Shirley Timm-Rudolph

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Shirley Timm-Rudolph is a politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She was a city councillor from 1986 to 1992, and again from 1995 to 2002. Timm-Rudolph ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1988 federal election, and for Mayor of Winnipeg in a 2004 by-election.

Contents

[edit] Early life and private career

Timm-Rudolph was raised in north-end Winnipeg, and was an interior designer before entering public life. She became a salesperson after leaving council for the first time,[1] and established a consulting business in 2002. In 2004, she organized a charity golf tournament called the Gold Spike Golf Tournament.[2]

[edit] Councillor

Timm-Rudolph first ran for Winnipeg City Council in the 1983 municipal election as a New Democrat in the Springfield Heights division, and was narrowly defeated by Jim Ragsdill. She ran again in 1986 as an independent, and was elected over a crowded field. She ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1988 federal election as a Liberal, and finished second against New Democratic Party incumbent Bill Blaikie in Winnipeg—Transcona.

Re-elected to a second term in 1989, Timm-Rudolph lost to fellow councillor Rick Boychuk in 1992 after redistribution forced the two incumbents to face one another. The 1992 contest was marked by extreme bitterness, with Boychuk accusing Timm-Rudolph of being in a conflict of interest situation. She was later cleared by a provincial investigation.[3]

Timm-Rudolph served on the provincial Municipal Board after her 1992 defeat.[4] She ran for re-election in 1995, and defeated Boychuk in a rematch. During this campaign, she proposed the creation of an auxiliary police force to take care of menial tasks and allow officers to focus on more important matters.[5] When asked after the election about her political ideology, she responded "dead centre".[6] A survey of voting patterns in early 1997 found her to be one of its most independent members, voting with or against Mayor Susan Thompson's governing coalition depending on the issue.[7]

Thompson appointed Timm-Rudolph as acting deputy mayor in November 1995,[8] and named her to the city's executive policy committee in March 1997, replacing Garth Steek. She initially served as chairman of the city's planning and services committee, succeeding Amaro Silva (who in turn replaced Steek in finance).[9] In November 1997, she was reassigned as chair of the public works committee.[10] She voted against a bus fare reduction in 1998, arguing that it would lead to higher property taxes.[11]

Timm-Rudolph was expected to face a difficult re-election in 1998, but instead won without difficulty after Russ Wyatt, her main opponent, decided to withdraw from the contest.[12] After the election, she became a prominent member of the unofficial council opposition to new mayor Glen Murray.[13] She served on the board of the Winnipeg Convention Centre and remained a member of the public works committee, but was no longer its chair.[14] She also served on several national boards, including those of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Yellowhead Highway.[15] She was a critic of the city's restrictive anti-smoking legislation, and in 2001 was one of only two councillors to vote against the city's operating budget.[16]

Timm-Rudolph decided not to seek re-election in 2002, saying that she found it different to work with Glen Murray, and indicating that she wanted to start a consulting business and write children's books.[17] She later said that her greatest accomplishment in office was bringing about construction of a storm water retention basin in southeast Transcona, an area often plagued by flooding.[18]

[edit] Mayoral campaign

Timm-Rudolph was one of the first declared candidates for the 2004 mayoral by-election, which was called after Murray resigned to run for the House of Commons. She was initially considered a strong candidate, but did not establish a strong campaign organization.[19] She finished a distant seventh against Sam Katz.[20]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ "Shirley Timm-Rudolph", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 September 1995, A11.
  2. ^ "Shirley Timm-Rudolph", Winnipeg Free Press, 2 June 2004, B1. Ironically, the tournament took place on the same day as the mayoral by-election.
  3. ^ Nick Martin, "Grudge match boiling in ward", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 August 1995, B1.
  4. ^ Treena Khan, "Finger pointing begins at city hall", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 March 1996, A2.
  5. ^ "Shirley Timm-Rudolph", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 September 1995, A11. She was forty years old at the time.
  6. ^ Stevens Wild, "Freshmen a diverse lot", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 October 1995, A8.
  7. ^ "Thompson gets her way: study", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 March 1997, A4.
  8. ^ Stevens Wild, "Mayor relies on veterans to manage EPC", Winnipeg Free Press, 4 November 1995, A6.
  9. ^ "Steek loses plum job", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 March 1997, A1.
  10. ^ "Thompson announces new city team", Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 1997, A5.
  11. ^ Kim Guttormson, "City could bring back reduced bus fares", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 November 1998, A4.
  12. ^ "Wyatt departs race; leaves two to vie for Transcona seat", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 October 1998, A8.
  13. ^ Keith McArthur, "`Knives are out' for mayor as old grudges fester", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 November 1998, A3; Patti Edgar, "Ex-Transcona councillor may join race for mayor", Winnipeg Free Press, 20 May 2004, B2. Timm-Rudolph once said of Murray that he "used to scream blue bloody murder about ethics, but I'm not sure he's got any. He makes up his own rules". See David O'Brien, "Murray: A year on the job", Winnipeg Free Press, 1 November 1999, A4.
  14. ^ "Here's who sits on civic committees", Winnipeg Free Press, 13 November 1998, A5; Bruce Owen, "City venue may ban gang colours", Winnipeg Free Pres, 27 March 2002, A3.
  15. ^ Leah Hendry, "A life outside city hall", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 July 2002, A8.
  16. ^ David O'Brien, "Councillors grumble, pass budget", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 October 2001, A3; Fred Cleverley, "Let smoking die a natural death", Winnipeg Free Press, 21 January 2002, A10.
  17. ^ Leah Hendry, "Timm-Rudolph decides to call it quits", Winnipeg Free Press, 20 September 2002, A16; Leah Hendry, "New faces unlikely in mayor's inner circle", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 October 2002, A3.
  18. ^ Aldo Santin, "Timm-Rudolph gets green light for lake idea", Winnipeg Free Press, 10 April 1996; Treena Khan, "Transcona lake plan sails through EPC", Winnipeg Free Press, 8 February 1997, A8; Kevin Rollason, "Lake plans hit rough waters", Winnipeg Free Press, 10 April 1997, A9; Aldo Santin, "Transcona residents get pond", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 July 1997, A3; "Timm-Rudolph in race", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 May 2004, A3.
  19. ^ She did not have a campaign office or campaign manager. See Patti Edgar, "Mayoral battle entering final stretch", Winnipeg Free Press, 17 June 2004, B1. One newspaper report described her as appearing unprepared at an all-candidates meeting. See Patti Edgar, "Golden moments of unwavering repetition into the home stretch", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 June 2004, B4.
  20. ^ She was later fined $400 for failing to file an audited financial statement. See Mary Agnes Welch, "Two more council candidates fined", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 February 2006, B1.
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