ROTHENBURGER – Too many, not enough, names on the ballot

TOO MANY are running in this civic election, and not enough. The ‘too many’ is the roster seeking to be the next mayor of Kamloops or one of eight councillors; the ‘not enough” is the dearth of candidates in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.

Dealing with the latter first, only two of 10 electoral areas are being contested. The other eight slots were filled by acclamation. That’s rather pathetic.

It’s not a case of low population. For example, Electoral Area P — that’s the one that stretches along the north side of the South Thompson River from Chase to Tk’emlúps band lands, and up the North Thompson River almost to Barriere — has more population than any of the municipalities in the TNRD except for Kamloops. Yet that is one of the EAs decided by acclamation.

The difference is concentration. Rural areas are spread out, with small clusters of properties scattered throughout and large-acreage farms in between. Rural folks, by and large, don’t feel connected to regional government, and they’re fine with that.

It’s not that there aren’t rural issues. Water quality is a big one. Fire protection is another. Some controversies pop up and quickly subside, sometimes about things that urban dwellers would seldom if ever encounter — a few years ago there was a major one on whether or not people were allowed to live in their RVs year-round.

There’s never been a shortage of candidates in Kamloops. Twenty-nine are running for City council seats, six for mayor this year. The school board race has 16 for the five City seats.

Big numbers of candidates are more the rule than the exception in River City. At least 20 usually run for council; three, four or five for mayor. I always have mixed emotions about big numbers of candidates. On the one hand, it’s testimony to the greatness of our democratic system. Anyone can run for office, as long as they meet basic criteria. You don’t have to be experienced, accomplished or even smart.

This year’s selection includes a mixture of fish out of water and the impressively qualified. Voters have the challenge of figuring out which are which.

They have to decide whether experience is important, or if it’s a detriment. When a candidate advertises “proven experience,” where’s the proof?

If a candidate says, “I love this city,” so what? Doesn’t everybody?

If a slick brochure claims a candidate is “visionary,” what’s the vision and what has the candidate done to back it up?

“Your voice on City council”? Isn’t every council member our ‘voice’? What are those voices going to say?

The upside of a ballot crowded with names is that there’s plenty of choice. The downside is that it makes the choice a lot tougher. Maybe a ward system is the answer to narrowing down each voter’s decision — maybe not — but that’s a discussion for another day.

In the meantime, remember you don’t have to vote for a full slate. If you only like one candidate, vote for only one.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and former school board chair, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca website. This column also appears in the October edition of The Kamloops Chronicle.