This election is about how you live your life

Your next city council will have to figure out where to put the first legal cannabis stores — if they want them at all — ride herd on the multi-billion-dollar LRT expansion, and keep taxes as low as possible while filling in potholes, fixing up neighbourhood parks, and maybe increasing community policing.

And that's just in the first few weeks.

• Join the conversation. Click on this link to become a member of the CBC Ottawa City Talk Facebook group.

To say that city government is the one that's closest to the people has become something of a ​cliché.

But it's also true.

Water and garbage, roads and sidewalks, bike lanes — or lack thereof — community recreation centres, bus routes, the height of the new building around the corner... decisions about these crucial questions, the issues that touch us every day, are all ultimately made by your city councillor.

Taxes, traffic, and tall buildings 

You never know what issue may overtake an election campaign, and different people will have different priorities, but there's one platform plank that voters are always on the lookout for: taxes.

If the tax increase had been just a half-percentage higher over each of the last four years — that's 2.5 per cent — there'd be $26 million more in the city's coffers by now, including about $7 million more for police.

Jim Watson, the incumbent mayor running for his third consecutive term, has promised — and delivered — constant and relatively low annual tax increases over the last eight years.

But critics charge that keeping annual property tax increased to two per cent over this current term has meant not enough money for services people want, from road repairs to increased social supports.

Expect a debate over the level of taxes to be a central theme of this campaign.

• Cards stacked against council gang pushing infrastructure levy

Consider this: If the tax increase had been just a half-percentage higher over each of the last four years — that's 2.5 per cent — there'd be $26 million more in the city's coffers by now, including about $7 million more for police.

Now, $26 million represents less than one per cent of the city's $3-billion budget, but how many potholes could that fill? How much affordable housing could that build?

For police, $7 million could pay for as many as 45 first-year constables. For those upset at the reduction of community police officers in this term of council, a slight increase in taxes may be worth it.

• Community police officers down to 10 from 15

Or think about the dozens of ways that money could be spent on much smaller measures that make big differences to communities.

There are currently 15 intersections across the city that warrant a crossing guard but are not being funded this year. The cost to guard those crossings for the current school year? A mere $177,089.

And that's just one tiny part of a larger conversation on traffic, sure to be a major campaign issue. Watson has already said traffic is the No. 1 issue he's hearing at the door, so look for promises from his camp on dealing with the increasing problem.

Clive Doucet is Watson's prime contender for the mayor's chair. He's sure to push an agenda highlighting strategies to keep cars off the road — such as increased cycling and pedestrian infrastructure — but his 11th-hour entry in the race will be forcing other conversations the incumbent might have preferred to avoid.

One will be about development. In some parts of the city, council's seeming willingness to override community zoning plans for highrise developments has residents — and a number of candidates — seeing red. The issue came to a head after council's recent decision to approve a trio of towers up to 65 storeys, more than twice the height that had been allowed.

We've got you covered

While it's obvious why your vote matters, casting a ballot can be a complicated affair. More than 110 candidates are running — there are a record 17 in Orlé​ans alone! — and their pledges run the gamut from lower transit fares to transforming our garbage to bio-diesel.

Who are these contenders? Are their promises based in reality? We're here to help.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be bringing you all the news and information you'll need to make a knowledgeable decision on Oct. 22. The first thing you'll need to know is who's running in your ward.

We've created a site that includes an interactive map and information about each of the city's 23 wards, including a complete list of candidates and their answers to a CBC questionnaire.

• Your one-stop info shop on Ottawa municipal election candidates

Our questions won't necessarily reflect all the priorities of every candidate, but it's a place to start learning a little about the people running in your ward, and their ideas for the city and your communities.

We sent the questionnaire to all candidates who provided contact information to the city's election office, and most took the time to fill it out and return it. If you don't see a response from a candidate in your ward, it's because a response wasn't provided.

As for the mayoral candidates, we'll get their responses to you a little later in the campaign.

Debates, wards to watch, and CBC's Street Talk

It's easy for a candidate to make a promise, but what about keeping it? Campaign slogans are simple, but running a city is complicated.

To help you sort through the bluster, we'll be bringing you a series of explainers on key city issues that lay out the facts and what powers councillors have to address the problem. We will begin with a deep dive into traffic from CBC's Kate Porter on Wednesday.

We also aim to cover at least one debate in each ward where one is organized.

We'll keep an eye on every race and we'll take a closer look at a number of wards to watch, including Bay, Innes, Orléans and Kanata North, where no incumbent is running, as well as Alta Vista, Capital and Gloucester-South Nepean, which are each fielding noteworthy rosters of candidates.

And there's no telling when a race becomes surprisingly interesting.

Tim Tierney was expected to easily be re-elected for a third consecutive term.

But with the surprise news that he's being investigated by the OPP for allegedly trying to induce his opponent to drop out, Beacon Hill-Cyrville ward is suddenly in play. 

• Find out about debates in your ward here

But perhaps most important, we want to hear from you. What's one thing that bugs you about Ottawa? What do you want to see change in your city? We want to know.

Look for us in the community over the next few weeks, where we'll be soliciting your thoughts, questions and beefs. Our first stop is Dundonald Park on Somerset Street W, and we'll be there on Wednesday from 2 to 6 p.m.

We care about this city election, and so should you. It's about how you get around the city, it's about whether you feel safe in your neighbourhood, it's about about how you live your life.