Despite a seemingly Herculean task to recall Calgary’s mayor, the city resident behind the petition to send Jyoti Gondek packing says he will be mobilizing a grassroots effort to do just that.In an email obtained by the Western Standard, local businessman Landon Johnston said he will be setting up a website — www.recallmayorgondek.com — sometime on Tuesday. He will be at city hall on the weekend to sign up volunteers to start going door-to-door to begin the seemingly insurmountable task of obtaining the more than 500,000 handwritten signatures needed within 60 days to formally remove Gondek as mayor..By comparison, less than 400,000 people actually voted in the last municipal election.At that rate, they’d need to gather more than 8,333 signatures per day, or nearly 350 per hour, 24/7 for the next two months.But Johnston said his campaign is about the principle. In various statements to media outlets, Johnston said it was all about holding the mayor — and council — accountable for a series of unpopular decisions including a 7.8% tax hike, unpopular zoning changes and a drummed up climate crisis.Over the holidays Gondek further stoked outrage by refusing to attend the Menorah lighting at city hall that outraged the Jewish community..“Whether this petition is successful or not, it is my personal goal to make every last councillor uncomfortable to hold office whilst being so unfavourable in the eyes of the people they serve,”Landon Johnston.But it was the massively unpopular single-use serviette bylaw Johnston says was the proverbial ‘final straw.’“Whether this petition is successful or not, it is my personal goal to make every last councillor uncomfortable to hold office whilst being so unfavourable in the eyes of the people they serve,” he said in an emailed statement to media outlets.For her part, Gondek said in her own statement that she remains committed to “serving” Calgarians.“In October 2021, Calgarians put their faith in me to be a mayor who could bring balance and stability to this city at a time when polarized ideologies stood to divide us,” the statement read.“I remain steadfastly committed to the work of building a future that holds opportunity and prosperity for everyone who lives here. We have work to do. Onward.”
Despite a seemingly Herculean task to recall Calgary’s mayor, the city resident behind the petition to send Jyoti Gondek packing says he will be mobilizing a grassroots effort to do just that.In an email obtained by the Western Standard, local businessman Landon Johnston said he will be setting up a website — www.recallmayorgondek.com — sometime on Tuesday. He will be at city hall on the weekend to sign up volunteers to start going door-to-door to begin the seemingly insurmountable task of obtaining the more than 500,000 handwritten signatures needed within 60 days to formally remove Gondek as mayor..By comparison, less than 400,000 people actually voted in the last municipal election.At that rate, they’d need to gather more than 8,333 signatures per day, or nearly 350 per hour, 24/7 for the next two months.But Johnston said his campaign is about the principle. In various statements to media outlets, Johnston said it was all about holding the mayor — and council — accountable for a series of unpopular decisions including a 7.8% tax hike, unpopular zoning changes and a drummed up climate crisis.Over the holidays Gondek further stoked outrage by refusing to attend the Menorah lighting at city hall that outraged the Jewish community..“Whether this petition is successful or not, it is my personal goal to make every last councillor uncomfortable to hold office whilst being so unfavourable in the eyes of the people they serve,”Landon Johnston.But it was the massively unpopular single-use serviette bylaw Johnston says was the proverbial ‘final straw.’“Whether this petition is successful or not, it is my personal goal to make every last councillor uncomfortable to hold office whilst being so unfavourable in the eyes of the people they serve,” he said in an emailed statement to media outlets.For her part, Gondek said in her own statement that she remains committed to “serving” Calgarians.“In October 2021, Calgarians put their faith in me to be a mayor who could bring balance and stability to this city at a time when polarized ideologies stood to divide us,” the statement read.“I remain steadfastly committed to the work of building a future that holds opportunity and prosperity for everyone who lives here. We have work to do. Onward.”
