On Oct. 15 we have the next municipal lection and if you want to be a councillor or mayor, you may want to prepare yourself. The question always remains: What is the motivation? Is it the relatively high remuneration, or the love for our city?
In the latter case you may want to consider the time commitment, not just for council meetings but also for committees and participation at many events, and that for four years. I recommend to psychologically prepare yourself for these commitments, which includes agendas and knowing the issues.
Do not be afraid to express yourself, independent of the opinion of others! It is wonderful that our government is a democracy and that all decisions are based on vote counts.
It also means that not just the elected person has to be respected but also his/her opinion. If the high remuneration is the predominant motivation to run for council, you probably will not be a good councillor.
A councillor of a small to midsize community (up to 100,000) in some European countries does not receive any remuneration at all, beyond covering expenses.
During the campaign before Oct. 15, clearly express yourself and explain why you can contribute in a respectful and meaningful way to the decision-making process at our city, utilizing the power that is given to council.
Yes, council can be considered to be the “board of the city” while far-reaching decisions are influencing the wellbeing of Prince George, although there are limitations built into the system by the municipal act, as well as by our court system. That aside, city council has to be innovative and has to have ideas followed by actions carried out by administration.
I often heard lately that not much can be done currently about the homeless situation in our city. Do we know how many are homeless, where are they coming from, how they became homeless, do we have their names, how old they are , how many of them have mental issues, how many of them behave criminally, what is the percentage of what ethnicity, etc.? Is there a data base of some kind?
All this information should be available in “real time” because without an extensive database and detailed information, good decisions for the benefit of all cannot be made. A good part of governing is based on ideas and actions.
– Albert Koehler, former city councillor
