Civic Election for Dummies 2011 - Issue I
We have a civic election coming up on November 19th.
I used to just vote in the parties I knew I wanted in, knowing very little about the candidates or what the positions were they were running for. I think (can't recall exactly) in the last election, I voted in very few people because I decided I didn't just want to vote at random like I had been before (I always thought out who I was voting in for mayor) and only vote for candidates where I knew what their deal was.
Anyway, this time, I'm trying not to do that and actually *gasp* educate myself on what these people do (or want to do) with the municipal government. Though, it was really exciting 3 years ago when our current mayor ran and got elected because I did help to vote him in. I've never had a vote go to someone that won an election before, so that was fun! It's like winning at the races! :P
WHY should anyone give a shit about the civic elections? Well, it's really where you get a chance to watch how the changing government changes your immediate life pretty fast. Bike lane improvements? The noise by-laws on Granville St? Those were all city initiatives. Civic politics affect our lives more directly and usually has the worst turnout.
So first, there's Mayor. Mayor is the big honcho that waves their all mighty hand of God over the whole city.
Then there are city councillors. They are like the honchos henchmen. 10 get elected, so that them plus mayor equals 11. Odd numbers are good, that's how votes get passed. If you want a better definition than the one I gave, click here! Also, this link is for who is currently on the council.
Next up, we have parks board commissioners. We have to elect 7 of those. What do they do? Well aside from managing parks (derp!), they also manage ALL of our community centres. So, building the new community centre in Olympic Village, Creekside, and Hillcrest (replaced Riley Park) were items that the park board had to approve or spearhead. If you think the dog laws are stupid (or awesome) or if you think the community centres are doing an inadequate job of maintaining wheelchair accessibility, or if you just don't think the parks are green enough, these are the people in charge. Here's the Wikipedia entry, which I found to be totally inadequate. So instead, here is their about page, which does a good job detailing what they do, and also a more nitty-gritty breakdown of what they are responsible for.
Last (but not least), we have to elect 9 school board trustees. What do they do? Well, a lot of school stuff is managed by the provincial government. However, big things like 1) should PE be required to graduate? or 2) how much money should be spent to fix xyz? or 3) should we cap classes at 30 students? are decided by these people. A lot of the time, these are not politicians, they are pissed off parents that think they can affect change for their little Jimmy. Sometimes, they might be current teachers (more likely to get my vote). Anyway, here's the school board links. Vague Wikipedia link and much the many committees that school board trustees get broken down into.
In my next installment, I'm going to go over the different parties and some of the candidates.
I used to just vote in the parties I knew I wanted in, knowing very little about the candidates or what the positions were they were running for. I think (can't recall exactly) in the last election, I voted in very few people because I decided I didn't just want to vote at random like I had been before (I always thought out who I was voting in for mayor) and only vote for candidates where I knew what their deal was.
Anyway, this time, I'm trying not to do that and actually *gasp* educate myself on what these people do (or want to do) with the municipal government. Though, it was really exciting 3 years ago when our current mayor ran and got elected because I did help to vote him in. I've never had a vote go to someone that won an election before, so that was fun! It's like winning at the races! :P
WHY should anyone give a shit about the civic elections? Well, it's really where you get a chance to watch how the changing government changes your immediate life pretty fast. Bike lane improvements? The noise by-laws on Granville St? Those were all city initiatives. Civic politics affect our lives more directly and usually has the worst turnout.
So first, there's Mayor. Mayor is the big honcho that waves their all mighty hand of God over the whole city.
Then there are city councillors. They are like the honchos henchmen. 10 get elected, so that them plus mayor equals 11. Odd numbers are good, that's how votes get passed. If you want a better definition than the one I gave, click here! Also, this link is for who is currently on the council.
Next up, we have parks board commissioners. We have to elect 7 of those. What do they do? Well aside from managing parks (derp!), they also manage ALL of our community centres. So, building the new community centre in Olympic Village, Creekside, and Hillcrest (replaced Riley Park) were items that the park board had to approve or spearhead. If you think the dog laws are stupid (or awesome) or if you think the community centres are doing an inadequate job of maintaining wheelchair accessibility, or if you just don't think the parks are green enough, these are the people in charge. Here's the Wikipedia entry, which I found to be totally inadequate. So instead, here is their about page, which does a good job detailing what they do, and also a more nitty-gritty breakdown of what they are responsible for.
Last (but not least), we have to elect 9 school board trustees. What do they do? Well, a lot of school stuff is managed by the provincial government. However, big things like 1) should PE be required to graduate? or 2) how much money should be spent to fix xyz? or 3) should we cap classes at 30 students? are decided by these people. A lot of the time, these are not politicians, they are pissed off parents that think they can affect change for their little Jimmy. Sometimes, they might be current teachers (more likely to get my vote). Anyway, here's the school board links. Vague Wikipedia link and much the many committees that school board trustees get broken down into.
In my next installment, I'm going to go over the different parties and some of the candidates.