move thetracks out of the city. Yet that was an issue for the entire time he was mayor and the tracks are still there.

He likewise would like to take credit for the success of the south downtown. So he should. But development there did not stop when he left office. Nor will it end if he fails to win the mayor's chair this time.

Atchison is still reliving past glories, with his eyes fixed firmly in the rear-view mirror. In fact, most of his platform is focused on dismantling the last council's efforts.

On his watch, there would be no Bus Rapid Transit. There would be no bike lanes. There would be no low emissions plan. It's safe to say there would be no mayor attending Pride parades, either.

If these things weren't actually important, it would all seem kind of quaint.

The trouble is that all of these positions are on the wrong side of history. Without some kind of effective rapid transit, Saskatoon is doomed to a car-choked future.

By the same token, bicycle lanes and active transportation have long since arrived in Europe and much of the rest of Canada.

After a summer of watching the western U.S. burn, it's hard to imagine any big city mayor not taking global warming seriously.

Finally, is there any longer a big-city mayor anywhere in Canada who does not attend Pride parades?

On the plus side, Atchison's experience has shown him that the mayor only has one vote on council. Consensus has to be achieved through persuasion and discussion, not insults and one-upmanship.

He's not promising no tax increases, he just wouldn't support one. He won't pledge to revisit the new library proposal without first getting a reliable legal opinion on whether it can actually be done.

Still, there are some inconvenient truths that Atchison must contend with.

When you strip away the advertising and the rhetoric, the only real question in this civic election is whether Charlie Clark deserves another term. For those who think not, they have five different choices, two of them high profile options in Atchison and Rob Norris.

Unless one of those candidates can somehow consolidate the anti-Clark vote, the chances of the incumbent mayor being defeated are slim.

It's a comfortable place for Clark to be. In fact, Clark hadto be the happiest person in Saskatoon whenAtchison decided to run. With Atchison helping to peel votes away from Norris, it's much easier for Clark to win.

Perhaps Clark should send Atchison a boxed set of Michael J. Fox videos to watch in retirement as a token of his appreciation.

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