Jeromy Farkas

Jeromy Farkas is a Canadian politician who was elected to Calgary City Council in the 2017 municipal election, and a candidate for mayor in Calgary's 2021 municipal election.[1] He represents Ward 11 on council, comprising the neighbourhoods of Acadia, Bayview, Bel-Aire, Braeside, Britannia, Cedarbrae, CFB Currie, CFB Lincoln Park PMQ, Chinook Park, Eagle Ridge, Elbow Park (part), Elboya, Haysboro, Kelvin Grove, Kingsland, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Mayfair, Meadowlark Park, Mission, North Glenmore Park, Oakridge, Palliser, Parkhill/Stanley Park, Pump Hill, Rideau Park, Roxboro, Rutland Park, Southwood, Willow Park and Windsor Park.

Jeromy Farkas
City of Calgary Councillor
Assumed office
2017
Preceded byBrian Pincott
ConstituencyWard 11
Personal details
BornCalgary, Alberta, Canada
ResidenceCalgary, Alberta
Alma materUniversity of Calgary
WebsiteOfficial website

On September 16, 2020, Farkas announced his candidacy for mayor in the 2021 municipal election, which is scheduled for October 18, 2021.[1]

Education

Farkas graduated from Calgary's Bishop Carroll High School and attended classes at the University of Calgary and received his bachelor of arts in political science and government. Prior to being elected, Jeromy served at the University of Calgary for eight years and ran the Israel Studies Program. Building on his experience as a Research Team Lead in Medicine, Jeromy developed his own successful small business focused on finance and data analysis.[2]

Manning Foundation

Prior to declaring his candidacy for Ward 11, Farkas worked as a senior fellow specializing in municipal governance at the Manning Foundation for Democratic Education from February 2013 to January 2016. He was the project lead for the Council Tracker project, and published a report in September 2013 called "Growing the Democratic Toolbox: City Council Vote Tracking" where he studied City of Calgary Council meetings from fall 2010 to April 2013, specifically examining 73 votes during that period to understand how council worked, look at voting blocs, time spent in-camera (deliberations that are not open to the public), among other issues.[3][4] He continued the project and established the website Counciltracker.com to track Calgary council activities, which he maintained until he left the Manning Foundation to run for Ward 11.

Farkas is a former Calgary Herald columnist writing about local issues, particularly city council, and contributed to Canadian Cycling magazine from 2015 to 2016.

Provincial and federal politics

Formerly president of the Wildrose Party's constituency association in Calgary-Elbow,[5] Farkas identifies himself as a fiscal conservative and social liberal.[6] He describes his political views as being motivated by an attitude that "you should have the biggest say in how you live your life... chasing, again, the best solutions rather than the ones based in ideology," and has been active in issues such as wildlife conservation and human rights activism.[6] He is out as bisexual, becoming Calgary's first openly LGBTQ male city councillor,[7] and played a key role in pushing the Wildrose Party to adopt a more progressive position on LGBTQ issues.[5]

Calgary city council

On his first day serving as the councillor for Ward 11, Farkas declined the pension that the mayor and councillors receive. He also declined the transition allowance afforded to him. The Canadian Taxpayer's Federation estimates that if he serves three terms and lives to age eighty-five, these rejected entitlements will save Calgarian taxpayers more than $1.1 million.[8] He also vowed to oppose the city's new southwest bus rapid transit line.[9]

In December 2017, his proposal for the city to provide additional compensation to residents of the Midfield trailer park, which is being closed due to poor site design that makes it impossible for the city to repair the neighbourhood's failing water and sewer lines without tearing down the homes, failed to advance after Farkas was unable to find a councillor willing to second the motion.[10]

In early 2018, he faced some criticism for being the sole councillor to vote against a motion directing city staff to draft a new parental leave policy for city councillors, on the grounds that taking time away from city council business would be a betrayal of the constituents.[11]

On June 16, 2020, Farkas was the only city councillor to vote against the approval of the Calgary Green Line.[12]

2021 Mayoral Campaign

On September 16, 2020, Farkas announced his candidacy for mayor in the 2021 municipal election, which is scheduled for October 18, 2021.[1] He was the first candidate to do so.

As of December 6, 2020, six other candidates have announced their candidacy: businessman Brad Field, Nigerian immigrant Chibunna Theodore (Teddy) Ogbonna, civil engineer and past mayoral candidate Emile Gabriel, musician James Desautels, perennial candidate Larry Heather and geologist Shaoli Wang.[13]

Council Compensation

On October 31, 2020, Farkas announced his opposition to the Mayor's second pension, saying "Calgarians these days are lucky to receive one pension, let alone two". The Mayor of Calgary was the only Canadian mayor to receive two pensions.[8] The second pension was later abolished on November 3, 2020 after Council approved a suite of recommendations to reform Councillor compensation from a citizen committee.[14]

Police

In November of 2020, Farkas announced his opposition to proposals to defund the Calgary Police Service, stating that "by courting the abolish and defund police movement, City Council is playing with fire and it's Calgarians who are getting burned".[15] He proposed that money for social programs should come from areas of lower priority like bike lanes or public art.[16]

On November 17, 2020, Farkas launched a petition against the proposed $20 million cut from Calgary's police budget. As of December 6, 2020, the petition has received 2,584 signatures.[17] On November 27, 2020, Council backed down on its proposal to defund the police, voting 11–3 to fund additional social services with Calgary's fiscal stability reserve.[18]

Property Taxes

On October 17, 2020, Farkas called the prospect of a possible 25% tax hike on industrial landowners a "wake-up call" for Calgary to "get [its] budget under control".[19] Farkas expressed concern that the proposed tax hikes targeted "major industries that we're trying to cultivate and attract to come to Calgary".[20]

Speed Limits

On September 27, 2020, in response to a report recommending that Calgary lower its unposted speed limit from 50km/h to 40km/h on collector roads and 30km/h on residential roads, Farkas said that "making the entire city a playground zone has to be the silliest idea [he has] ever heard".[21] He expressed concern about the time and money it would take to implement such changes.

Street Parking

On October 21, 2020, Farkas called a proposal to put an end to the practice of offering free residential parking permits "just more nickelling and diming", further saying that "people shouldn't have to pay to park in front of their home. Increasing these fees is the last thing we need right now, especially with this economy".[22]

Electoral record
2017 Calgary Municipal Election — Ward 11
Candidate Votes %
Jeromy Farkas 13,170 38.38
Linda Johnson 7,588 22.12
Janet Eremenko 6,890 20.08
Robert Dickinson 4,446 12.96
Keith Simmons 2,214 6.45
Total 34,308 100

References
  1. "Coun. Jeromy Farkas launches bid for mayor's seat in 2021 Calgary election | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  2. Ward 11 (31 October 2018). "About Councillor Jeromy Farkas". www.calgary.ca.
  3. http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary/2014/05/28/see-how-calgary-councillors-vote-on-new-tracking-website-from-manning-foundation.html
  4. "Manning Centre Report on Calgary City Council - Taxes (3.2K views)". Scribd.
  5. "Local Wildrose official wants party to become champion of LGBTQ issues". Calgary Herald, June 3, 2016.
  6. "Jeromy Farkas weighs in on why he left the Wildrose constituency to run for Calgary city council". Calgary Journal, December 10, 2016.
  7. "The power and pitfalls of a diverse council". Metro, October 18, 2017.
  8. "Jeromy supports ending mayor's double pensions". Jeromy Farkas. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  9. "Ward 11: Jeromy Farkas vows to stop BRT in its tracks". Calgary Herald, October 17, 2017.
  10. "Councillor's plans for Midfield Mobile Home Park falls flat". CTV Calgary, December 18, 2017.
  11. "Calgary councillor criticized for suggesting parental leave would be ‘betrayal’ of constituents". Global Calgary, February 26, 2018.
  12. "City council approves Green Line, with conditions to keep it on budget". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  13. "Meet the Calgarians running for mayor and council". The Sprawl. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  14. "Council approves 2021 pay freeze, lower cap on transition allowance for 'voluntary' departures". calgaryherald. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  15. Villani, Mark (2020-11-02). "'I would rather be fired': Farkas' police commission tenure ends". Calgary. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  16. "Farkas launches petition urging Calgarians to defend our police". Jeromy Farkas. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  17. "Defend our Police Petition". Jeromy Farkas. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  18. Smith, Madeline (27 November 2020). "Council decides reserves, not police budget, should fund alternative crisis response". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  19. Industrial properties due for 25% tax increase, retrieved 2020-12-07
  20. "Varcoe: How to sell a 25% tax hike — Calgary's tax shift set to squeeze industrial property owners next year". calgaryherald. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  21. "City administration recommends dropping residential speed limits in Calgary to 40 km/h". Global News. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  22. "City proposal would add new fees for residential parking permits". calgaryherald. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
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