Lyn Hall had his back to City Hall when he was speaking to friends and supporters standing on the building's front lawn while announcing his candidacy for mayor Wednesday.
Some of his words, however, were about the person who still sits in the office he hopes to occupy after November's election.
Hall was blunt in declaring that his campaign for mayor will be about "style of leadership," a phrase he repeated at least three times in his speech. That's a not-so-subtle poke at outgoing mayor Shari Green as well as a bold declaration that a vote for Hall will be a vote for a much different mayor than she has been, one who wants to "build relationships" and "reconnect city council to the community."
It was also an opening jab at Don Zurowski, the other declared candidate for mayor. While Zurowski's announcement two weeks ago was mostly attended by prominent right-of-centre political players, the same folks who helped Green unseat Dan Rogers three years ago, Hall's group of supporters on hand Wednesday was a much more diverse lot, politically and culturally.
That will be the core of Hall's campaign for the mayor's chair - voters that want the small-c conservative, exclusive old guard that Green represented can back Zurowski but for those who want a mayor with broader and deeper connections in Prince George, they can put their X beside Hall.
It may seem like deja vu all over again. Dan Rogers took a similar tact when he defeated Zurowski for mayor in 2008 but that's where comparisons should end between Hall and Rogers. While Hall doesn't bring the smooth, confident communication style Rogers was known for, Hall isn't known for talking and studying issues to death, either, a dithering approach that stuck to Rogers.
Hall is proud of his record of "tough choices" made during his 10 years as a school board trustee, five of them as chair. That takes some bravery to bring up because Hall and his fellow trustees (one of whom was Michelle Marelli, who is now Hall's campaign manager) were forced to close schools due to declining enrolment. While Hall wasn't punished for it when he ran for city council, where he was the highest vote-getter, some voters might hold him responsible for casting the vote to close their neighbourhood school.
Other voters will rightfully ask where Hall's leadership and willingness to make (and stick to) touch choices was during the last three years he sat on city council. If Hall was unhappy with Green's leadership, he did not show it very often or very emphatically at the council table. He could have still been respectful to the mayor while respectfully challenging her agenda and her leadership but he did not seize that opportunity. The unofficial opposition to Green's leadership on city council over the last three years was taken up by Brian Skakun, not by Hall.
He went along with the core services review process, even as its value in finding real savings in city spending dwindled. He supported the hefty increases in off-street parking rates downtown and then followed the herd of councillors who turned against it in the face of a noisy public outcry. He also flip-flopped on the Haldi Road women's recovery centre, initially voting against it and then endorsing it in the end.
At the end of his speech Wednesday, Hall encouraged people to stop him when they see him, even if it's in Costco and Superstore, to ask him questions about his candidacy. Challenging him on his council record would be a good conversation starter.
Hall deserves the tough questions and intense scrutiny because he's a serious and legitimate candidate for mayor. His years of service and political experience should be respected and analyzed thoroughly. He's earned it.
Most importantly, Hall should be praised for his willingness to run for mayor when the much easier thing to do would have been to run for another term as a city councillor. He has chosen to put his name forward for a job that pays far more in grief than it does in dollars and for that he should be thanked.
So now Hall has to explain how his leadership style and his ability to engage broad segments of the community will make Prince George better.
He has just under five months to make his case for an X next to his name on the ballot. Every eligible voter in Prince George should hear him out.
