He’s been slandered, sworn at and even spit on.Recall Gondek petition organizer Landon Johnston admits to being a plucky sort of guy. So much so, he managed to land a meeting with Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek — by asking her to sign his petition.No surprise, she refused to do so. But in the process arranged a tete-a-tete for later this month, days before he is to formally submit the results of his recall campaign, which he estimates already has more than 100,000 signatures — excepting the mayor’s. .“How many is enough to convince you to step down?”Calgary resident Landon Johnston.“It came about because I asked her (when) I was sitting in front of council chambers last week and all the counsellors were walking into it and I asked them individually if they wanted to sign the petition and then the mayor walked by and I asked her if she wanted to,” he said in an interview with The Western Standard.“And we just had a little conversation and she had said, Landon, I wished you had talked to me before you did this. And I said mayor the reason I did this is because I couldn't get a hold of you. Right? Like the whole reason is because there's such a disconnect of transparency and accountability between the public and what goes on in council.”.“If we had 177,000 signatures by that point, I think that sends a huge precedent and whether she wants to wait until the next election to be kicked out or if she just wants to save us the time and energy to resign now.”Landon Johnston.“I tried to get in front of council for a meeting. I tried going through my counsellor and whether it was because I wasn't within their rules, because I didn't have the proper agenda. It wasn't approved.”So now the unlikely activist has 15 minutes of face time with the mayor on March 22. And he’s looking forward to presenting her with the results of his drive to date.Though he is fast realizing it’s going to be a tall order to gather the half million signatures required to remove the mayor from office, he’s hoping to gain at least as many that voted for her — about 177,000 — to convince her to leave..“And then someone pulled a knife on me in front of City Hall. It was a homeless guy, and he did sign it (the petition) and then I think I don't know what happened in his mind but then he like pulled a knife,”Landon Johnston.And in fact, that’s going to be his first question: “How many is enough to convince you to step down?”“If we had 177,000 signatures by that point, I think that sends a huge precedent and whether she wants to wait until the next election to be kicked out or if she just wants to save us the time and energy to resign now.”Johnston said he’s launching a major volunteer drive this weekend to coincide with the onset of warmer weather, admitting the cold snap has been a real dampener for enthusiasm. He’s also been documenting his foibles for an upcoming documentary after it’s all done and has taken to wearing a body cam to prove it. .Although he insists “it’s been fun” and he’s getting all kinds of support, Johnston also says he’s been sworn at, spit on and threatened with arrest. He’s even had a knife pulled on him.“Yeah, I've been spat on. I mean, I've got basically a camera on me at all times now. People see the camera and then they're not gonna spin off but I've been spat on a couple of times. And then someone pulled a knife on me in front of City Hall. It was a homeless guy and he did sign it (the petition) and then I think I don't know what happened in his mind but then he like pulled a knife,” he said.“I've been documenting the whole process. I'm going to do a little documentary when I'm done and hopefully present that to the legislation or at least to my MLA here, here's six pages of obstacles while trying to complete petition writing. No person in power is going to make it easier for them to not be in power so no one's holding their breath on that.”
He’s been slandered, sworn at and even spit on.Recall Gondek petition organizer Landon Johnston admits to being a plucky sort of guy. So much so, he managed to land a meeting with Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek — by asking her to sign his petition.No surprise, she refused to do so. But in the process arranged a tete-a-tete for later this month, days before he is to formally submit the results of his recall campaign, which he estimates already has more than 100,000 signatures — excepting the mayor’s. .“How many is enough to convince you to step down?”Calgary resident Landon Johnston.“It came about because I asked her (when) I was sitting in front of council chambers last week and all the counsellors were walking into it and I asked them individually if they wanted to sign the petition and then the mayor walked by and I asked her if she wanted to,” he said in an interview with The Western Standard.“And we just had a little conversation and she had said, Landon, I wished you had talked to me before you did this. And I said mayor the reason I did this is because I couldn't get a hold of you. Right? Like the whole reason is because there's such a disconnect of transparency and accountability between the public and what goes on in council.”.“If we had 177,000 signatures by that point, I think that sends a huge precedent and whether she wants to wait until the next election to be kicked out or if she just wants to save us the time and energy to resign now.”Landon Johnston.“I tried to get in front of council for a meeting. I tried going through my counsellor and whether it was because I wasn't within their rules, because I didn't have the proper agenda. It wasn't approved.”So now the unlikely activist has 15 minutes of face time with the mayor on March 22. And he’s looking forward to presenting her with the results of his drive to date.Though he is fast realizing it’s going to be a tall order to gather the half million signatures required to remove the mayor from office, he’s hoping to gain at least as many that voted for her — about 177,000 — to convince her to leave..“And then someone pulled a knife on me in front of City Hall. It was a homeless guy, and he did sign it (the petition) and then I think I don't know what happened in his mind but then he like pulled a knife,”Landon Johnston.And in fact, that’s going to be his first question: “How many is enough to convince you to step down?”“If we had 177,000 signatures by that point, I think that sends a huge precedent and whether she wants to wait until the next election to be kicked out or if she just wants to save us the time and energy to resign now.”Johnston said he’s launching a major volunteer drive this weekend to coincide with the onset of warmer weather, admitting the cold snap has been a real dampener for enthusiasm. He’s also been documenting his foibles for an upcoming documentary after it’s all done and has taken to wearing a body cam to prove it. .Although he insists “it’s been fun” and he’s getting all kinds of support, Johnston also says he’s been sworn at, spit on and threatened with arrest. He’s even had a knife pulled on him.“Yeah, I've been spat on. I mean, I've got basically a camera on me at all times now. People see the camera and then they're not gonna spin off but I've been spat on a couple of times. And then someone pulled a knife on me in front of City Hall. It was a homeless guy and he did sign it (the petition) and then I think I don't know what happened in his mind but then he like pulled a knife,” he said.“I've been documenting the whole process. I'm going to do a little documentary when I'm done and hopefully present that to the legislation or at least to my MLA here, here's six pages of obstacles while trying to complete petition writing. No person in power is going to make it easier for them to not be in power so no one's holding their breath on that.”
