While it may seem early, and few people may be in the mood to start thinking about it, the 2010 municipal election season has officially begun.
With November’s election still 10 months away, most candidates may wait another several months before filing their papers, but current South Huron Mayor Ken Oke has an early start, having already filed his papers seeking re-election.
Here’s hoping there are elections for all positions on the municipal councils in our area. Acclamations — the process by which a person becomes a member of council by being the sole contestant for that position — are boring and are evidence of an apathetic community. Luckily the 2006 municipal election featured a number of interesting battles, particularly in South Huron, which attracted many candidates, both new and not so new.
There were, however, several acclamations on Bluewater council and Lucan Biddulph, with the latter municipality seeing both its mayor and deputy mayor acclaimed.
Not good. Democracy is more effective when the public actually participates. In South Huron, many people became involved in the last election because of their dissatisfaction with council decisions, such as the Crediton-Centralia sewer project. In the current term, there have been more issues that may bring out candidates, such as increased water rates.
Regardless, it would be nice to see every council position contested and to make acclamations a thing of the past.
We constantly hear complaints about council — the election provides you with the chance to do something about it. Run for council and try to do a better job. It’s definitely not an easy job, and there is probably much more work involved than most members of the public think, but many members of council will tell you it’s a rewarding job.
So give it some thought. There’s still plenty of time to make up your mind, but this is a chance to become involved in your community and to affect change.