As I type this on Wednesday night, there is now a little less than one month left until nominations close for the municipal election race this fall.
It seems weird to say because in the past, nominations were open for a much more leisurely period of nine months. On top of that, this year saw the first month of the municipal election running concurrently with the provincial election and guess which got more air time?
But now it feels like the clock is really ticking down. The pressure will be on for people to get their papers in order, and while there’s usually a flood of activity in the last week of nominations, I think now’s the time to ask a very important question.
What the heck is happening in the mayor’s race?
While most of the other council races have a healthy competition of three or four candidates, as of this writing, only Mayor Cam Guthrie has submitted his name to run for mayor.
Of course, Mayor Guthrie was also the first person to file his election papers on May 1. Maybe he was eager, but I certainly hope that his intent wasn’t to beat the other prospective mayors of Guelph to the punch by filing first.
Now this is not a Guelph-only phenomenon in this election cycle. Down the road in Toronto, John Tory has announced his intention to run for re-election as Mayor of Toronto, but so far Tory looks to be running relatively unopposed. His one serious contender will be the Premier of the province by the time you’re reading this.
Now “unopposed” is subjective. There are 11 people running against Tory so far, including homelessness advocate Kevin Clarke, “economic nationalist” Brian Graff, and James Sears. If that last name seems familiar it’s because he’s the editor of “Your Ward News” and is running on a platform of taking fluoride out of the water and cancelling funding to the – his words – “Freak Show” that is Toronto Pride.
James Sears, you see, is the self-described “Intellectual Man’s Rob Ford.” And there’s a picture of his head Photoshopped on Stephen Hawking’s body to prove it on his website.
So there are some characters in the race, but they’re at least in the race. Someone is going to be challenging Tory on the accomplishments and failures of his last four years as mayor, even if Sears and his adequate Photoshop skills, are unlikely to be victorious.
Still, I wondered aloud if maybe on the municipal level, by virtue of disinterest, we’ve just become used to electing people to an eight-year terms as mayor with an option to replace after the fourth year.
I recall the 2010 municipal election where then Mayor Karen Farbridge faced three competitors, which is half the number she faced in 2014 including the eventual winner, Guthrie.
My question is, “Where are all the disgruntled?”
Although Mayor Guthrie does enjoy a certain amount of voter approval, there are people online that have expressed frustration, if not disdain, for the last four years of decision making at city council. Some of that trickles into my Twitter feed from time to time, and I must ask myself, in an election year, if the present council is acting so badly, then why aren’t there more people looking to replace them?
Of course, there are the practical considerations: the expense, the effect on one’s career, the loss of personal and family time to meeting after meeting, and various other council commitments. It’s not easy, but then again, that’s the point.
I suppose that’s all the more reason not to run for office just because you don’t like who is presently in power. A campaign should be about what you’re going to do, not who you’re going to replace, although we have seen a very recent example of substance-light campaigning resulting in overwhelming victory.
It’s a hard decision, but someone out there must be prepared to make it because it would be a shame if Guthrie went into Election Day uncontested. Personally, I don’t really have a particular bone to pick with Guthrie, he’s done an admirable job in the mayor’s chair, but elections are contests of ideas as well as candidates.
We need more ideas.
If you are of the “throw the bums out” mentality, we need to know what you would do better.
If you think the present mayor and council have their sights set on the wrong priorities, you need to articulate how you would recalibrate them. What should our local government be focused on, and why?
No matter how you feel about the incumbent, it’s not good for an election to proceed uncontested. These situations aren’t a response to voter apathy, they just breed more of it. Why should the average voter care, if politically engaged people in the city can’t be bothered to run?
I read the comments on articles like this, on social media posts, and I know many of you have strong feelings and opinions on the issues, so what’s keeping you from getting involved in a more official capacity?
Nominations close in 28 days, and then you’ll have to work with what we have.
