Architecture, Urban Design and Toronto
By Ramanan Sivaranjan, A Funkaoshi Production
I thought this wasn’t a political debate.
Shima and I attended a talk last night at the Theatre Centre — it’s part of that gorgeous building at the corner Dovercourt and Queen. In attendance were 2 candidates from our ward, Adam Giambrone and Simon Wookey. Shima informed me that the remaining guests were also worth paying attention to: they were John Sewell, who is apparently a bit of a planning superstar, but is better known for being a former mayor of Toronto (before my time), and Adam Vaughan, who was a journalist for City TV.
It was a very interesting discussion…. which i’ll write about not later today.
You can see more photos of this talk over at my Flickr account.
Himy Syed
The night ended with Shima and I meeting the infamous Himy Syed. He makes some very cool outdoor art projects. It’s strange meeting someone that you met online through your weblog. He used to post the occasional comment here.
Right now Himy Syed is putting all his energy into running for deputy mayor, and councilor for Ward 19. And does the man have some energy. Shima and I chatted with him for a good while; he told us about all the things he wants to do in the city.
He’s a very creative and unconventional politician to be. I’m really hoping he wins the ward. It’d be nice to have some different voices in office. (If you live in Ward 19, vote for him. I’m not kidding.)
It’s interesting to see how contenders find ways to challenge the incumbents. Himy has no where near the funds of the incumbant Joe Pantalone. He argues there isn’t much point trying to campaign the same way as Pantalone, because its a game he can’t win.
Instead Himy’s campaign has been very grass roots. He goes to events like this, meets people, and encourages them to talk about him.
His website is slowly being filled to the brim with information. He has PDF files you can download if you want to make your own flyers to advertise for him. (You print them out at 8 by 10, and they can be arranged in various ways to make bigger posters.)
His buttons are all made out of older buttons. (I think Shima’s friend Tiff would love how he is so mindful of waste and the environment.)
It will be interesting to see if this approach works; I think it could in a ward like Ward 19. It certainly will be a tough race, as I understand Pantalone is well liked.
