Denley: Ottawa needs credible contenders in next mayoral race

And yet, Ottawans deserve a meaningful vote every four years on the top municipal job, one that involves at least two viable choices. To accomplish that bare minimum of civic democracy, someone has to be willing to step up and run, whether Watson chooses to or not.

Every potential candidate would prefer a wide-open field, but how many years are they prepared to wait to see it? There are one million people in this city. Surely one or two are capable of being the next mayor. The first sign of leadership would be to seek the job, rather than wait for the perfect opportunity.

We have a mayor who has been in office forever, is struggling with the job and isn’t even sure he wants it. Some would call that a good chance for someone with a fresh, fair and imaginative approach to shaping our city.

By the time of the next election, Watson will have been mayor for 12 years, not counting the three he spent as mayor of the former Ottawa. A win would give him 16 years as mayor. After all that time, even the best mayor would be out of energy, ideas and patience and it’s pretty clear that Watson is running low on all three.

This is a guy who wants to spend millions “fixing” Sparks Street and the ByWard Market, but can’t fix our roads. He rules council like a second-rate dictator, shutting out those who question him and buying the support of the most pliable councillors by making sure they get committee chairmanships or the fancy but meaningless title of deputy mayor.