We are a little over nine months away from the next municipal election. That seems like a long ways off, but in reality, it is time to consider options.
First and foremost is for candidates to plan. In this week’s edition of The Voice, you will see that we have asked every sitting member of council if they plan on running again. A good portion – five – said no.
That will alter the landscape of council. So too will the long-overdue restructuring of council. Last year, the folks around the Monday night horseshoe that is the Chatham-Kent council table opted to reduce the number of councillors from 17 to 14. Boundaries will be altered, but the viewpoint by some is that rural C-K will lose three councillors.
With the high turnover and the new reduced number of seats, it’s extremely important for voters to deliver a group that can actually work together. The past three-plus years have been dysfunctional for the most part. Few issues went through smoothly. There were squabbles over issues big and small.
The adversarial attitudes are causing some councillors to step away, or at the very least are among the reasons several are not seeking re-election.
The citizens are partly to blame as well. We elect people to serve us for a four-year term. Democracy in this timeframe is that we trust the majority of councillors to have our best interests at heart. We don’t demand referendums; we lobby. We don’t spit on councillors. We don’t flay them on social media.
It is one thing to disagree with what a municipal politician says; it is another entirely to go after them in such aggressive manners.
We have long advised to attack the issue, not the individual. Somewhere, for too many, that got lost.
When the election takes place in October, we can only hope enough people come forward – armed with very thick skins – to collectively have the best interests of the majority of Chatham-Kent citizens at heart, and that the electorate is able to vote them into office.
Our voter turnout has been dismal for years. That has to change, or special interest groups could take over council.
Vote. Our future is in all our hands.
