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In the 2010 election, Nenshi easily distanced himself from rival Jon Lord, a former alderman and MLA, running to victory with 74 per cent of the popular vote. This time around, some polls have shown Smith in the lead, which indicates our once hugely popular mayor is at risk of being brought back down to Earth.

Elections are tougher for incumbents when economic times have darkened, as they surely have in Calgary. Vacant downtown office buildings and the resulting tax ramifications for surrounding businesses have drawn scrutiny to city hall’s spending record. Indeed, Calgarians have consistently identified expenditures and property taxes as the key issues in this election — an observation that might not be so keen if the economy were performing better.

Frankly, though, paying attention to how public money is spent and how high taxes are set should be a priority for politicians in good times and bad. To a large extent, the city’s penchant for spending is what has put it in the unenviable position of ratcheting up taxes in recent years and now facing a worrisome shortfall in the year ahead and yet another prospect of tax increases.

University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe says city spending has increased by nine per cent annually since 2007, compared to a combined increase of population growth and inflation of 3.7 per cent in those same years.

“If you held those spending increases to the rate of inflation and population growth, that spending would be $750 million smaller,” said Tombe.