Pressure to vote
Several years ago, I attended a seminar dealing with the budgets related to democratic process. In layman’s terms, how many dollars each vote costs for a given tier of government, and what percentage of the electorate responds to the call to the urn. Logically, the more you spend, the more attention you attract. Right now, we’re in the final two weeks before municipal elections, and I’ve had to resort to seeking platform information on my own.
Today, the mayor who would be emperor added a codicil to his offer from last week; that is, the offer to build a new stadium (using other people’s money). He announced that unless 30% or more of the population comes out to vote, he won’t bother seeking the elusive support from other levels of government. There are some flaws in his argument.
Take it as a given that he will be re-elected as mayor. There’s little competition, and it is fractioned. How ever the chips may fall, municipal politics doesn’t attract much attention or inspire much passion. But, for the mayor who would be emperor to promise not to do his job: that takes gall.
I actually did some research today, to discover what other parties were in the running and what their particular dream for the city might be. Locally, we have a candidate for the Green option (with no plan other than to improve public transport) and an independent who makes some very good points.
Our current councilor has had three consecutive mandates and has delivered nothing locally. Although there are thousands more homes, we have no new infrastructure. No parks, no new sporting facilities, no solution to growing traffic problems. If you have to go to work across town (in your car), you’d better plan on leaving home early. As someone who has played “Sim City”, I can see that the seeds of chaos have been planted. Instead of improvement, we might get a new venue for use by rich men.
My sons assure me that this city needs the NHL; I remember the last time we “had” a team, and only the rich could afford tickets. Has something fundamental changed?
