Gondek surprised to win Canada's Mayor of the Year award from niche municipal politics magazine

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek has a small accolade to add to her resume, she was named Mayor of the Year by a niche Ontario-based municipal politics magazine.

The award comes as polls have shown she is struggling with her approval ratings. A Maru Public Opinion poll released in September suggested only 18 per cent of Calgarians said Gondek deserved re-election, while 69 per cent said she didn't. 

Gondek says she learned that she was being honoured when she was contacted by the editor of Municipal World, a magazine that describes itself as a brand to connect municipalities with the information, products, services and people they need.

The magazine has been published monthly since 1891, however Gondek is the first-ever recipient of the award.

"It shocked me, actually, it surprised me completely," Gondek said. "We had a conversation with the editor who explained that they felt a need to start this type of recognition, and I was incredibly honoured to know that I was the first one."

Municipal World is popular reading material at Calgary City Hall, according to the mayor. Gondek says the entire organization at the City of Calgary, including its administrative team, are "plugged in" to the publication.

"This is a publication and a group that really does leading edge work on what municipalities are facing, and a lot of competitive analysis, and just all kinds of interesting things that municipal nerds like us quite enjoy," Gondek said.

Greg Crone, executive editor of Municipal World, told CBC News the person selected for the award had to make an impact in the municipal sector and garner enough attention from others in the field.

Crone says many Municipal World staff members attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Calgary in June, when the city was hit with a devastating feeder main break that prompted stringent outdoor water restrictions.

"Not just myself, but many people at the conference took note that Mayor Gondek was front and centre and taking care of the response," he said. "There was a lot of sympathy for her, but also a lot of admiration for her and the way she was handling it."

Crone says Gondek was already on the magazine's radar for various things related to her leadership including downtown revitalization and creating safer streets, but when the time came to pick one of Canada's mayors, there was a consensus among staff that it was going to be her.

Municipal World says Gondek was chosen following extensive research, personal interviews, and first-hand observations of the municipal sector. Crone says no other Canadian mayors were considered for the award and her selection was a "no brainer" for the editorial team.

"Everybody at Municipal World nodded their heads and said 'Yep, we can't think of anybody else.' So she was our selection," he said.

Asked about Gondek's popularity in light of a failed attempt to recall her as mayor, among other controversies ranging from declaring a climate emergency to property tax increases to blanket rezoning, the magazine's editor says being mayor of a municipality is a tough, often thankless job, and she handles it well.