Four years ago, the city council race was a hot one. There were a total of four candidates for mayor and a whopping 24 candidates for city council. There was a near-complete replacement of council itself - with Randy Goulden 小蓝视频 the only person to retain her council seat - and Mayor Bob Maloney held onto the chair with a mere 33 votes. It was one hotly contested race.
This time around we have the ingredients for another pretty intense campaign, though COVID-19 could dampen the enthusiasm of many potential candidates. With Maloney stepping down, there will be a new mayor. And, there will definitely be at least one new face on council, as councillor Aaron Kienle is taking a run at the mayor鈥檚 chair. Even if you鈥檙e completely satisfied with the work that the current council is doing, there鈥檚 incentive to get in there, because someone has to be the new person, and if you鈥檙e someone who thinks they can make a difference in the city that鈥檚 a tempting prospect.
Personally, I think it鈥檚 an opportunity to have a more diverse ballot, not because there鈥檚 anything wrong with council, but because I think the work council does is important and more people in the city need to be engaged with it. Municipal politics are important, anyone who has driven down a city street or turned on their tap needs to know this, and everyone who lives in Yorkton should care about what happens here. The greater variety of candidates, the more chances to engage people on what is happening in the city.
Last time around, in spite of the huge list of candidates, there were a mere three women on the ballot - Goulden 小蓝视频 the only one elected. This isn鈥檛 a slight against the 21 men who did run, but more an encouragement to the many different women in Yorkton who should consider a council run. There are a wide variety of women who are crucial to Yorkton鈥檚 success, and it would be great to have the chance to vote for some of them.
I鈥檇 also encourage any First Nations people in the community to take a run at council. Yorkton is on Treaty 4 land, and the Yorkton Tribal Council is a huge and incredibly important part of the city鈥檚 success.
It would be also nice to see new Canadians take a run at a council seat. There鈥檚 a growing community in Yorkton, and as they become citizens they can start to get more politically involved. They are an integral part of the community, and it would be nice to see them seriously involved in the local community.
This isn鈥檛 saying that people should vote for someone for any reason beyond what they would bring to council chambers - and it鈥檚 not meant as a slight against anyone currently sitting on council itself. But with an open seat, there鈥檚 now a clear opportunity to get at least one new voice on council, so there鈥檚 plenty of opportunity for someone to step up and let their voice be heard.
But that鈥檚 something someone must choose to do, and I think everyone who ran last time - along with everyone who will run this time - genuinely believed they had a perspective the city needed and a voice that the city could benefit from, and I wouldn鈥檛 have discouraged any of them from their run. The intent of this column is not to say someone shouldn鈥檛 run, but instead to encourage more people to realize they also have a perspective the city needs, and a voice the city could benefit from.
After all, we can only vote for someone on the ballot, so if you don鈥檛 see yourself represented by city council right now, it鈥檚 time to step up and put your name forward.
