The year 2010 is off to a flying start. Jan. 4 was the date when people could begin filing papers to run in the Oct. 25 municipal election, and quite a number of people have already tossed their hats in the ring.
Municipal campaigning means knocking on a lot of doors; the campaign has to be personal. Familiarity may breed contempt, but in a municipal campaign, an incumbent who should be turfed out for past misdeeds can get elected if voters know him better than the alternative. However, the heat does not die down the day after the election.
This is the level of government where the representative answers to his or her constituency on a daily basis. Around here, that can mean everything from a heated confrontation in the checkout line at Zehrs or Food Basics, to an enthusiastic hand shake over coffee at the Tim Hortons.
It often includes phone calls at home during dinner, and getting cornered in the waiting room at the dentist’s office. Unlike federal and provincial representatives, we know where our municipal leaders live and work. We know what causes they support.
We also know, and so do they, where the potholes are, and where the traffic gets tangled on a regular basis, i.e. downtown. Anyone who drives through the centre of Listowel on a regular basis has surely noticed one of the ugliest traffic flow situations around. Perhaps the next municipal and county councils will figure out there is only so much that can be done with pedestrian crosswalks when the town needs a truck bypass.
While the community’s recovery from the economic downturn of the last year will play a prominent role in municipal election 2010, local candidates should be prepared to answer many questions on why the municipal office needs to be larger. A new fire hall with room for training and up-to-date equipment is easier to explain.
A related question – one that candidates in many municipalities will be facing – is how the town intends to pay its share of all those federal-provincial partnership projects. When upper tier governments offer two-thirds of the money for infrastructure work, it looks tempting, especially when the work needs to be done. But when too large a portion of our property taxes is devoted to servicing debt, it effectively ties the hands of future councils.
What people forget is federal and provincial money comes from the general tax base, while the municipality funds its share from property taxes. Money required by upper tier governments comes mostly from those earning money; with municipalities, it comes from property owners.
The people hit hardest by property tax increases are elderly pensioners. Our leaders can talk all they want about the need to provide the amenities to attract future investment; it still seems almost criminal to do it at the expense of the people who worked hard to make this municipality what it is today.
Municipalities as a whole have to tackle the issue of property assessment. Even with a scathing Ontario ombudsman’s report, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation is still causing problems, evidenced by last year’s mess with incorrect assessments on agricultural properties.
Municipal government is not for the faint of heart; it is for people who truly care about their community and want to make a difference. Bravo to all who choose to run for office – you have our respect, you will get our questions, and you have to earn our votes. – P.K.