Approximately 550 Powell River residents have been vocal in a survey about City of Powell River governance and priorities.
During a period of about four months, Powell River Voices has collected the opinions of city dwellers as part of its initiative to spur voter engagement and participation in the electoral process, and is now releasing results. Powell River Voices has also collated city council’s voting record and a questionnaire the organization posed to candidates seeking first-time election to council.
Ellen Gould, survey coordinator for Powell River Voices, said the citizen group is committed to increasing voter turnout in the civic election.
“It’s a belief that we should have a majority rule,” she said, “and we get a pretty good turnout in Powell River compared to other communities. We are still not getting the majority out yet.”
That’s the simple idea from which Powell River Voices started, Gould said. The group then had a discussion with an expert on municipal elections to determine why people don’t vote.
“It’s for good reasons,” Gould said. “There are no political parties in civic politics so it’s not an easy thing to cast a municipal ballot. There are often lots of people on the ballot. Voters just don’t know where to start. In fact, a lot of people start voting for the As and Bs on the ballot. They want to do their duty but they are just not sure.”
In addition to encouraging greater turnout, Powell River Voices also wondered how to provide voters with information on the basis of what they care about.
“So, we went out with a door-to-door survey,” she said.
The group began with the Sustainability Charter for the Powell River Region as the bedrock for the survey. The group tested the survey and added a few questions on the basis of what people were bringing up. The queries had a specific focus, based on values, not issues.
About 20 volunteers took the survey door-to-door, and it has also been available on Powell River Voices’ website. The surveyors randomly knocked on doors within the city. Gould said those conducting the surveys were trained to listen.
“We all have our individual opinions but that was not what the survey was about,” she said. “It was to find out what people thought. We all made a firm commitment not to leap in.
“Every one of these surveys represents at least 20 minutes of time. It was a really big effort. People wanted to talk. We met amazing people at the doors and learned a lot. It was a really valuable experience.”
All of the respondents had to provide names and addresses. This ensures that people are surveyed only once. Gould said respondents have been assured of anonymity.
She said the survey results confirm that what is in the sustainability charter is reflecting what is out in the community. Future councils can rely on that charter and it really is a mandate from the community, she added.
While the survey revealed some strongly held views in eight areas of concern, including: citizen involvement; resilient economy; agriculture; the environment; taxation; protecting public services; support for arts, recreation and culture; plus health, environment and jobs, questions about council’s performance in these areas rendered varying results. Survey respondents were asked how council was performing in the eight areas, and were given the options of: agree; disagree; undecided; or don’t know. In each of these areas, a large number of those surveyed were undecided.
“That speaks to an information gap,” Gould said. “Maybe that’s an information gap the Peak can fill, or we can try to fill, to spark that interest and motivate people to vote.”
Powell River Voices is not endorsing candidates.
“We provide information on candidates and people can draw their own conclusions,” Gould said. “We are not a political party. We are just trying to pass along information. We are showing how people have voted related to values.”
Gould said her organization’s aim is to help people cast an informed vote and they want to make it easy for them to do that because voting is important.
“City hall has an impact on people’s lives,” she said.
For more information, readers can visit Powell River Voices’ website.
