As of today, I'd say the municipal election is decided. Not over, just decided. I've always felt by this time in the campaign, voters have heard all they want to hear, considered the issues and made their choice.
A good test of this theory is comparing the advance results to see if they track with Saturday's outcome. I bet they will.
Having leapt off that cliff, here are my fearless Right Side Up predictions of who will sit in council chambers for the next three years.
First, all the current council incumbents will be returned, and in no particular order, here's why.
Cameron Stolz will do well and be close to the top in the polls. At The Citizen all-candidates forum, Stolz was the best prepared when it came to providing short yet fully informative responses.
This is always the sign of someone who knows what they're talking about. Stolz understands the business of managing a city as well, if not better, than any of the other council candidates.
Debora Munoz will be re-elected, not for any innovative ideas, but because she cares and it shows.
Munoz has gone through a significant learning curve while on council, made a few mistakes but recovered nicely.
Garth Frizzell will be returned. Frizzell is a team player, solid contributor, hard worker, downtown business owner and well regarded by his peers. He sits on two City Hall committees - a rarity - and is one of five B.C. city councillors elected to represent the province as a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
You've got to be smart to get that endorsement, and Frizzell is.
Murry Krause will be back at City Hall for a fourth term. Krause speaks for a lot of people who probably wouldn't have an advocate at any level of government.
Moreover, he's tireless, in touch and a sold contributor.
Dave Wilbur is seeking his second term on council and should be re-elected. He's retired from his downtown law practice and has lots of time and talent to offer.
Finally, we get to Brian Skakun. Skakun blundered into some semblance of notoriety in his attempt to embarrass the RCMP by way of a disguised need for transparency.
When the dust had settled, all he really accomplished was an expensive court case and a guilty finding. In a final statement to the last council he admits to poor judgment.
Had Brian attended more administrative meetings in his first term he might have avoided the problems of the second and third. We'll mark Brian down as showing improvement.
There are two openings for city council seats and a lot of good candidates. This is a tough one and I see three close contenders for those two spots. Any two of the three would be solid additions to city council.
Again, and in no particular order of where they will finish, I think we'll see the following elected. First, Lyn Hall who has a solid record of school board service and experience. Hall would do well at City Hall and the community would do well with him as a councilor.
Next is Albert Koehler. Koehler is a past president of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce and an unabashed supporter of our city. Albert is a successful businessman and a strong advocate of economic diversification.
Finally. Frank Everitt. Everitt is a labour leader, but from the private sector. When it comes to unions there's a big difference between the private sector unions who grapple with reality every day and the public sector unions who don't.
Lastly we get to the hot item: the run for the mayor's chair. No doubt about it this race has captivated the media - and one would hope - the electorate.
I'm picking Shari Green; she's smart, focused and decisive. Green's campaign is centered on the need to control City Hall spending by implementing a core review of expenditures. This is a good plan - core reviews work. I've been through two of them, one from the inside and a second one on the outside.
The good thing about a core review is it scares hell out of the bureaucrats. Clearly it's in their best interests to find efficiencies. They can be part of the solution or part of the problem
Being part of the solution has career-advancing benefits. Being part of the problem does not.
Shari Green is on solid ground advancing a core review of costs and a majority of council candidates seem to agree with her. In fact, the odd man out on the question of a core review is Dan Rogers.
Finally, Election Day is Saturday. Prove me wrong or prove me right, but for goodness sake get out and vote.
