We just came through a federal election here in Canada and a fairly useless and expensive endeavour to boot! Most people would have voted along party lines and that would likely be similar in provincial elections too! Obviously there are exceptions, but in general, the person is far less important than the political party.
However, in the upcoming municipal elections, there are no direct party affiliations and therefore you are voting strictly for a person. In this blog post, I’m hoping to provide some insights to assist voters in selecting the best candidates and ensure our municipalities and school boards function much better than most other governments perform in provinces and the country. I have previously written about “Becoming a school board member” which might be a helpful read as well.
- Voting for incumbents- Incumbents should have a leg up when it comes to the election and that is partly due to name recognition. However, it is important for voters to have a clear understanding of what those incumbents have done during their term. Have they been successful? Have they made a positive impact to the community they served? I always liked the phrase, “The best predictor of future performance is past performance” and this is what voters should be looking for in incumbents.
- Name recognition- This is not only for incumbents. Sometimes a well established family or member of the community has a relative running for office. While the name may be respected, it is not automatic that the candidate will be strong. I’ve witnessed far too often people being elected because of their name and failing miserably in the role.
- Voting for new- I’m a strong believer that a mix of new and incumbent candidates serve boards and councils best… but they have to be the right new! When looking at new candidates running for positions, it is essential to understand their reason for seeking election. As Simon Sinek says, “What is their why?” For me, I really want to hear candidates talking about service to all and not just a select few of their cronies and an opportunity to give back to the community at large.
- Balance- As highlighted in the above bullet, the right balance of new and current candidates is essential. Just as boards and councils who have become long in the tooth have a tendency to become stale and disconnected, the opposite of all or nearly all new can be just as damaging. Not to be disrespectful, but new candidates to boards and councils have limited knowledge about the role and without some experienced mentors, those groups can become pretty dysfunctional pretty quickly.
- Mayors- While there may be exceptions, I would be hard pressed to vote for a mayoral candidate that doesn’t have council experience. They may be great on paper but they lack council experience and it is really important to have a good understanding of council business, roles, procedures and policies beforehand. However, if the current lot of councillors running have a past record that is poor at best, find the best “new” out there.
- Promises- I refer back to my statement that most candidates who have not been in political roles have little true understanding of that role. It is easy to make promises about what you will do when most times that is not part of your role description. “You don’t know what you don’t know” is an appropriate statement here. Promises should be around a candidate’s character and how he or she will act. While these promises may not hold out to be true, lofty promises about “changing the world” are arrogant at best!
- Single issue candidates- When candidates are fixated on one issue, chances are that they won’t be much help to the organization, board or council. If the issue is quickly resolved or it is actually a non-issue or unsolvable, the candidate is left in almost limbo since his/her reason for running is now mute! Candidates who come in with an axe to grind are similar, but might be even more dangerous because they are coming into the position in the name of revenge and not service.
Unfortunately most of the general public don’t do the necessary work to get to know their candidates and then get what they get! I’m hoping that in this next general municipal election on October 18th, that the right candidates rise to the top and serve as needed and required in this most challenging of times!
