Random Access

Municipal elections have generally been non-events in Mississauga for so long that people may not have noticed that the gun went off Jan. 2 and the candidates are already off and running for this year's Nov. 13 balloting.
The 2006 council election promises more excitement and genuinely interesting races than have been seen for for a long, long time.
That's simply a product of the fact there are two open seats this time around. One race likely will see Carolyn Parrish, Ron Starr and Ted Blackmore, a former MP and two former councillors, go head-to-head-to-head in Ward 6.
The other open ward, on the city's western edge, is Ward 10. Don't look now, but there are already three candidates registered: school trustee Sue McFadden, Jason Roti and Scott Wilson. This ward will likely have between a dozen and two dozen campaigners before it's all over and should be a wide-open affairs unless some other unknown heavyweights decide to wade in.
There's also a likelihood that the new chair of the Dufferin-Peel District Catholic School Board, Peter Ferreira, will run against Maja Prentice in Ward 3, where he did surprisingly well in a last-second run last time around.
Nando Iannicca, the incumbent Ward 7 councillor, was, as usual, the first to register Monday.
As someone who won his seat on council when there was no incumbent in the way, Iannicca said the possibility of two open seats should stimulate interest among Mississaugans who have wanted to be councillors but know how dismal the chances are of knocking off the full-time sitting members.
"I expect to see a lot of lot of people come forward who've had a long-time interest," said Iannicca.
Rumours persist that Steve Mahoney will run against incumbent George Carlson, who is running in the new Ward 11, which is the old half of the Ward 6 he now represents.
Mahoney and Starr could form a tag team against Parrish and alter-ego Carlson, who have worked on each other's campaigns for years and are inseparable political partners.
If it isn't Mahoney, you can bet that the Starr camp will throw up someone to keep Carlson at home. He is a brilliant campaign strategist. The worst thing that could happen to Starr is to have Carlson acclaimed so he can spend all his time working for Parrish in his old riding.
The other thing people are wondering about is whether this is the last scrimmage (there's never any real game) for Her Warship.
Every election year for as long as I remember, the Wishful Thinking Society decides that this will be the mayor's last election.
For some strange reason, people do not accept what the mayor continually says, which is that she will continue to serve until her health dictates otherwise.
The chances of the mayor retiring voluntarily are the same as the chances she will embrace regional government. Believe what you see. She's here, whether you like it or not, for the duration.
One of the pleasures of modern elections is that you don't have to watch the comings and goings at the Clerk's Department to figure out who's running.
You can watch the candidates, known and unknown, pop up online at the City's website, www.mississauga.ca.
Be careful though. I can tell you from experience that checking out the registrations is incredibly habit-forming.