The 2011 municipal election has begun - an opportunity for current and aspiring politicians to engage in civil discourse about the priorities of the community.
Unfortunately, the nomination period is only half over and the civility has already gone out of the discourse.
Minutes after Mayor Dan Rogers officially announced his candidacy for re-election, mayoralty candidate Shari Green launched a pre-emptive strike better suited to civil strife than civil politics.
In a caustic e-mailed diatribe, which she made sure to alert media to, Green accused Rogers of supporting the "tax-and-spend status quo" and "seemingly endless talk that is paralyzing our growth."
This is precisely the type of vitriol which turns people off of politics. It adds nothing to the debate while bringing the level of discourse down to schoolyard taunts.
Undoubtedly these comments were intended to differentiate Green from Rogers on issues of spending and taxation in a way her actual record on council does not.
Green championed the call to spend an additional $6.8 million to build an additional arena at the Kin Centre instead of renovating Kin 1.
She voted in favour of the tax hike for the Canada Winter Games Levy, 10-year tax holidays for the downtown developers and construction of the new RCMP detachment, for example.
While some of those decisions were the right ones to make, Green is just as "guilty" of taxing and spending as Rogers.
But instead of telling voters how she would do things differently, Green went on the offensive.
Green also pledged to "build an effective team which takes action," compared to the "fractured one that lacks direction," on which she currently sits as a councillor.
Precisely how Green intends to control who gets elected to city council and how they will behave remains to be seen. However, insulting one's current council colleagues doesn't seem like a promising start.
Nor is Rogers totally innocent in this spat. The difference is his insults were phrased as backhanded compliments: "I know she's had a steep learning curve in the three years she's been on council. I have great respect for the work she's done in that short period of time. But you can clearly see my platform. It's not just about moving forward."
Sounds like brickbats in silk gloves.
The people of Prince George want, deserve and expect their leaders to engage in intelligent, reasoned debate of the issues. Hopefully these politicians will rise to the occasion and give voters in Prince George two strong, viable candidates for mayor.
However if Rogers and Green can't agree to play nice, the only hope of mature discussion of the city's priorities will be between candidates for city council.
To date, every person running for city council has said controlling spending, taxation and debt are among their top priorities. Roads and snow clearing was also a popular topic.
Already there is a strong slate of candidates, so those who distinguish themselves from the choir will be offering well-reasoned ideas on how they intend to achieve their notions of good governance.
Anyone can throw stones. It takes a real leader to pick them up and use them to build something positive.
-- Prince George Citizen
