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Thought I should just put in one last (hastily-scrawled) installment of my story about Gian-Carlo Carra's campaign for Calgary City Councillor: 
If Gian-Carlo ever gets tired of city politics, he could open a Mexican restaurant... yum!
I'm looking forward to the city council's new term in office. There should be lots of good stories - stay tuned!
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Well, everyone, it's the night before Calgary's civic election and here I am posting a last-minute final installment of my "Carra Artist in Residence" comics. The idea was that I'd follow along with Gian-Carlo Carra's campaign to be re-elected as Calgary City Councillor in Ward 9, and draw some pictures about that. I did draw some comics about Gian-Carlo's campaign (which you can read here), but over the past month or so, I got busy with other things (as you will see below). So here's my summation of how the last few weeks of the Carra campaign - which, by all accounts, has been both busy and fun - has looked from my vantage point!  And now, if you haven't already done so, go out and vote!
 So, I've been a bit distracted over the past week or two by the arrival of this really great new baby in my household. But even throughout all this time, I can't help but be aware that there's a civic election happening pretty soon (October 21st). Since I was fortunate enough to get involved with this team of volunteers who created VoteKit - a local non-partisan initiative that is geared towards encouraging Calgarians to get out to the polls - I seem to have been hearing a lot of talk about why people don't vote. There are lots of reasons people don't vote (including my own, which I wrote about in this comics post). But one reason that seems to keep coming up is that people don't feel they're informed enough. For example, a person might not vote for their city councillor because they don't feel they know enough about the candidates and wouldn't want to influence the outcome of the election with an uninformed contribution. (Well-intentioned, I guess, but sometimes it's still a good idea just to exercise your right to vote - you know, let the government know that we care about democracy!)  Other non-voters are even less informed - for example, they don't know what a city councillor is or what a city councillor does. And I'm not just talking about new Canadians who are still getting the hang of this country's political system. I'm talking about Calgarians who grew up here, went to school, read the news... but still don't feel they're on solid ground when it comes to the nuts and bolts of a civic election. And that's an awkward spot to be in. How can you ask without feeling silly? Shouldn't you just magically know this stuff?  The answer is no. There's no "Civic Politics 101" that's mandatory for Calgarians of voting age to take at school somewhere (not that I know of, anyway). So don't feel silly! Here is a little comic strip for folks who wish they had a better handle on the most basic stuff. Even with three more days until the election, it's never too late to learn!
Consult the Municipal Government Act for a fuller description of what the mayor does - according to the MGA, the mayor really is the "CEO" - it just stands for "Chief Elected Official." If you want to know more about what city councillors do, you can read this very straightforward (and rather fun to read) post about their job description, on the VoteKit site.
Some links:
www.votekit.ca www.calgary.ca www.calgarydemocracy.ca Some day when I have a lot of free time I'll figure out a way to insert hyperlinks right into the comic strip text. That would be so cool! A bit late, but here's this month's Ramsay Community Newsletter comic strip. 
Find out more about BARRE Body Studio in Ramsay, and Naina's Kitchen!
And in case you're wondering, the baby was born on October 3rd (hence my delay in posting this, not to mention my delay in getting quite a few other things done, too). He is healthy and his name is Henry!  A little while ago, I found out about a Calgary volunteer initiative called VoteKit, which "strives to be a resource for clear, unbiased information about how to vote in the 2013 Calgary Municipal Election so that all eligible Calgarians can voice their opinions about who should represent them as their mayor, councillors and school trustees." And here's what the group says about itself: " We are a group of volunteers who have come together with the single goal of increasing voter turnout." That's a goal I really like! So yesterday, I went to a very unique event called VoteKit LIVE, put together by these hardworking volunteers. Here's a comic strip I wrote about it.
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sam hesterI am a graphic recorder based in Calgary. I like local stories. I write comics when I have free time. And I leave eraser shavings everywhere I go. Looking for a
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Some nice things people said about my work:
“If Breitkreuz and Foong [founders of the Calgary Comics & Entertainment Expo] represent the Type-A side of Calgary's self-publishing community, Hester may be the community's right brain.” – Tom Babin, FFWD Magazine
“…A strong graphic style similar to other autobiographically-inclined Canadian cartoonists like Chester Brown and Julie Doucet.” – Gilbert Bouchard, Edmonton Journal
The 23rd Story: an indie comics creator's tales of life in Calgary
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