Apathy running rampant in River City mayoral race

Surely to God this city is not so bereft of leadership that it cannot generate a single candidate beyond the mayoral incumbent for the upcoming civic election.

The highest office in the community is open for competition, and there is not a single taker, no one to step up and say, “I think I have something to offer, I think I can do better.”

What we do have is the carpers and whiners, the bitchers and complainers who foul our websites and pages with condemnations and mournful musings about how bad things are.

But nobody who will take the trouble to get two signatures on a piece of paper and take to the stage to articulate an alternative view.

Has Peter Milobar been a poor mayor? No, overall, but his first term has left room for challenge, at least. Just last week, for example, he voted against a federal review of the Ajax mine proposal. Is there anyone who thinks the mine is the biggest issue facing Kamloops in many years and who believes it deserves the closest possible scrutiny?

Apparently not, at least not enough to warrant tossing their hat into the ring and putting forward a platform on what City Hall should be doing about the mine. Or about the parkade. Or City spending. Or smart meters, Or a municipal auditor. Or a performing arts centre. Or bike lanes. Or better transit service. Or social housing.

How about an overall vision for Kamloops. Have you detected one from this mayor and council? Do you have one of your own?

Do you believe Kamloops deserves a full-time mayor who doesn’t divide his time between other jobs?

Running against something or someone, however, isn’t enough. You have to stand for something as well.

This is what you do. You pick up a set of election papers from City Hall. You get two, count ‘em two, people who think you wouldn’t be a total disaster, who are willing to sign as nominators.

You fill out the rest of the form and turn it in at City Hall before the deadline this Friday.

You let the media know you are in the race. They tell the community that you want to be mayor.

Then you have one pile of fun running for the job. If you should get elected, you are in for one of the most rewarding experiences in your life. If not, the experience of running in a municipal election campaign all by itself is worth every minute.

But, please, do not sit around crying the blues about how our town is going to hell in a hand basket and complaining about this mayor or about this council if you don’t have the backbone to get off your butt and do anything about it.

And if you simply can’t do it yourself, support someone who can.

The all-time soaring apathy with which this community is approaching the election is appalling. These people spend tens of millions of our dollars every year but apparently that’s not important enough for anyone to put up his or her hand.

For the first time in memory, Kamloops voters might not be going to the polls to pick a mayor in our civic elections.

Voter apathy? What about leadership apathy?