SINGH – Would you run for election to a seat on Kamloops City council?

By ARJUN SINGH
Kamloops Chronicle

I HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE several years ago of attending the International Association of Public Participation conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

At one of the sessions, at the Canadian Museum of Immigration, I heard something that I thought was crazy at the time but, over time, I have begun to consider as quite insightful.

That is that we shouldn’t elect our representatives to city councils, provincial legislatures, and the federal parliament. Instead, we should randomly select citizens to serve, pay them well, and have limits to the number of years they can serve.

As a believer in the wisdom of the electorate, I still very much support people voting for their representatives. The important part for me of what I heard in Halifax is that everybody can serve in these roles — and even that everyone should consider serving in these roles.

I will never have a more important, more satisfying, more challenging, and more interesting job than serving on Kamloops City council.

So, would you consider running for City council? Would you be a good city councillor? Here are some considerations and strong opinions for you:

• City councillors must represent the entire community. Once elected, the role is not to represent only those who voted for you. It is to work in the overall community interest.

• City council members must foster trust in government. There is great mistrust in government today. Candidates should not promise what they cannot reasonably deliver if elected. Council needs to meaningfully involve citizens but not empower a partisan mob mentality.

• City council members must work well as part of a team. Council work can be quite miserable when people are not able to agree well and to disagree well.

• Council members need to recognize and build up their council colleague’s strengths. When I was acting mayor in summer 2017, I worked diligently to empower my council colleagues to bring their interests and strengths to the table. Everyone should be able to shine as part of the team.

• Council candidates with only axes to grind tend to be bad city councillors. If you can’t identify some positive things you would like to help build on or can’t say anything positive about the current council, you won’t be a very happy and productive city councillor.

• Council work is increasingly challenging and building resilience is critical: A lot of nastiness is directed to council members and the toughest community issues tend to find their way to the council table. It takes work and practice to handle these challenges in a way that is open minded, open hearted, and also sets important boundaries. Good overall health and a strong personal support network can be very helpful. Not taking things personally while always being open to ideas and concerns is key.

• I found it very helpful to talk to current city councillors and city staff when I ran for the first time for council.

I realize that I’ve talked a lot about musts and needs for city council members here. I have found there can be great joy in council work as well. Stay tuned for February’s column.

Arjun Singh is a former Kamloops City councillor and is currently the executive director of the Kamloops Local News Society, which publishes the Kamloops Chronicle. This column also appears in the January edition of the Chronicle. He can be contacted at info@kamloopschronicle.com.