Powell River residents now know who their choices are for mayor and council with three mayoralty options and 13 for council, including four incumbents. Most of the new candidates do not have any experience in elected political office so once again it presents voters with the difficulty of trying to figure out who to vote for.
Turnout in civic elections is traditionally low, with Powell River at around 41 per cent, actually above the average. Many people interpret this low turnout as an indication that people don’t care about what happens at city hall or think it doesn’t matter who gets in. In fact, experts in local elections have discovered a more important reason: people often know so little about the candidates they are reluctant to vote in case they mistakenly vote for someone who turns out not to share their values.
While regrettable, at least this reason for not voting suggests people are not just apathetic but actually trying to be responsible about their vote.
As I have said before in this column, it is easier to vote in provincial and federal elections because regardless of who the local candidate is you have a pretty good idea of what their party stands for.
So, in civic elections with no political parties, do we vote for the candidate with the most signs or ads? Let’s hope not.
We also have to be wary of the “alphabet” bias; being high on the ballot alphabetically gives a candidate a significant advantage. With this election, in choosing among 13 people for six council positions, we risk running out of votes by the time we get to the bottom of the list.
Of course, you don’t have to vote for six candidates. If you feel you only have enough information about three or four, just vote for them.
Thankfully, money is no longer the major factor it used to be. New spending limits have levelled the playing field somewhat.
How do you determine if a candidate deserves your vote? Find out if they have experience that is relevant to making sound decisions for the city.
Do they have enough respect among their peers to raise at least some money to run a real campaign? Are they accessible? Do they go beyond image-making efforts and make a real effort to communicate with individual residents? And perhaps most important, have they put some serious thought into identifying the issues people care about and come up with clear positions on how to deal with them?
It would be good to hear from the candidates some specifics on how they would handle key civic issues. People have complained about lack of openness at city hall and the number of decisions made in-camera. Question: Would you pledge to change that and how?
People have complained about lack of meaningful community engagement with council. Question: Exactly how would you improve this situation?
People are really struggling to find affordable accommodation. Question: What can the city do to improve this situation? Residents have expressed anger about the stalemate regarding the derelict Inn at Westview. Question: What is your timeline for tearing it down and how would you make the owner pay?
Remember, councillors now have four-year terms. Be careful how you vote. You don’t want to spend the next four years griping about city hall.
Murray Dobbin is a Powell River freelance writer and social commentator.
