Last night's Spurtle hustings on Bellevue Crescent was one of the best and liveliest we remember.
Below is an impartial, abbreviated account of the main questions and answers. A number of exchanges between inaudible audience members (who couldn't wait for a microphone) and candidates have been omitted. Likewise, questioners' rambling preambles and the Chairman's occasional interventions have been left out.
Alternative summaries of events are available by searching for the #edcc hashtag on Twitter, or last night's live tweets by @STVEdinburgh.
An impressionistic summary of the event and how individual candidates fared appears here.
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The tone was set with the first question, by independent Chairman Harald Tobermann.
Question 1: Describing existing councillors as largely 'passive', he wanted to know what these aspiring councillors would do, if elected, to reinvigorate local politics.
Iain McGill (IM, Conservative): Councillors had been too passive in the face of officials, especially over trams and homelessness. Councillors, must believe the evidence of their own eyes rather than trusting anodyne or misleading statistics.
Alistair Hodgson (AH, Lib-Dem): Agreed with much of what IM had said, again blaming officials for the trams fiasco but suggesting that councillors should do more to publicise what CEC is doing right – e.g. in getting Edinburgh's finances back on track.
Karen Doran (KD, Labour): Did not think councillors had been passive. She thought they had been actively going against voters' wishes.
John Carson (JC, Independent): Councillors not so much passive as incompetent. Borrowing could reach £2b, Education being ruined by rushed changes and loss of experienced teachers. Although 'not a politician', he would do better than current councillors. [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
Alasdair Rankin (AR, Scottish Nationalist): Cllr David Beckett had shown a good example of effective work as a councillor – soliciting opinions on containerisation and pushing for locally tailored solutions. Recommended clearer explanations for CEC's difficult but necessary cutbacks. Suggested CEC borrowing had been useful, e.g. in funding CEC's new HQ at Waverley Court. [DERISIVE LAUGHTER FROM THE AUDIENCE]
Melanie Main (MM, Green): CEC behaved like 'a petrified dinosaur'. Officials don't listen to the public. Councillors must be more active in finding out and representing electors' views.
Question 2: Are you in favour of outsourcing CEC services, yes or no?
AH: No.
KD: No.
JC: No. ('And outsourcing is the same thing as privatisation.')
AR: No ... Unless private sector can offer equal service more cheaply.
MM: No.
IM: Not for Health and Social Care (where he favours greater role for Voluntary Sector), but potentially Yes for Bins if private sector can offer better service for less money. [JC VOICED SUSPICION THAT PRIVATE CONTRACTORS USED DURING BINS DISPUTE ARE NOT RECYCLING. BINS BOSS SHOULD BE SACKED.]
Question 3: Would you support the establishment of a Common Good Fund to protect Edinburgh's public resources, make their running more transparent, and prevent CEC selling them off?
KD: Should not be necessary. 'Transparency' was a councillor's self-evident duty. [UNSATISFIED MUTTERING FROM ONE SECTION OF AUDIENCE]
JC: An excellent idea, e.g. to prevent the 'rape' of Lothian Buses and protect public property from 'the vagaries of incompetent councillors'. [LOUD AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
AR: Entirely in favour of a Common Good Fund.
MM: Yes, in particular to prevent David Murray acquiring Waverley Market for £6.20. CEC inward-looking and bullying towards own employees. Open public debate vital. [LOUD AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
IM: Very much in favour, particularly over Inverleith Park sell-off and exclusive Taste of Edinburgh event.
AH: [TRANSCRIBER MISSED CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE]
Question 4: What would you do about CEC mismanagement (e.g. over the Bins dispute)?
JC: Stop CEC imposing gagging orders on its own employees. Trams contractor had been willing to discuss in public, but CEC used confidentiality clauses to hide its incompetence. In Bins dispute, incompetent management had not addressed issues of overmanning and shiftworking. [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
AR: General accusation of mismanagement unfair. Trams a disaster, but CEC finances 'in order' according to Audit Scotland. [1. INCREDULOUS AUDIENCE WHISTLE AND ACCUSATION OF CONDESCENDING TONE; 2. HECKLER:
'THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "IN ORDER" AND "WELL MANAGED"]
MM: CEC must own up to mismanagement – e.g. in Education where staff cuts and low morale were awful. Need for more proactive spending, less reactive spending. [LOUD AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
IM: [Laughing] 'Alasdair Rankin – you'd fit right in at the Council: one ex-civil servant having perfect faith in the claims of other civil servants.' Productivity and costs of Bins hampered by top-heavy management. CEC unable to run nurseries at a profit despite huge demand. CEC needs more councillors with business experience.
AH: Mismanagement occurred under previous Labour Administration, but things being turned around now. CEC voted the most improving local authority in Scotland. [HECKLER: 'VOTED BY WHOM?'. AH: 'I DON'T EXACTLY KNOW'. AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] New Chief Executive very good and listening to locals.
KD: Streets, pavements, litter, miserable teachers – complete shambles due to massive mismanagement. We should hear what CEC employees have to say – I'd do away with disgraceful gagging orders.
Question 5: Would you support a ring-fenced, Care-Needs budget? Perhaps run along mutual lines.
MM: Yes.
IM: Would always go for the best-quality, not cheapest, option. Must avoid repeating collapse of Southern Cross and disgraceful treatment of vulnerable at Elsie Inglis Home. Councillors must use their eyes, not solely trust officials' statistics. [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
AH: Agreed with IM. More funding necessary and 'the sooner the better'.
KD: Had spoken to old people in sheltered housing marooned for 4 weeks during winter snows, ignored by CEC. Must also protect most vulnerable from bad effects of privatisation. Needs-driven. Client consultation.
JC: Agreed with KD. But thought all other candidates disingenuous since problems of Care-Needs provision exacerbated by £274m cuts which other parties had voted through. Mutualisation idea great, so long as greedy private sector and incompetent CEC aren't entrusted with managing it.
AR: SNP in favour of mutuals. AR had been personally in favour of retaining mutual status of various building societies with which he had had dealings. However, mutuals must be flexible enough to tailor care packages, not one-size-fits-all solutions.
Question 6: Would you support the Leith Biomass Plant proposal?
All said 'No!' and nothing more.
Question 7: If asked by CEC to sign a confidentiality agreement, would you do so?
JC: No. It would stop him communicating with voters. 'I will never sign one.' [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
KD: No. [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
AH: Yes. It makes honesty with voters difficult, but commercial contracts demand confidentiality. 'You wouldn't expect an MP to tell you everything, would you?' [SEVERAL AUDIENCE MEMBERS RESPOND 'YES!']
IM: Yes – for tactical reasons. If it's the only way I can get sight of the figures. Like [Conservative] Councillor Joanne Mowatt [in audience], I would then say I had no confidence in the figures and demand that they be made public and explained.
MM: Never.
AR: [SARCASTIC RESPONSE TO INAUDIBLE COMMENT FROM AUDIENCE MEMBER: 'THANK YOU FOR THAT PIERCING INSIGHT'. AUDIENCE – SHARP INTAKES OF BREATH, TUTS, IRONIC 'Ooo!'] Such confidentiality agreements are legally binding and must be respected. They weren't designed to hide mismanagement, but unfortunately that's how they are sometimes abused.
Question 8: Do you accept that councillors' role is to represent voters, and officials' role is to provide councillors with information?
MM: Councillors must stand up to officials.
AR: Expert officials must be 'on tap, not on top'. There is an element of trust, but councillors must be independent-minded. Party-political system is not perfect, but the best we have so far. 'If you have a better idea, I'd be delighted to hear it.'
JC: Cllr Cardownie is totally inconsistent on trams.
KD: Councillors should represent voters over party or officials.
AH: Suggested confidentiality agreements had been instigated by previous Labour Administration. [JC REBUTTED THIS, SAYING IT WAS INSTIGATED BY LIB-DEMS AND SUPPORTED BY SNP.] Tram problems had given rise to major issues of trust and culpability regarding information supplied to councillors by officials. If public misgivings at the time had been ignored, this was very disappointing and one of the matters which should be investigated in a public inquiry.
IM: Conservative Group had long called for a public inquiry, but doubted Lib-Dems and SNP would implement one. If you want to hold people accountable, don't vote for them. Kick them out and replace them! [AUDIENCE APPLAUSE]
Question 9: At the moment, Council planners seem powerless or unwilling to prevent the corporatisation of Edinburgh's town centres (particularly by supermarkets), leading to the loss of retail diversity and urban vibrancy. Do you recognise this as a problem, and if so what will you do about it?
JC: Princes Street is an example of what Edinburgh shouldn't be. Traffic is prioritised over pedestrians. Edinburgh trams are Europe's longest along some of Europe's tightest streets. Cyclical favouring of large stores and local shops. All examples of bad planning. Needs balance.
KD: Supermarkets will cause disintegration of independent shops. We must fight to protect local shops. Planning needs looked at.
AH: Works in a small, independent pub so this question close to his heart. 'Diversity is the best form of consumerism.' Will work to attract and help local businesses, but supermarkets outgun local authorities. Legislative changes necessary at Holyrood level.
IM: I'll keep campaigning the way I have been': e.g. Keep Stockbridge Local (versus Sainsbury in former Woolworth premises), practical support for traders associations. We all need to make personal choices, shop locally whenever possible.
MM: Hasn't been in a Tesco store since 2005. Officials are too eager to deal with developers and unwilling to meet locals. Councillors must insist that they do more. Traders associations powerless against supermarkets, but CEC use of byelaws/City Plan could be used more effectively. CEC could provide grants and reduce business rates.
AR: SNP nationally has provided the Small Business Bonus (taken up by 6,000 firms in Edinburgh). Where CEC owns shop leases, it should insist on shops catering to the community rather than selling tartan tat. [AUDIENCE INTERRUPTION: 'WHY NOT CHANGE THE LEGISLATION?' AR: 'IT'S A RESERVED MATTER FOR WESTMINSTER.' INAUDIBLE AUDIENCE COMMENT. AR: 'WELL, WE'RE JUST GETTING INTO SEMANTICS NOW.'