万锦市选系列之二：谁是万锦市长的最佳候选？
随着多伦多市长选举进入白热化，将于10月27日举行的万锦市政选举也进入冲刺阶段。《大中报》将开辟Bob Mok撰写的专栏，以分析万锦市的选举议题和介绍（区域和选区）议员及万锦市长的候选人。我们希望通过他的专栏和文章让读者更好地了解都市政容，也以期帮助选民们在投票箱中投出明智的一票。
Markham municipal election -- which falls on Oct. 27, has entered its final stretch as Toronto mayoral race is heating up. Chinese News will run a column by Bob Mok, which identifies Markham election issues and introduces councillorand mayoral candidates. We hope his column and articles will shed light on municipal politics and help voters to make the right choices.
在过去几年，Mok一直积极参与万锦市市政管理，他最初涉足其中是源于强烈反对万锦市府使用公帑兴建赌场，最终该提议以失败告终。他经常参加市议会和委员会会议并代表市民讲话，为遏制浪费和提高市府的透明度起到积极作用。
Mok has actively participated in Markham municipal politicsover the past few years.He started with fighting against the City’s Arena proposal using public funding, and was instrumental in its ultimate demise. His presence at Council and Committee meetings and his deputations have helped curb wastes and increase the City’s transparency.
尽管现任万锦市长Scarpitti“预期”将会赢得此次市长竞选，但他可能也会因为在兴建体育馆问题上缺乏透明度而失去许多支持者，从而导致得票率下降。但至少，他并不会孤单，他仍拥有一定的民意支持。现在，我们只需拭目以待他在投票夜能获得多少选票。
Even though Mayor Scarpitti is “expected” to win this election, he is also expected to lose a lot of support due to his lack of Transparency in the Arena project and his vote count should decrease as well. At least, he will not be alone and get acclaimed without his name getting listed on the ballots. Now, we can see a vote count for him from Markham citizens on voting night.
在上一次2010年市长选举中有3名候选人，最终Scarpitti市长以54,660张得票获胜。而这一次，包括他在内共有5名候选人进行角逐。
Last time, Mayor Scarpitti picked up 54,660 votes in 2010 and there were 3 candidates. This time, there are 5 candidates including him below:
概述：
Synopsis:
在这5名候选人中，有4人有市政选举经验。
Out of this list of 5 candidates, 4 have prior municipal election experiences.
虽然预期Scarpitti市长将会在此次市选中获得连任，但是记住，不到最后胜负难见分晓。Stephen Kotcyk在上次市长选举中获得5,566张选票，预计他在这次会有更好的表现。他在体育馆辩论中的积极表现将为他加分。
Mayor Scarpitti is not expected to lose this race but remember, it is not over till the fat lady sings. Expect Stephen Kotcyk’s fortune to rise this time and do much better than the 5,566 votes he got last time around. His performance and exposure in the Arena debate will be reflected.
万锦市面临的问题：
Markham Issues:
透明度、市议会效率以及和居民的沟通问题——还记得2013年圣诞节期间的冰暴么？
Transparency, efficiency of Council and communication with residents – remember Ice Storm during Christmas 2013?
任命各种组织和委员会——市长如何才能做得更好？
Appointments to various organizations and committees - how can a Mayor do better?
交通拥堵和缺乏足够的交通设施
Traffic Gridlock and inadequate transit
基础设施费用的成本分摊
Cost sharing of infrastructure costs
万锦市能源公司（MDE）——我们是否应该继续对其进行资助？
Markham District Energy (MDE) – should we continue to fund it?
现任市长涉及的问题
Issues relating to the Incumbent Mayor –
市长绕过其他市议员，独立处理项目和谈判事宜，这样做是否正确？
The Mayor to handling projects and negotiations alone without involvement of other Council members, is that the right thing to do?
市长与Khalid Usman的关系以及会面。
The Mayor’s relationship with Khalid Usman and appointments.
人口增速超过规划设想
Population growth running ahead of planning assumptions
第五选区清真寺选址及审批问题
Ward#5 Mosque location and approval issue
向公众公开万锦市能源公司的账簿
Opening the books to public on MDE
有意竞选区议会主席，浪费此次选举经费
Intentions to run for Regional Chair shortly and wasting money used for this election.
候选人
Candidates:
以下按候选人姓的字母顺序介绍每个候选人：
Let’s look at the candidates in alphabetical order:
Patrick Cottrell: 在最后一分钟报名参选的新秀候选人。在康山区举行的全体候选人大会上，他的表现喜人，但他至今尚未公布自己的竞选政纲。
Patrick Cottrell: A Rookie candidate and a last minute entry to the race. During an All-candidates meeting at Thornhill, he showed that he is a crowd pleaser who has yet to review his election platform.
Partap Dua:在2006年的市长竞选中，他以4912张得票排名第2；2010年的市长竞选尽管总投票数有所增加，但他的得票却降至3909张，排名也滑至第3。有些人认为他是傲慢的知识分子。他提供的市府统计数据和浪费的金钱数量令人印象深刻，但他并没有提出任何具体的补救措施。
Partap Dua: A candidate who came in 2nd in 2006 with 4912 votes, he dropped to 3909 votes in 2010 and 3rd place even as the total vote counts increased. Some say he is an intellect with arrogant characteristics. He impressed the crowd with City statistics and amount of monies wasted but did not provide any concrete remedies.
Stephen Kotyck:在2006年的市长竞选中，Stephen以3195张得票排名第3；在2010年的市长竞选中，他以5566张得票排名第2。Stephen曾参与体育馆辩论，他驳斥严重夸大的经济效益数据，和指出导致有关逾800个全职职位的直接就业数据失真的来源，赢得了居民的高分。Stephen的政纲包括三个部分：（1）透明度，（2）可以在市议员任职期间通过公民投票罢免其议员身份，（3）将任期限制在8年。
Stephen Kotyck: Stephen came from 3195 (3rd place) in 2006 to 5566 votes (2nd place) in 2010. Stephen was involved in the Arena debate and scored high marks with the residents when he disputed the grossly inflated economic benefit numbers and located the source of the distortion for the direct Employment figure of over 800 full time jobs. Stephen provided a platform of 3 items: (1)Transparency, (2)Referendum on recall of Council members, and (3)Limiting terms to 8 years.
Frank Scarpitti:现任市长，经验丰富的沙场老将，他拥有许多优势。但是众所周知，Frank想要成为约克区的区议会主席，并且竞选这一位置的日子指日可待。如果他上任数月后就离职，那此次市长竞选很可能就是浪费纳税人的金钱。因为只有在临近4年任期结束时，才会启动无需竞选的自动替代程序。如果进入市议会的新面孔无法让他获得像过去任期一样的多数优势，那他就无法推进自己的议程。
Frank Scarpitti: A seasoned veteran and incumbent, Frank has many advantages. However, it is well known that he wants to become Regional Chairman for York Region and that election is just around the corner. This Mayoral election may well be a waste of taxpayers’ money if he leaves only after a few months on the job. The automatic procedure to replace him without election will only kick in if it is close to the end of the 4 year term. If the new faces coming into Council do not provide him with his majority in Council like the term just passed, he will not be able to dictate his agenda.
James Treacy:在2006年第四选区的选举中他得到830票，在八名候选人中排名第四。有关他的唯一可用的资料就是曾在2011年7月就当地报纸（《经济学家与太阳》）发表的一篇有关当时的万锦镇花费大约300万元升级网站的文章写信发表自己的看法。他承诺会在一个任期内纠正市府的浪费及其他问题，并誓言失败后退出政坛。
James Treacy: He was 4th out of 8 candidates when he ran in Ward#4 in 2006 with 830 votes. The only information available on him is a letter in July of 2011 written by him in reaction to an article in the local paper (Economist and Sun) about the 3 million dollars web site upgrade by the then Town of Markham. He promised a one term office to correct the City’s wastes and problems and vowed not to run again after that.
在9月18日的全体候选人大会上，我向市长提出了以下的问题：
At the all-candidates meeting on Sept 18, I posed this question to the Mayor:
按照我的理解，今年将是约克区最后一次在其21名市议员中挑选区议会主席。你是会继续担任4年万锦市长，还是将此次选举作为你转向区议会主席的垫脚石，然后再浪费纳税人的金钱进行另一次补选？
It is my understanding that this year is the last time that York Region will choose its Chairman amongst its 21 members. Are you going to serve us as Mayor in Markham for the next 4 years or is this election just a prerequisite for your next career move to Regional Chair position and waste the taxpayer's money for another by-election?
但是这个经验丰富的政客只给出了又一个含糊的答案，对此我并不满意。
I was not satisfied with yet another illusive answer from this seasoned politician.
作为市长，其应该与市议员携手共事，而不是发号施令或参与谈判，并将有关项目的细节一直保密到最后一刻。市长应该就所有事务和市议员进行持续磋商，并通过安排有序的市政委员会介入和参与他们的工作。
A Mayor’s position should be one to work with the Council members and not dictating or negotiating and keeping details of projects in secrecy till the last moment. There should be continuing consultations with the Council members on all affairs and spreading the involvement and participation to them through organized working committees..
许多人都认为“熟悉酝酿轻慢”，万锦市长的职位亟需新鲜血液。他们是否会在2014年10月27日的投票中表达这种意愿，让我们拭目以待。
Many felt that “familiarity breeds contempt” and that new blood is needed for this position in Markham. We will find out if they will express that opinion at the ballot boxes on Oct 27, 2014.