2012 grade: F
2011 grade: D
2010 grade: B
2009 grade: B-
2008 grade: C-
2001 grade: D
Russell Walker's "cantankerous old dude reprimanding silly democratic debate" routine is getting tiresome. "Here we go again..."� he says at least once a meeting, before positioning himself as the clear thinker in the room.
But Walker's thinking is as political as anyone else's, and his voting record is in lock-step with the worst council decisions: he refused to reprimand Kelly; he voted to take the Hydrostone out of the north end BID, then to sell St. Pat's-Alexandra; he pursued the stadium fantasy to the point of spewing a half-million dollar wad over it; he cared not a whit for HRM By Design, voting to send Skye Halifax to public hearing. Walker is a doppelganger for Lionel Barrymore's Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life, except that Potter had a more endearing personality. It takes a lot to out-Potter Potter, but Walker has managed it.
He claims that he is the voice of reason on council, but more often than not, Walker is leading the herd right off the cliff.
