CALGARY - Local developers and home builders are preparing their own election website and plan to campaign heavily for their agenda in the upcoming civic election, a year after the divisive debate on the Plan It blueprint for city growth.

One of Calgary's biggest home builders lays out the campaign in a three-and-a-half-minute video.

"We want a mayor and city council that is open for people and open for business.

"We need to elect candidates that see new residences and businesses as an opportunity, not a strain on our infrastructure," Jay Westman, CEO of Jayman MasterBuilt, says in the video posted on votecalgary.ca.

Westman goes on to call for candidates who will invest in critical infrastructure, streamline bureaucratic processes at city hall, and protect "consumer choice" and aff ordability.

"The bottom line is that city hall makes a difference on our ability to operate successful businesses. But we too can make a difference at city hall by the candidates elected to represent us. . . . With the mayor's seat and a number of wards up for grabs, it's time to engage and mobilize our industry," Westman adds.

The Canadian Home Builders Association, Calgary region, and the Urban Development Institute Calgary are behind the votecalgary.cawebsite, which will be launched officially in mid-June.

The two organizations joined forces earlier this year to lobby against aspects of Plan It, a document mapping out long-term growth for the city that builders feared would compromise their suburban expansion plans.

The industry partners plan to survey prospective mayoral and ward candidates about development and business issues, and plan to post responses and interviews online for the approximately 28,000 voters locally employed in home building.

"This election is a critical one, with a new mayor and a number of new aldermen to be elected. The industry believes it is critical their members get involved, get informed and make sure they vote," said Jenelle Wohlberg, who has been hired to manage the votecalgary.cawebsite.

But the prospect of having the two powerful organizations leading civic election debates has some worried.

"I would be deeply shocked if it were a truly open and balanced presentation of information of this election. That's not in their financial interests," said self-described democracy activist Grant Neufeld, who is helping create the community-driven election website calgarydemocracy.ca.

Neufeld cites the industry approach to the Plan It discussion, which he says effectively "gutted" some of the plan's key sprawl-curbing provisions.

"Part of the problem and reason they have so much control at city hall is they have a lot of money. Unfortunately, our political systems tend to be very swayed by money," he said.

Developers and home-builders are traditionally the biggest donors to civic election campaigns.

When asked if votecalgary.cawould officially endorse mayoral and aldermanic candidates, or use survey results to encourage businesses to donate to specific campaign funds, Wohlberg would only say said the site's focus remains on getting election information out from an industry perspective.