Now how would you feel? You invite someone to dinner and they steal the silverware?
You invite them because you like them, want to be with them, find them interesting, whatever. In any case they are there because you “support them” and you expect them to reward you at least with their loyalty and friendship. You would never expect these “guests” to disregard your best interests, would you?
So isn’t that why you elected your ward politician? You entrusted him/her with your vote which helped get them elected, and what do they do?
They steal from you the very essence of democracy--the right and ability to select a personal representative to voice your concerns at the decision table.
Those who are presently voting to reject ward voting in favor of the general vote, Councillors Pidwerbecki, Kolodzie, Parkes, Henry, Sholdra, Marimpietri, and Mayor Gray, by their vote to support the general vote are denying you a ward representative who is accountable to you as your community’s personal voice on council
They are stealing a basic value of the democratic menu from you so that the unique needs of your neighborhood can not and will not be heard.
They are yanking your democratic right to guarantee a community voice. They are yanking the idea of a politician specially chosen by your community to steer your community or private concern through the bureaucracy. They are yanking a voice chosen by you to articulate the needs and aspirations of your community to the City Hall decision makers. They are yanking “the ear” who listens to your community. They are yanking “the eye” that is in the community every day seeing what has to be done to make your neighbourhood a better place. They are yanking the expert on your community who advises and convinces the others of your needs. They are yanking political accountability to the voters of this city...because all of that will go with the elimination of the ward system. They have betrayed your trust.
This is your reward for the trust you placed in them with your vote.
You have invited them to dinner…and they have stolen you blind.
They are furnishing their own “self-serving” interests at your expense.
They have betrayed your trust…and that is your reward!
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Saturday, March 3, 2007
PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITON
We have just mounted an online petition to the Oshawa City Council that states, "I demand that Oshawa City Council retain the ward system of electing members of council to guarantee that my ward is represented by a politician specifically elected by and accountable to the residents of my ward."
We would appreciate it if you sign the petition and then copy the petition address http://www.petitiononline.com/VOTES/petition.html and email it to your friends for their signatures. Ask them to send it in turn to their Oshawa contacts.
Numbers are important to politicians. We have to mount these numbers as quickly as possible before they go much further in implementing the general vote.
Oshawa's future health depends upon your action and support.
Please help!
We would appreciate it if you sign the petition and then copy the petition address http://www.petitiononline.com/VOTES/petition.html and email it to your friends for their signatures. Ask them to send it in turn to their Oshawa contacts.
Numbers are important to politicians. We have to mount these numbers as quickly as possible before they go much further in implementing the general vote.
Oshawa's future health depends upon your action and support.
Please help!
Will You Take Our Poll?
We are compiling information about the opinions of Oshawa voters with regard to Oshawa Council's desire to change from Ward Elections to the General Vote for the election of Oshawa City Council. This data will be used at our OMB appeal to preserve Ward Voting for Oshawa. You can enter the poll using the link on the top of the right sidebar. Your input is important. Thanks for helping out.
The poll has a link on the top menu bar to send this poll to others. It would really help out if you could forward the poll to your Oshawa contacts so that we can get as much input as possible.
When you send out the survey, it would be great if you could ask your poll recipients if they in turn could pass it on to their Oshawa contacts.
We all have to fight this thing together if we are to be successful.
Once again, thanks for your important help.
The poll has a link on the top menu bar to send this poll to others. It would really help out if you could forward the poll to your Oshawa contacts so that we can get as much input as possible.
When you send out the survey, it would be great if you could ask your poll recipients if they in turn could pass it on to their Oshawa contacts.
We all have to fight this thing together if we are to be successful.
Once again, thanks for your important help.
City Council’s “Mushroom Strategy"
Just like a mushroom--you’ve heard it before; ”Feed us sh-t and keep us in the dark!”
So last night, I attended the opening of the marvelous new South Oshawa Recreation Centre, the birth of which is in large part due to the fact that South Oshawa has some strong ward representation on Oshawa City Council. “South Oshawa has finally received its due after too many years of neglect,” uttered a few of the politicians in remarks at the opening celebrations.
Other projects are also planned, approved, or underway for the South Oshawa communities. A wellness centre on the site of the former Conant School will host an ambulance center, health facilities, and a new seniors center to supplement the three others already existent in central and north Oshawa. As well, a new library is underway also to supplement the three already existent in central and north Oshawa. The south end has finally arrived. And this is in no small measure the result of effective political representation for South Oshawa.
These new developments are tribute to the ward system that determines that no part of Oshawa can be neglected if it elects councillors that are able to effectively articulate the aspirations and desires of the community.
If council has its way, this is about to change. Council wants to take away the local ward representation from all communities in Oshawa and replace it with the “at large" or general vote so that no politician is elected by or accountable to any specific community.
They want to replace local representation with the general vote system making all politicians, they say, responsible for all areas of Oshawa. Now think about that. In a system where everyone is responsible for everything, no one is responsible for anything. And that is the way city council wants it. Politicians obviously don’t want to be held responsible to residents in any part of Oshawa to handle problems or concerns of the area. They want to retire from the burden of constituency problems. After all, that takes a lot of time, effort and energy.
Of course, the politicians were out in full flight taking credit for this well deserved recreational facility that is so handy for South Oshawa residents. They patronized those gathered there with honey coated words so characteristic of politicians, but it was what they didn’t tell the people that was probably the most relevant and important message they could bring.
Counsellor Kolodzie pointed out that he represented South Oshawa for 12 years as its ward councillor and stated, “Today marks the realization of one of my dreams.” As a former teacher of G. L. Roberts CI which is attached to the new rec centre and shares its site, he knows how important it is for kids to have facilities such as this. He didn’t say, however, that he is one of the council leaders in the move to abandon ward voting so that the people listening to his patronizing words would have the ward representation that brought this facility yanked from the community. Just like a mushroom Joe, feed us sh-t and keep us in the dark!
Counsellor Sholdra took the podium and told the people how proud and happy she was to have been the ward counselor for the South end wards. Of course, she also offered an extensive menu of platitudes to accompany her fine words. What she didn’t say was that she also is a firm supporter of yanking the ward representation away from the South End. She has been voting on council to do away with the ward system that has given the south end residents a voice on council that resulted in this recreation centre she was celebrating. Just like a mushroom, Maryanne, feed us sh-t and keep us in the dark!
Even Councillor Henry was there basking in the glory. I guess he was there to work on his recognition profile in the south end in preparation for general vote elections that he has been supporting strongly on council. He too wants to yank ward representation from the citizens that elected him. Too bad he didn’t get a chance to speak to tell the south end people that he wants to pull their ward representation. No doubt, though, Councillor Henry tells his own ward residents as often that he can that he wants to yank ward representation from them--or does he.
Council…just remember your modus operandi—the mushroom principle; “Feed them sh-t and keep them in the dark!
After all—“The Mushroom Strategy”--that has worked so far in all your scheming to revert to the past with the general vote, a system that does nothing for Oshawa but guarantee your re-election!.
So last night, I attended the opening of the marvelous new South Oshawa Recreation Centre, the birth of which is in large part due to the fact that South Oshawa has some strong ward representation on Oshawa City Council. “South Oshawa has finally received its due after too many years of neglect,” uttered a few of the politicians in remarks at the opening celebrations.
Other projects are also planned, approved, or underway for the South Oshawa communities. A wellness centre on the site of the former Conant School will host an ambulance center, health facilities, and a new seniors center to supplement the three others already existent in central and north Oshawa. As well, a new library is underway also to supplement the three already existent in central and north Oshawa. The south end has finally arrived. And this is in no small measure the result of effective political representation for South Oshawa.
These new developments are tribute to the ward system that determines that no part of Oshawa can be neglected if it elects councillors that are able to effectively articulate the aspirations and desires of the community.
If council has its way, this is about to change. Council wants to take away the local ward representation from all communities in Oshawa and replace it with the “at large" or general vote so that no politician is elected by or accountable to any specific community.
They want to replace local representation with the general vote system making all politicians, they say, responsible for all areas of Oshawa. Now think about that. In a system where everyone is responsible for everything, no one is responsible for anything. And that is the way city council wants it. Politicians obviously don’t want to be held responsible to residents in any part of Oshawa to handle problems or concerns of the area. They want to retire from the burden of constituency problems. After all, that takes a lot of time, effort and energy.
Of course, the politicians were out in full flight taking credit for this well deserved recreational facility that is so handy for South Oshawa residents. They patronized those gathered there with honey coated words so characteristic of politicians, but it was what they didn’t tell the people that was probably the most relevant and important message they could bring.
Counsellor Kolodzie pointed out that he represented South Oshawa for 12 years as its ward councillor and stated, “Today marks the realization of one of my dreams.” As a former teacher of G. L. Roberts CI which is attached to the new rec centre and shares its site, he knows how important it is for kids to have facilities such as this. He didn’t say, however, that he is one of the council leaders in the move to abandon ward voting so that the people listening to his patronizing words would have the ward representation that brought this facility yanked from the community. Just like a mushroom Joe, feed us sh-t and keep us in the dark!
Counsellor Sholdra took the podium and told the people how proud and happy she was to have been the ward counselor for the South end wards. Of course, she also offered an extensive menu of platitudes to accompany her fine words. What she didn’t say was that she also is a firm supporter of yanking the ward representation away from the South End. She has been voting on council to do away with the ward system that has given the south end residents a voice on council that resulted in this recreation centre she was celebrating. Just like a mushroom, Maryanne, feed us sh-t and keep us in the dark!
Even Councillor Henry was there basking in the glory. I guess he was there to work on his recognition profile in the south end in preparation for general vote elections that he has been supporting strongly on council. He too wants to yank ward representation from the citizens that elected him. Too bad he didn’t get a chance to speak to tell the south end people that he wants to pull their ward representation. No doubt, though, Councillor Henry tells his own ward residents as often that he can that he wants to yank ward representation from them--or does he.
Council…just remember your modus operandi—the mushroom principle; “Feed them sh-t and keep them in the dark!
After all—“The Mushroom Strategy”--that has worked so far in all your scheming to revert to the past with the general vote, a system that does nothing for Oshawa but guarantee your re-election!.
Friday, March 2, 2007
The Growing Sentiment Against Change to the General Vote
Here is a series of communications I have received from an Oshawa resident that is typical of the sentiment surrounding Council’s attempts to return to the dark days of the General Vote in Oshawa. I have not as yet met this writer but know that I can count on the support of her, her family, and friends.
The sentiment against the change runs deep in Oshawa. We hope that everyone is working as hard as Josie is to insure the council is not able to implement the “self-serving” general vote that will give politicians a seat until their death or resignation…not the way to bring fresh ideas to Oshawa leadership.
We need politicians that are accountable to their ward voters in solving their neighbourhood problems and able to represent the ideas of their community strongly on city council. We don’t need politicians that will be able to “retire” under the general vote but continue to collect the handsome benefits of their council seat.
The communications following are reprinted in the order in which they occurred and are reprinted with the permission of the author.
From: pjpascoe
To: bill_longworth@hotmail.com
Subject: Meeting Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:33:10 -0500
Mr. Longworth
I was wondering if you know when the public meeting was going to be. I have been checking our lowly Oshawa This Week carefully but have not seen anything as yet. We will probably be as well informed about it as we were regarding the referendum question being included on our recent ballots. If more information was given about the Ward System question I'm sure there would have been more than 25% voter turnout. (A 60% yes vote of 25% of the citizens is not a clear statement)
This meeting seems useless anyway if we will only be discussing keeping the Wards as they are but still having a general vote. Doesn't make sense to a lot of people I have talked to.
I see now a lot of candidates who didn't make the cut in our latest election have thrown their hat into the ring for the one School Board Trustee position. They just have to get in there so their name will be seen in time for our next election without the Ward system. That's pretty pathetic, I'm sure they have a real concern for the education system.
A more important issue for our Council is to have a Steven Colbert Day in Oshawa. Its pretty embarrassing to live in a city where a comedian, not even from here, gets a day named after him.
What a great city we have here on the lake, NO marina, NO daily newspaper and now NO Ward system. The councillors made a wise choice in the new logo for us "Prepare to be amazed" , we certainly have been and we never cease to be amazed.
Why would a city of our size go backwards in time instead of going forward. It is Amazing!!
I hope I didn't miss that meeting as I do support all you efforts.
Josie Pascoe (& Phil Pascoe)
Quoting Bill Longworth bill_longworth@hotmail.com
Hi Josie...you haven't missed the meeting. the council will send a flyer via canada post to all residences announcing the time, date, purpose, location...but no background information.
I think the meeting will be an exercise in futility but still would encourage you to attend if possible to express your ideas. I will be there getting people to sign petitions and hopefully a lot of help will be there for that purpose.
I will also be publicizing the date of the meeting on oshawaspeaks.ca but i think the council members have already made up their mind on the issue.
I still expect to be able to appeal to the OMB because there are 2 other avenues of appeal that the city has not considered that I will use as grounds of appeal once they have approved the bylaw. No appeal is possible until then. I am keeping the oshawa appeal routes close to my chest at the moment because i do not want council to block them with any action prior to the passage of the bylaw.
I am confident that we will have an appeal and I am confident of winning and I am confident that the people of Oshawa will punish the pushers of the general vote at the next election.
We do intend to keep our blog active throughout this term of council and are confident that it will grow to be the dominant news source for commenting on council business.
Would I have permission to publish your letter with some remarks of my own as a posting on oshawaspeaks.ca?
Thank you for your support on this important issue. Hopefully you have been able to forward our website to all of the contacts in your email address book.
Bill Longworth,
Founder & Chair of VOTES (Vote to Eliminate Self Serving Politicians)
www.oshawaspeaks.ca
159 Spirea Court,
Oshawa, Ontario
L1G6S8
905 579 3971
Message received on March 1, 2007
Hi Bill
I talk to everyone I know about this issue and so does my 85 year old mother and we urge them to speak out. You may use my letter to help the cause and I will be out to the meeting to support you. I cannot uderstand what has gotten into our council these past few years. I honestly think it has to be senility.
Many thanks again for your hard work.
Josie Pascoe
The sentiment against the change runs deep in Oshawa. We hope that everyone is working as hard as Josie is to insure the council is not able to implement the “self-serving” general vote that will give politicians a seat until their death or resignation…not the way to bring fresh ideas to Oshawa leadership.
We need politicians that are accountable to their ward voters in solving their neighbourhood problems and able to represent the ideas of their community strongly on city council. We don’t need politicians that will be able to “retire” under the general vote but continue to collect the handsome benefits of their council seat.
The communications following are reprinted in the order in which they occurred and are reprinted with the permission of the author.
From: pjpascoe
To: bill_longworth@hotmail.com
Subject: Meeting Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:33:10 -0500
Mr. Longworth
I was wondering if you know when the public meeting was going to be. I have been checking our lowly Oshawa This Week carefully but have not seen anything as yet. We will probably be as well informed about it as we were regarding the referendum question being included on our recent ballots. If more information was given about the Ward System question I'm sure there would have been more than 25% voter turnout. (A 60% yes vote of 25% of the citizens is not a clear statement)
This meeting seems useless anyway if we will only be discussing keeping the Wards as they are but still having a general vote. Doesn't make sense to a lot of people I have talked to.
I see now a lot of candidates who didn't make the cut in our latest election have thrown their hat into the ring for the one School Board Trustee position. They just have to get in there so their name will be seen in time for our next election without the Ward system. That's pretty pathetic, I'm sure they have a real concern for the education system.
A more important issue for our Council is to have a Steven Colbert Day in Oshawa. Its pretty embarrassing to live in a city where a comedian, not even from here, gets a day named after him.
What a great city we have here on the lake, NO marina, NO daily newspaper and now NO Ward system. The councillors made a wise choice in the new logo for us "Prepare to be amazed" , we certainly have been and we never cease to be amazed.
Why would a city of our size go backwards in time instead of going forward. It is Amazing!!
I hope I didn't miss that meeting as I do support all you efforts.
Josie Pascoe (& Phil Pascoe)
Quoting Bill Longworth bill_longworth@hotmail.com
Hi Josie...you haven't missed the meeting. the council will send a flyer via canada post to all residences announcing the time, date, purpose, location...but no background information.
I think the meeting will be an exercise in futility but still would encourage you to attend if possible to express your ideas. I will be there getting people to sign petitions and hopefully a lot of help will be there for that purpose.
I will also be publicizing the date of the meeting on oshawaspeaks.ca but i think the council members have already made up their mind on the issue.
I still expect to be able to appeal to the OMB because there are 2 other avenues of appeal that the city has not considered that I will use as grounds of appeal once they have approved the bylaw. No appeal is possible until then. I am keeping the oshawa appeal routes close to my chest at the moment because i do not want council to block them with any action prior to the passage of the bylaw.
I am confident that we will have an appeal and I am confident of winning and I am confident that the people of Oshawa will punish the pushers of the general vote at the next election.
We do intend to keep our blog active throughout this term of council and are confident that it will grow to be the dominant news source for commenting on council business.
Would I have permission to publish your letter with some remarks of my own as a posting on oshawaspeaks.ca?
Thank you for your support on this important issue. Hopefully you have been able to forward our website to all of the contacts in your email address book.
Bill Longworth,
Founder & Chair of VOTES (Vote to Eliminate Self Serving Politicians)
www.oshawaspeaks.ca
159 Spirea Court,
Oshawa, Ontario
L1G6S8
905 579 3971
Message received on March 1, 2007
Hi Bill
I talk to everyone I know about this issue and so does my 85 year old mother and we urge them to speak out. You may use my letter to help the cause and I will be out to the meeting to support you. I cannot uderstand what has gotten into our council these past few years. I honestly think it has to be senility.
Many thanks again for your hard work.
Josie Pascoe
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Overheard in the Oshawa City Hall Corridors of Power
"Okay Counselors…listen up you guys. Hey Tweedle Dumb! Listen up!!… We got another big night tonight. Our city council meetings gonna be on Rogers Cable TV. We gotta look and sound our best."
"Let’s have a little warmup. We need to rehearse our lines. After all this is prime Oshawa entertainment---it's reality TV--Oshawa style"
"Hey Counselor Tweedle Dumb--stop singing that stupid song, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any ideas for tonight’s meeting? Of course we got ideas…Let’s see--Eenny Meeny Miny Mo…that’s it! We gonna introduce the idea of returning to the general vote. That’ll be some interesting time filler for our meetings. If we work at it, we can probably keep this issue hot for most of the term."
"That’s great Boss, It's sort of, like, abstract for us. It’ll fill up our time for council meetings so we don’t have to, like, come up with new ideas all the time. The people won’t really understand the impact of what we're talking about. They’ll think, like, we’re philosopher kings or something. They’ll think we’re, like, really smart--ahead of our time. Even, like, ahead of Canada. They’ll think that we’re so progressive, like, setting the pace for the country."
"That’s right Tweedle Dumber!"
"But Boss… wouldn’t having a general vote result in very expensive city-wide elections that would prohibit all but the rich from becoming candidates. And wouldn’t that result in all of council members coming from just a few of the richest areas in Oshawa. And Boss, how would we handle all of the issues arising from the different neighbourhoods in Oshawa if we are no longer elected by the different neighbourhoods."
"Well it is true that long term there are a few problems with the general vote. But why are you interested in that? Aren’t you more interested in having your seat as long as you want it without any competition…or being accountable to neighbourhoods for solving their problems. That takes up a lot of time. Besides, if you are really interested in looking after neighbourhood problems, I guess we put names of those who want to continue to do this in a hat and draw lots. As for the campaign cost, you're on council. Just vote the right way for developers and they'll reward you with cash to pay for your election."
"But Boss....Duh, Duh, we had de general vote 'fore 1985. Duh, Duh, It didn’t work out too good for Oshawa back den. The people not like it and so they kicked dee idea out. Duh, Duh, We not go back to that can we?"
"Sure we can Councillor Joe. That was close to 25 years ago and people won’t remember that it didn’t work. They won’t remember that Oshawa was a “do-nothing" place and so no one wanted to live here and so housing prices bombed. They won’t remember that Oshawa was such an undesirable place that the only housing we could attract was the low end stuff like subsidized row house and townhouse complexes. They’ll think that Oshawa was always the vibrant place it is today. Besides, I got a friend that wants to get back on council--figures to be a lock under a general vote, but couldn’t get on with the ward vote."
"But Boss--Do you really think its right for the people of Oshawa that we try to turn back the hands of time to the past?"
"Look Counsellor , Forget about what’s best for the city. What's best for us? Look, I’ve got big competition in the next election and this could happen to you if we don’t take some action. We gotta protect our turf. We gotta make a change so that our rear ends are protected. What would we do if we lost our seats and lost all of that easy city cash. We gotta look after ourselves."
"But Boss, that guy Longworth that brought the ward system has proven that he’s pretty persistent in doing what he says he’s going to do. He worked for five years against all odds to bring us up to date with the rest of the country in 1985 when he won the ward system for Oshawa. We haven’t heard from him for a number of years now. Do you think we can slip this through without waking him up?"
"Counselor, that is a good question. We’ll have to develop a strategy to give the thing legs before anyone finds out about it. Once we give it enough momentum, it will be tough to stop."
"Okay Boss, we’re with you, but how do we keep Longworth asleep on this?"
"Counsellor, that’s a good question. I think the answer is to keep the thing secret. We’ll not make any big announcements. We won’t communicate to the people about it. We’ll work at giving the people a question that’s sure to produce a result calling for a return to the general vote. We’ll trick the people with our question. We’ll catch them cold in the voter’s booth where they will be confronted with the question for the first time. We don’t really want them to know about it in advance, otherwise people may start discussing the issue and then they’ll wise up to what we’re doing. If you counselors want to win this thing, keep it quiet. Don’t say anything about it. If the word gets out, it will destroy our efforts to return to the general vote that will guarantee us council seats as long as we want them. I’ve come to depend on all of this money and can’t lose it now. Besides, we’d lose all of those extra perks like the city charge cards, auto allowances, our blackberries for free world-wide telephone and internet use, entertainment budgets. Look our lifestyle could get ordinary if we lost all of that stuff. You must all promise to keep this a secret. If this thing gets out, we'll all fall off the wall, just like Humpty Dumpty!"
"Okay Boss--now councillors, let’s give our warm up chant before we enter the chambers, "Mirror Mirror on the wall, Isn't our boss the smartest politician of them all"
"It’s off to work we go, Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to work we go. We absolutely can’t go wrong as long as we keep this thing secret. Hi Ho."
"Let’s have a little warmup. We need to rehearse our lines. After all this is prime Oshawa entertainment---it's reality TV--Oshawa style"
"Hey Counselor Tweedle Dumb--stop singing that stupid song, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any ideas for tonight’s meeting? Of course we got ideas…Let’s see--Eenny Meeny Miny Mo…that’s it! We gonna introduce the idea of returning to the general vote. That’ll be some interesting time filler for our meetings. If we work at it, we can probably keep this issue hot for most of the term."
"That’s great Boss, It's sort of, like, abstract for us. It’ll fill up our time for council meetings so we don’t have to, like, come up with new ideas all the time. The people won’t really understand the impact of what we're talking about. They’ll think, like, we’re philosopher kings or something. They’ll think we’re, like, really smart--ahead of our time. Even, like, ahead of Canada. They’ll think that we’re so progressive, like, setting the pace for the country."
"That’s right Tweedle Dumber!"
"But Boss… wouldn’t having a general vote result in very expensive city-wide elections that would prohibit all but the rich from becoming candidates. And wouldn’t that result in all of council members coming from just a few of the richest areas in Oshawa. And Boss, how would we handle all of the issues arising from the different neighbourhoods in Oshawa if we are no longer elected by the different neighbourhoods."
"Well it is true that long term there are a few problems with the general vote. But why are you interested in that? Aren’t you more interested in having your seat as long as you want it without any competition…or being accountable to neighbourhoods for solving their problems. That takes up a lot of time. Besides, if you are really interested in looking after neighbourhood problems, I guess we put names of those who want to continue to do this in a hat and draw lots. As for the campaign cost, you're on council. Just vote the right way for developers and they'll reward you with cash to pay for your election."
"But Boss....Duh, Duh, we had de general vote 'fore 1985. Duh, Duh, It didn’t work out too good for Oshawa back den. The people not like it and so they kicked dee idea out. Duh, Duh, We not go back to that can we?"
"Sure we can Councillor Joe. That was close to 25 years ago and people won’t remember that it didn’t work. They won’t remember that Oshawa was a “do-nothing" place and so no one wanted to live here and so housing prices bombed. They won’t remember that Oshawa was such an undesirable place that the only housing we could attract was the low end stuff like subsidized row house and townhouse complexes. They’ll think that Oshawa was always the vibrant place it is today. Besides, I got a friend that wants to get back on council--figures to be a lock under a general vote, but couldn’t get on with the ward vote."
"But Boss--Do you really think its right for the people of Oshawa that we try to turn back the hands of time to the past?"
"Look Counsellor , Forget about what’s best for the city. What's best for us? Look, I’ve got big competition in the next election and this could happen to you if we don’t take some action. We gotta protect our turf. We gotta make a change so that our rear ends are protected. What would we do if we lost our seats and lost all of that easy city cash. We gotta look after ourselves."
"But Boss, that guy Longworth that brought the ward system has proven that he’s pretty persistent in doing what he says he’s going to do. He worked for five years against all odds to bring us up to date with the rest of the country in 1985 when he won the ward system for Oshawa. We haven’t heard from him for a number of years now. Do you think we can slip this through without waking him up?"
"Counselor, that is a good question. We’ll have to develop a strategy to give the thing legs before anyone finds out about it. Once we give it enough momentum, it will be tough to stop."
"Okay Boss, we’re with you, but how do we keep Longworth asleep on this?"
"Counsellor, that’s a good question. I think the answer is to keep the thing secret. We’ll not make any big announcements. We won’t communicate to the people about it. We’ll work at giving the people a question that’s sure to produce a result calling for a return to the general vote. We’ll trick the people with our question. We’ll catch them cold in the voter’s booth where they will be confronted with the question for the first time. We don’t really want them to know about it in advance, otherwise people may start discussing the issue and then they’ll wise up to what we’re doing. If you counselors want to win this thing, keep it quiet. Don’t say anything about it. If the word gets out, it will destroy our efforts to return to the general vote that will guarantee us council seats as long as we want them. I’ve come to depend on all of this money and can’t lose it now. Besides, we’d lose all of those extra perks like the city charge cards, auto allowances, our blackberries for free world-wide telephone and internet use, entertainment budgets. Look our lifestyle could get ordinary if we lost all of that stuff. You must all promise to keep this a secret. If this thing gets out, we'll all fall off the wall, just like Humpty Dumpty!"
"Okay Boss--now councillors, let’s give our warm up chant before we enter the chambers, "Mirror Mirror on the wall, Isn't our boss the smartest politician of them all"
"It’s off to work we go, Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to work we go. We absolutely can’t go wrong as long as we keep this thing secret. Hi Ho."
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Political Campaigns--Ward vs General Vote Elections
In today's post, we have set out the actual serious advice candidates for election would be given by any expert campaign manager designing the campaigns for election by ward vote and by general vote. The two systems require quite different approaches to getting elected. They require quite different political skills, and they result in quite different impacts on the community. Read these carefully and then decide what kind of council member you want. Which type of politician do you think would serve Oshawa and your community better. Which kind of politician would be more accountable to you. Which type of politician would serve the interests of Oshawa better. Please keep in mind that advice offered below is deadly serious with absolutely no exaggeration or enhancement. Although it may appear humourous, you can take this campaign advice "to the bank."
Hints for Political Success in a Ward Voting System
1. Be very visible in your community…shop, walk, talk, and socialize there!
2. Be very helpful and efficient in handling all problems that your constituents give you.
3. Talk to your constituents…ask them what they think should be done in the neighborhood.
4. Knock on doors regularly even between elections to meet your constituents and get their input and feedback…make sure they have your contact information so they can call you any time of day or night.
5. Attend as many functions in your ward as possible so the people come to know you and feel welcome in seeking your help.
6. Represent the interests of your ward strongly on council.
7. Send news flyers regularly to keep your constituents informed.
8. Always ask for advice from your constituents on important city-wide issues.
9. Put out surveys asking for public input.
10. Make time for scheduled community forums where you can engage in discussion about the issues with your constituents.
11. Communicate, communicate, communicate, listen, listen, listen.
12. Set aside time regularly on a scheduled basis and in a regular location to make yourself available for consultations with individual constituents.
13. Work hard at your political job...always remember it is a 24 hour job! You are always "On Call".
14. Like Alice in Wonderland, you'll have to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place...so keep those buns and those feet movin for your ward boy or you'll soon be out of a job.
2. Be very helpful and efficient in handling all problems that your constituents give you.
3. Talk to your constituents…ask them what they think should be done in the neighborhood.
4. Knock on doors regularly even between elections to meet your constituents and get their input and feedback…make sure they have your contact information so they can call you any time of day or night.
5. Attend as many functions in your ward as possible so the people come to know you and feel welcome in seeking your help.
6. Represent the interests of your ward strongly on council.
7. Send news flyers regularly to keep your constituents informed.
8. Always ask for advice from your constituents on important city-wide issues.
9. Put out surveys asking for public input.
10. Make time for scheduled community forums where you can engage in discussion about the issues with your constituents.
11. Communicate, communicate, communicate, listen, listen, listen.
12. Set aside time regularly on a scheduled basis and in a regular location to make yourself available for consultations with individual constituents.
13. Work hard at your political job...always remember it is a 24 hour job! You are always "On Call".
14. Like Alice in Wonderland, you'll have to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place...so keep those buns and those feet movin for your ward boy or you'll soon be out of a job.
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