The importance of an open mind in 2010

Dan Bordonali.

It is with great pride and a strong sense of responsibility that I make my debut blog for the 2010 municipal election. For this introductory blog, I would like to focus on the importance of keeping an open mind during the election campaign.

Municipal elections are unique to the democratic process. No other level of government provides the amount of access to the candidate or their campaign. This is due, in large part to the fact that a candidate is free to create their own platform based on their knowledge and leadership in the community and the city, as opposed to simply “toeing a party line.”

However, the absence of a party system at the municipal level requires the electorate to invest some time to understand the candidates and determine which one is the most effective person to represent them at City Hall. I believe that this dynamic requires the voter to keep an open mind when making their decision for the next Mayor, Councillor, and School Trustee.

In this election, I ask you to resist the urge to support a candidate just because of name recognition or because they are the incumbent. Instead, have the candidates apply for the job, like they would any other job. Have them convince you why they are the best person to represent your interests at City Hall.

I recently spoke to one mayoral candidate who told me that it was too early to ask for my vote, but instead asked that I consider his candidacy as the campaign unfolded. That is the kind of campaign that every candidate should run, including incumbent Councillors, and one that the voters should expect!

This election will shape the future of our City for years to come, and it requires the electorate to be more engaged and informed in order to buck the trend of low voter turnout in previous municipal elections (approximately 40 per cent). If the City has any chance of success in the future, the electorate must participate in the process en masse.

So with that, I look forward to discussing the important issues that affect our city so that we can all contribute to the process of building a better city. Talk to you soon!

About Dan Bordonali

Comments

[Andrew]

It's ironic that the level of politics that can most directly affect a person's life (municipal) is the one that gets the lowest voter turnout.

[Caroline]

Agreed. We have a lot of great things to protect. We need to find the best leader and look forward to a thorough discussion.

[Jeff Wood]

You mentioned the idea of getting politicians to work for you vote. One idea I had recently was to encourage all candidates who are running for election to political office (municipal, provincial, and federal) to add a community development focus to their campaign.

Right now, each candidate is focussed just on gathering enough votes to get them elected... and they do that with a combination of media ads, phone and door-to-door canvassing, public debates, and get-out-the-vote activities. But almost all of the talk during the election campaigns is about what the candidate will do once s/he is elected. Given how often our elected officials break their campaign promises, it is no longer sufficient just to take them at their word.

What if, instead, we asked them to put their money where their mouth is during the actual election campaign? What if we were to ask all candidates to add a second task to their political campaign (Task 1 being to capture your vote). Task 2 could be this - to organize their volunteer forces to raise funds for a non-profit organization that works within the candidate's riding/ward. Daily fundraising results could be reported in real time on a special website, and a final tally could be posted on the wall of the polling booth to let voters know how much money the candidate raised (the cutoff for fundraising would be a few days before the actual election).

There are, of course, a number of things that would need to be decided upon (and set up) before this could be done. For example, when it comes to deciding which non-profits would be the beneficiaries, the candidates could be given the freedom to identify and choose which non-profit organization their fundraising would support... this in itself would give the voters some insight into how well the candidates know their community's needs and what they see as high priorities. Or an arms-length group of community leaders could get together and choose which non-profit(s) will be the recipient for the fundraising. Also, rules would need to be set up governing who could donate (only people residing in each riding/ward), how much each person could donate, whether the donation would be considered a political donation for income tax purposes, etc.

During election campaigns, dozens of volunteers fan out across each riding/ward knocking on doors and making telephone calls, candidates press the flesh at subway stops, churches, and malls, websites are set up extolling the virtues of the candidates, etc. etc. Given all of this effort, it seems a shame that all we get at the end of it is a bunch of elected officials. Think of our last federal election. We spent roughly $310 million dollars ($1 million per riding) and all we ended up with at the end was a list of 310 MPs.

Let's multitask our political campaigns, and use them as opportunities to not only choose our riding/ward representatives, but also to raise much-need funds for the community organizations that help to make our communities better!

[Patrick Smyth]

I admire Dan Bordonali's honest approach. He will be aware of the circumstances that gave rise to Karen Stintz's first election. That's when community activists worked to dump Anne Johnston and elect a Councillor who would be more supportive of Ward 16 residents. With solid financial and PR backing Karen Stintz became that person. Naturally, voters thought her promises would be kept in view of what had just happened. How wrong we were. The most blatant example being her support for a 7 storey building soon to be erected in a stable 2 storey residential neighbourhood! More than ever, we need to be careful who we elect and devise ways to hold the elected to their promises. Let's hope there will be a contest in Ward 16 this November?

[Michael P]

I don't think It's ironic, considering the level of politics you speak of could be macro-cosmically likened to a high-school student council.