We’re six months away from the municipal election.
It’s hard to believe that in six months we’ll be heading to the polls to elect our local councils for the next four years.
For those of us who follow local politics, this is prime speculation season.
Who will run again?
Who isn’t going to run?
Will someone step up to challenge for the mayor’s seat?
And, perhaps the most interesting question – Who will come out of the woodwork to run for council?
Every election, the latter is a popular topic of conversation in the office and at home. It’s a fun exercise of gathering all of the gossip from local coffee shops, service club meetings and local events and trying to find the truth somewhere in the middle.
And without fail, a name or two always slip through the cracks and show up on the ballot.
Usually, one or two candidates in any municipality put their name on the ballot with goals of changing the world. However, some of those candidates pick the wrong level of government to seek election. Some want to change education or health care (a provincial issue) while others want to eliminate sales tax (a provincial and federal issue). Some even have ideas that are, in my opinion, so far off the beaten trail that four years would not even make a dent in their goal.
However, regardless of a candidate’s views, I respect the fact that they put their name forward to run for public office.
Unless you follow local politics, you don’t get a real grasp on the time commitment that sitting on local council entails.
For starters, there are your regular council meetings (usually two per month, three in some municipalities) and the massive agenda packages that go along with it. Those packages are distributed the Friday before a council meeting, giving councillors time to read them over, ask questions of staff, and make informed choices on the issues at hand.
Then there are the committees – police board, economic development, recreation, etc. – that meet once every month or two. A member or of council sits on those committees and has to attend those meetings as well.
In some municipalities, one or more members of council also serve on county council meetings, where they do much of the same things that they do at the local level.
Sure, these elected officials are getting paid for their time, but none of them are getting rich (unless you are in Wellington County – $40,000 or more for a county councillor, and that’s usually not the only paycheque they are collecting!).
Do I believe that some local politicians are only on council for the extra paycheque? I do. However, I also believe that the large majority of those on council – or those who do run for office – do so because they want to improve our community and lead it into more prosperous times.
In the age of social media, it’s quite common for us to read comments accompanying our news stories about how “council has no idea what they are doing” or, better yet, keyboard warriors will offer their take on what the municipality should do in a given situation.
For years, I’ve heard members of the public complain that council is made up of the same group of people, year after year, who “don’t have a clue what the hell they’re doing.”
Well, with the municipal election coming up, I would like to issue a challenge to those who believe they can do a better job than the current elected officials: step up and run for office.
All it takes to run for office is to complete the required forms, pay the nomination fee (usually between $100-$200) and collect 25 signatures on your nomination form. For specific information for your municipality, contact the municipal office.
Nominations are being accepted beginning May 2 until Aug. 19.
Let the election speculation season begin.
***
Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
