Well, that was fun, wasnt it?
Clearly, by the horrendous turnout again in 2010, there are few citizens who take their right to vote seriously, or have become so jaded about City Hall, they dont bother. I know it was a popular campaign mantra to say citizens in Burlington want their voice heard at City Hall, but that was simply not true. You need to do nothing more than look at the election turnout numbers to see that this issue has been there for many, many years. Citizens of Burlington were no more engaged in 2010 than in the past, which is a shame.
Here are a few random thoughts on this election:
- I am thrilled for Rick G, and impressed by the showing of Carol D. I have been a supporter of Ricks since he jumped in, and was impressed with Carols fight. I can tell my kids now that daddy is a few hundred votes from being the Mayor :). I believe he is a good guy with the right temperament to do the job.
- Beating of the year - MMW in Ward 1. Like this result or not, one had to be blind not to see this shaping up people. This was one of the ones where the 'family and friend' poll was shown to be fun, but not serious. Thats why I was a little curious why Mr Bedinis team was forming 'pressers' from this- I thought more doors or something else would have been a better use of time. I liked Bedini, but those press releases really made me feel like they would have been insulting to anyone who looked closely.
- Did the low turnout affect the results of some races? Certainly in Wards 5 and 6, but one would be hard pressed to make a serious argument about any other ward.
- Did the line-ups affect the results? Who knows, but all I know is people are willing to wait in longer lines for a Tim Hortons coffee. If the issue was THAT widespread, we would have heard even more. Remember, people died for this right, so get over yourself and be patient. This doesnt mean the system shouldnt be made stronger, better, but lets not start looking for issues to get on the soapbox about.
- Biggest misread/line of BS fed to the people - that social media =votes or played a significant role in the election. Oh, it played a role, but a minor one. It was a nice way for all the candidates to stay connected to each other. Folks, as one who brought the concept of 'engagement' (rather than citizen committees) to Burlingtons election 4 years ago, take my word - social media is NOT community engagement in and of itself. Shape Burlington has done a solid job of better understanding the concept the past 4 years, and I think this work will be important here.
- biggest disappointment - the race in ward 5 - brutal. A true and remarkable story of how the voters didnt really look closely at the candidates. Im very sad about this, and I will tell you why. A TERRIFIC candidate in ward 5 came in last. He did okay in the orchard, but barely got a vote in the south. We all understand why this is, but only few of us are brave enough to say it, and its sad. To make matters worse, he was even beaten by a candidate that was so over the top that anyone interested in this election has already heard of this. On top of all of this, the winner here will need a quick and stern reminder that Rick G won the mayors race. :)
- most intriguing race - I am bias here, but this one baffled us. In the ward 2 and 4 Trustee race, there were 2 folks that campaigned against each other in a traditional way (websites, brochures delivered throughout homes in the wards, signs, cogeco spots, etc etc) , with 4 others who threw their names on the ballot, one that did a little bit of work in the south. Yes, it seemed likely that the two who campaigned against each other , made it through the ward, would show down against each other- BUT, a third candidate garnered a really impressive number of votes to win. First of all, we like her, and we support her, and we are sure she will do a wonderful job as trustee. Having said that, we were curious to explain this. The other three on the ballot got a random number of votes (which is expected), but the winning candidates spiked dramatically, so couldnt have been random. As it turns out, the winning candidate shared a name (sort of-spelled differently) with a very popular former Burlington politician. I have asked anyone that knows anything about this, and thats it (and the fact that we all know by the time MOST people get to Trustee on the ballot, they dont care). Bryna had some satisfaction beating the other candidate that was campaigning, but I think we just lost someone forever who was already only marginally interested in local politics. I found the whole thing pretty fascinating, and I think it will all work out.
- another disappointing moment - when Joan Little ripped MMW in the paper. Im not a fan of this. Let the voters decide. I still to this day think that Joans column hurt me when I was running 4 years ago. She was at least kind enough to mention all the candidates running this time, but the editorial comment on MMW (even if she is right) seemed to have a purpose to influence, and I didnt like that.
- best moments - just seeing people (not voters unfortunately) so engaged, seeing candidates work hard, connect with people etc. I love municipal elections, they are so interesting.
- Two races that had good options - Wards 4 and 3. This just shows how difficult it is to beat an incumbent, no matter how promising you may be, or how hard you work. Frustrating - yes, but the people who voted have spoken, and nobody can argue with that. Many races show you that the 'best' or most qualified candidate doesnt always win.
For those of you that didnt show up to vote this time - complain all you want the next 4 years (but do it quietly), then get involved, and have your say in 2014!
See you in 4 years :)
