Time flies at City Hall. It was just three years ago that voters were casting ballots to decide who would would be the mayor.
It's now time to review the performance of those candidates who have served in the last term. Pick up The Citizen in the coming week for in depth features on the incumbent candidates and their performances on the most pressing topics from the 2008-2011 term.
We begin with a look at the incumbents competing for the top spot.
Elected mayor by a large margin over Don Zurowski, Dan Rogers now faces Shari Green, who was a newcomer three years ago, but now believes she's the right person for the job.
Here's a look back at their past election platforms, a quick assessment of how they've lived up to their aims, and where they received their financial support for their campaigns three years ago.
Dan Rogers: After narrowly losing to Colin Kinsley in 2005, there was little doubt Rogers would take another run at the top job on council in 2008.
In the months leading up to the election, Rogers built a profile chairing a task force that set out a proposal to add 44 kilometres to the Prince George's trails network by the city's 100th birthday in 2015. Doing so would cost $7.6 million but Rogers stressed the idea would be to gathering as much funding from outside sources as possible before turning to the taxpayer.
Like he did in 2005, Rogers ran a focused and somewhat splashy campaign that appealed to middle-of-the-road voters while challenger Don Zurowski leaned towards smaller government and lower, or at least minimally-increased, taxes.
And like he has this year and in 2005, one of Rogers's first moves was to issue a policy platform book outlining where he stands on a long list of issues. During interviews and at all-candidate forums, Rogers seemed to know what he wanted and had an answer for almost every question while Zurowski appeared unfocussed and unsure.
What's more, Rogers earned an A+ from the People's Action Committee for Healthy Air (PACHA) while Zurowski was given a B+ during an election when air quality was a major issue.
There were other topics.
On taxation, Rogers told The Citizen that within the first 30 days of becoming mayor, he would appoint a fiscally conservative council member chair of the finance and audit committee and challenge administration to take a "zero-based" approach to budgeting.
Once elected, Rogers named veteran councillor Murry Krause the chair. Although Krause is better known for championing social issues, Rogers did name business owner Cameron Stolz the committee's number two.
Rogers said he supported the proposed performing arts centre for downtown, but added taxpayers should get the last word via referendum.
Rogers stood for a safer streets initiative, managed by the city, police, downtown businesses and social agencies, and funded by traffic fine and surplus parking revenue. He also said he favours a mixture of market and non-market housing downtown.
Once elected, Rogers established a mayor's task force for a better downtown. Perhaps the most tangible outcome was a Downtown Clean Team, created through a partnership between the City of Prince George, the Downtown Business Improvement Association and Brain Injured Group Society.
Arguably the most controversial move during Rogers's tenure was the city's purchase of the old Prince George Hotel for $2.5 million from a group headed by Prince George businessman Dan McLaren, who had purchased it from longtime owner Ted Coole only a few months before. The deal was a surprise move and left observes wondering what had happened behind the scenes.
The hotel has since been leveled, with hopes it will make way for a provincial government wood innovation and design centre. But the controversy over the way the deal was handled still lingers.
Rogers spent nearly $64,000 on his campaign, compared to Zurowski's $49,000. The figure was also more than the $38,250 Rogers spent in 2005 when Kinsley ran up $58, 221.
And in contrast to 2005, when the Prince George and District Labour Council and the Canadian Union of Public Employees were his biggest supporters, Rogers drew some big contributions from the business side as well.
At $5,000 each, Northern Interior Aggregates and M. Rogers Mechanical Contractors Ltd. made the largest donations, followed by Otter Properties at $4,000, and Brink Forest Products at $3,000.
In all, 30 businesses contributed $29,869 to his campaign.
Seven labour organizations, meanwhile, ponied up a total of $7,700 while Rogers received contributions of $100 or more from 52 individuals, led by Vince Scott at $3,400.
As well, Rogers spent $7,289 of his own money.
In all, Rogers received $63,722 in contributions and spent $63,694.
In the end, Rogers defeated Zurowski, a long-time council colleague, by nearly 2,800 votes.
Shari Green: The owner of a Fourth Avenue gift and clothing shop and president of the Downtown Business Improvement Association (DBIA) was front and centre when a "Let's Get Started" rally for the downtown was held in September 2008.
It became a launching point for Green's run at council, and during the election, Green "made no bones" about her singular focus on improving the downtown, saying the whole city would benefit as improved property values in the area would lessen the tax burden on the rest of Prince George.
She campaigned on establishing a development corporation to market downtown properties, adding it would be good to see city-owned property downtown developed. That initiative hasn't materialized, however municipal economic development agents have adopted a stronger tone with regards to the downtown advancement.
Another priority for Green was to establish a community court for people who commit crimes because of social issues, similar to one in Vancouver. Although some inroads were made with regards to the handling of local social issues at court level, a community court could not materialize without the necessary provincial participation.
She also put a priority on ending homelessness. And, at the time, Green maintained that ending homelessness within 10 years is achievable after travelling to Portland, Ore. to see how the issue is handled in that city.
"Downtowns should thrive as vibrant neighbourhoods and a vision, a development corporation and an end to homelessness will get us there," Green said.
Although hard evidence is lacking, anecdotal evidence suggests homelessness has declined in the downtown.
Her message stuck a chord to the tune of 9,469 votes and a second-place finish - unusual for a rookie candidate.
Green was also the second biggest spender among successful council candidates at $21,102. Her biggest supporter was Let's Go Prince George, a group of downtown business owners who sponsored five candidates, at $7,356. She raised a further $10.424 in cash and in-kind contributions from 13 businesses and seven individuals while she spent $3,850 of her own or her business's money.
Shortly after she was elected, Green discovered just how hard realizing that vision could be when the price tag for a long-awaited plan to improve the streetscape along Fourth Avenue downtown met resistance from fellow councillors.
Estimated at just under $6.9 million, 39 property owners along the five-block section would cover $1.4 million of the bill through a local area service tax while the remaining $5.5 million would be paid by city taxpayers via long-term debt.
"$6.8 million is a huge amount of money and it's not something we're going to get help with this year," she said. "A year ago property owners probably would have been ready."
The plan has remained in hiatus ever since.
During the February 2009 budget meeting, Green raised some hackles by suggesting the city save money by refraining from clearing residential areas altogether or lowering the standard for snow removal along those stretches. She soon found out how important snow plowing is to Prince George residents.
While on the executive of Downtown Prince George, Green was involved in the idea of developing the Boundary Road proposal - a $48-million four-lane, 6.6-kilometre stretch connecting Highway 97 south and Highway 16 east at the Prince George Airport.
She's also been known to back away from decisions - known as flip flopping in the political parlance.
During the 2010 budget deliberations, Green was among council members who reversed their decision on the light industrial tax burden a mere four days before the budget was due to be handed in. However the move was greeted with enthusiasm by many who opposed the tax, and earned her a reputation for listening to taxpayers.
