And then there were two.
Harshan Ramadass has thrown hit hat into the mayoral ring. Good for him. At least we’ll have a race for the mayor’s chair … and that’s a good thing. Elections by acclamation don’t serve democracy, which is all about choice.
I admit I’m a bit surprised. I thought he would be seeking another term on council. But I’ve been wrong before (it was sometime in the ‘80s, I think).
Some will be billing this election as a choice between the so-called ‘Gang of Four’ (Mayor Nic Milligan, Kevin MacIsaac, Troy Nixon, and new mayoral candidate Kyle Hamilton) against the again so-called ‘Gang of Three,’ (Ramadass, Tracey Audia-Kelly, and Ted Shoesmith).
It has been a bone of contention around town that the Gang of Four often rule the day when it comes to city council decisions. I’ve never liked the designation, nor the annoyance at a majority decision of council.
Firstly, if you take a look at the decisions of council you’ll see that many, even some of the big ones, do not follow the 4-3 split everyone likes to gripe about.
Secondly, the fundamental principle of city councils is that the majority rules the day. Councillors don’t have to agree with the majority decisions of council, in fact it’s healthy if they don’t always agree (I’ve seen, and covered, councils where every decision is unanimous and believe me, those councils are scary).
And hey, if you don’t like the decisions council is making, there’s still time to get your name on the ballot.
But, at the end of the day, we must accept that the decisions are made through a democratic process. And, even more importantly, we must understand, and accept, that maybe, just maybe, our views don’t always represent the majority.
There is a bitter pill that councillors, present and prospective, sometimes have to swallow and that is the process is democratic. You can have the best ideas in the world, the strength of your convictions and even exemplary research, but if you can’t convince three other people around the council table to agree with you, you will be ineffective.
As for the 4-3 split, real or perceived, it will be gone this fall. Milligan has already announced he is not running again, so that changes the balance in that someone new will be on council. Hamilton and Ramadass are both running for the mayor’s chair, that means one of them will be gone as well, changing the balance even more. And, who knows, someone else, for whom we all swoon, may sweep in be our new mayor. That would result in both Hamilton and Ramadass being gone, changing the dynamic even more.
We will have a new council this fall, with new members. They will, regrettably, face the same problems this council has … more things that need fixing than money available to fix them.
Kudos to everyone who wants to take on that challenge and puts their name forward.
Born and raised in Fernie, Bill Phillips is an award-winning journalist and columnist. He was the winner of the 2009 Best Editorial award at the British Columbia/Yukon Community Newspaper Association’s Ma Murray awards, in 2007 he won the association’s Best Columnist award. In 2004, he placed third in the Canadian Community Newspaper best columnist category and, in 2003, placed second. Read more Writer’s Block here.
