The Similkameen News Leader
Editorial
October 28, 2008
I'VE MADE MY CHOICES
Voting in the upcoming Municipal Election may look like quite the task, what, with all the interesting people to choose from...but if you really dig a little deeper into the pile of candidates it isn't really all that hard to figure out.
Or at least it wasn't so hard for me once I starting thinking about possible outcomes.
Let me tell you how I did it.
I looked into the past.
I basically examined the performance of Councils Before Methane (or CBM for short) and before I knew it, I had my full five choices (one for Mayor, 4 for Councillor) all picked out.
When I looked back at the CBM, I realized that most of our previous Town Councils have contained a mix of experienced and new members. It's not uncommon for a completely
'green' candidate to win a seat on Town Council. But in most cases, it's only one seat when you look at CBM.
So, I allowed for that. A new face is good. Maybe two new faces would be good.
Then I did what most Canadians have done, as well as voters in Princeton (using CBM as my evidence) and that is the habit of voting against Candidates rather than for certain Candidates.
This Election will be fun for a lot of you who do this. Pick an issue then vote against those in favour of that issue. It's the Canadian way of voting in any kind of Election right down to non-profit organizations.
If you've ever said something like, "I can't vote for (fill in the blank) because of (fill in the blank) but on the other hand so-and-so does (fill in the blank) so I guess I'll have to vote for the lesser of two evils," then you understand fully from which I speak.
Need some issues to kick around to see if this really works? Off the top of my head ask who's in favour of the swimming pool or where the next housing development in Princeton should go. How about whether or not you're in support of the mine completing a complete environmental impact study. Surely someone's thought of that. I can't be giving you ideas you didn't already have.
How about increases to the fire department budget to properly serve the new Town of Princeton residents following boundary expansion? Should all Town employees receive a 10-pound or 12-pound turkey at Christmas or should we save the environment a little and cancel the staff Christmas party? What will the Town Square (actually more of a triangle) be called? There has to be something better than Cenotaph Park or Princeton Town Square. Maybe the money saved from the Christmas party should be used as a prize to the resident who comes up with the best name.
I have veered.
All I'm saying is I was able to sort through the list of Candidates and pick who I'm voting for by using a little common sense. On November 15th I hope I'm not alone in wanting our town to move forward instead of getting bogged down in too many issues related to something other than progress.
Unless, of course, you like voting against that sort of thing.
