The race to be Calgary’s next mayor is taking shape as city Coun. Sonya Sharp announced her bid for the top job at city hall.
Sharp, who is serving her first term as councillor for Ward 1, made the announcement at a packed downtown Calgary fundraiser for Communities First, the municipal party she helped form.
“I have seen firsthand how our city can work well, and I have also seen where it has gone off track,” Sharp said to the room full of supporters.
“Our services are not keeping up and many are struggling with affordability, and most of all, many feel like city hall is not listening.”
If elected, Sharp said her plans include cutting “wasteful” spending, prioritizing public safety and bringing more focus on core services like roads and infrastructure.
Sharp is the chair of the city’s Infrastructure and Planning Committee and also chaired the committee tasked with overseeing the new deal and development of Calgary’s new event centre.
Before being elected to council, she worked in city administration and ran a family business.
Sharp has often voted against the majority of council on many issues, including city-wide rezoning, the Green Line LRT and various spending decisions.
These Decisions, Sharp said, had her seriously considering a mayoral run starting last summer.
“It had a lot to do with the way things were turning up on council, the way I saw things going on,” she said. “When I started to see decisions being made by the majority, including the mayor, I was just like ‘This is not okay anymore and we need leaders to lead and listen.’”
She is the fifth candidate to enter the mayoral race, which includes incumbent Mayor Jyoti Gondek, former councillors and mayoral candidates Jeff Davison and Jeromy Farkas, and Calgary lawyer and former police commission chair Brian Thiessen.
Thiessen and Sharp are the only two candidates running in the mayor’s race under a party banner so far.
Sharp was appointed the mayoral candidate for the Communities First party, which also includes incumbent councillors Terry Wong, Andre Chabot and Dan McLean as its founding members.
“Councillor Sharp, soon to be mayor Sharp, has a clear vision for the future and we all agree with it,” McLean told reporters at the event. “I think that’s why she’s the logical choice.”
The municipal election isn’t until Oct 20, but experts said there already appears to be change coming to city council with the potential for seven new faces around the table.
This includes both Gondek and Sharp running for mayor, but councillors Courtney Walcott, Evan Spencer, Jasmine Mian, and long-time incumbent Peter Demong announced they wouldn’t be seeking re-election. Ward 6 Coun. Richard Pootmans stepped down late last year.
“With so much anger out there in the electorate and so much unwillingness to compromise in some cases, I think some people are wondering whether it’s worth the trouble to continue,” said Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount-Royal University. “That’s the sort of thing you do see when we deal with difficult times as we are.”
Spencer, who isn’t running for a second term, said the days of the “cushy elected official job” are in the rearview mirror.
“It’s a real privilege to be able to represent your neighbours,” he told Global News. “We’re just dealing with a lot of really difficult issues as a society and I think our institutions are in a very tough position.”
Sharp said she hopes to announce more candidates under the Communities First banner in the coming weeks but noted those elected by the party will be asked to vote with their constituents.
“If we’re doing exactly what Calgarians have asked us to do, there shouldn’t be any tough decisions,” she told reporters. “Those things coming to council should be things Calgarians are asking for.”