The electors of Nanaimo on November 19th need to choose eight city councillors and a mayor to govern our fair city for the next three years.
As we do not have a political party system in local Nanaimo politics, we cannot choose to support someone simply based on their party, their party leader and their party platform.
It is important to look at what a person has done in their life. Have they been successful personally and professionally? Have they successfully created something, be it wealth, a product, or a service? Have they successfully managed something? You bring to this position your knowledge, skills and experience that have been honed primarily in your working life.
There is a need for some gadflies who won’t simply bow and unquestioningly accept the recommendations of senior administrators. I hope that the bunch I choose have a couple of these. Not merely shit disturbers who like the sound of their own voice, but those who are not ambitious and eager to please.
A critical point to consider is the need for citizen politicians, not professional career politicians. I think councillors should view their position as something they do as public service, not to feather their own nest or ambitions. Hence, this should not be their primary means of income. They should have another good job or be retired. This will avoid the need to be constantly raising the salary of city politicians.
What about political leanings? Provided there is a fair mix of these on council, there shouldn’t be a problem. Were council to be comprised primarily of left-leaning types intent on political engineering and the like, there might be a problem. Local government is or ought to be the classical purvey of the conservative as its primary functions are the provision of public safety and community physical infrastructure. One should not be in local government to change society, but to support it. Roads, water and sewer, fire and policing services are its primary concerns. Zoning connects with this. The convention centre doesn’t. Support for arts and culture is iffy. It is a public good and so should be supported at all levels of government. However, it is dangerous territory for the conservative. What of housing? Is it the responsibility of local government to house the homeless? I think not. However, this connects with issues of public safety and the overall environment within a community. And local government must abide by many decisions made by higher levels of government.
Is it the job of local government to create jobs? Certainly not. Is it the job of local government to create or maintain an environment that is friendly to and supportive of job creation? Certainly yes. Push business taxes too high and businesses will set up elsewhere. Create too much red tape for businesses and they will set up elsewhere. Or simply not start up.
Local government plans for the future, something that business often fails to do. They must anticipate the future and prepare to meet it. This involves the classic duties of building infrastructure.
Ultimately, it comes down to city government as facilitating quality of life.
The issues appear to be (or ought to be):
* capital spending -- The new $16 million city hall annex; the $65 million water treatment facility;
the lengthy and expensive Bowen Road upgrade
* other spending -- total city budget & issues of efficiency
* taxes -- property taxes -- residential vs. business
* communication with the citizens -- use of the Internet; transparency
* the hotel space attached to the convention centre and the convention centre itself
* zoning & further residential and commercial development
- Cedar development
- more malls?
* homeless (& other low income) housing & affordable housing
* the city’s new economic development corporation
* Official community plan
* Occupy Nanaimo?
* Nanaimo’s high unemployment
* Nanaimo’s drug problem
* The North-South split
* transportation issues -- within Nanaimo; Nanaimo to Vancouver
* the E & N
* the pay increase city councillors gave themselves
* the pay and settlements given to city administrators
* earthquake preparedness
An excellent site with a few more questions than the Daily News plus candidates’ answers:
http://www.nanaimo-info-blog.com/p/candidates-answers.html
Basically my process was that after knowing something of the candidates and vetting them via the Daily News election website, I read their answers to these twenty questions. Unless their answers gave me discomfort, I kept them on my list. Some other contenders gave answers that lead me to add them as possibles to my list. I hope to view an all candidates meeting to further substantiate my decision.
One views political candidates both on their own but also in relation to the others standing against them.
The current mayor, John Ruttan, is running for re-election and is a fairly low key and sensible person. He has no grand schemes or private agendas. He knows Nanaimo well. I will vote for him.
Of the 8 current councillors, 3 are retiring and 5 running for re-election. Those running again are:
Jim Kipp
Diana Johnstone
Bill Bestwick
Fred Pattje
Ted Greves
It is important to have some continuity in city government but I believe strongly in the need for fresh blood and healthy turnover. I am thus inclined to support four old candidates and vote in four new ones. The four councillors I choose to re-elect are:
Greves
Johnstone
Bestwick
Kipp
The four new ones are:
Arlene Blundell
Chris Cathers
Bill McKay
Brian Filmore
I think these nine people would make an able city council. Certainly other voters will disagree with me. New information may cause me to change my mind in the coming ten days. But this is where I stand at this point.
