How can we increase voter turnout in Mississauga? Just ask all of the council members not to run again.
That would seem to be the lesson from looking at participation in Monday’s civic election. (If Hazel retires, the incumbents might all be stepping aside from their council seats to run for mayor anyway next time around.)
The “highest” turnouts were in Ward 10 (29.6 per cent) and Ward 6 (27.3 per cent), where there were open seats.
If you don’t have an incumbent-free zone, then a little controversy involving the incumbent seems to be the next-best strategy for getting out the vote.
In 5, which always seems to be the throwback, wild west ward of Mississauga, they like their politics rough and tumble.
How else do you explain easily re-electing a councillor who seemed to be plagued with problems? For example, infuriating the powerhouse mayor by getting caught using City staff on your campaign during office hours, and then denying that it ever happened in the face of sworn evidence to the contrary?
Those of us who thought a conviction for election fraud might be a deterrent to getting oneself elected were reminded of the short memories of voters when Thomas Thomas became the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board trustee for Ward 5. He was convicted in 1994 for tampering with voting and was barred from running in 1997.
Somewhere out there, Cliff Gyles is plotting a comeback.
Mississauga Election Officer Pina Mancuso was pleased with the nearly five per cent jump in participation this time around from just below 20 per cent to 24.7.
The polls closed a few minutes later than planned in a couple of spots in Ward 10 because there were still people there to vote. “When you have lineups out to the parking lot, that’s a good thing,” said Mancuso. Of course, 23 campaigns all pulling the vote tends to prompt more participation too.
As for perceptions that there were more problems than usual with the permanent voters’ list, Mancuso doesn’t share that impression. In fact, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation did a very good job of getting voters in the many new developments since 2003 onto the election list, she says.
Asked why some people who’ve lived in Mississauga their whole lives can inadvertently find themselves off the list when they appear at the polls, Mancuso said, “I wish I has an answer for that. That’s why we wish we weren’t the middle person in this thing.”
The municipality administers the election, but the voters’ list is maintained by MPAC, which tries to keep it up to date through death certificates, real estate sales etc. etc.
At least one grievous error was made in this year’s list.
Who is the most Canadian guy in the world living in Mississauga and the last one that you would want to drop from the list?
Yes, Ward 8 resident Don Cherry found himself fuming at the polls Monday when he had to produce ID and swear an oath.
You can be assured that Don, in fact, swore several oaths.
You can also imagine the lifelong Canadian’s comments about how many citizens who are just new to the country were on the list and the Coach wasn’t. The air was Maple Leaf blue and he wasn’t talking to his dog.
Some European or French guy must be in charge of the list, eh?
Comments (3)
Aside from a mayoral election the one thing that I could trigger a slew of new faces on council would be if the city goes suddenly downhill.
Ronald Reagan asked Americans a simple question during his first presidential election campaign
"Are You Better Off Than Four Years Ago?"
And the response was a big NO.
He got elected.
I think what happened during this election was that Mississauga voters asked themselves the same thing and the answer for many of them was "yes" or "about the same"
If this city experiences a massive economic downturn by 2010 (and it could happen) voters will likely be more receptive to non-incumbents.
btw- I loved the fact that so many challengers ran storng campaigns during this election. It was a treat to have a real race in ward 9 for a change.
Posted by OJ | November 21, 2006 5:45 PM
Posted on November 21, 2006 17:45
Another great Blog entry, John. (By my last count, you're now 26 of 28 or 93% which tops The Hazel's November 13th performance. Great job!)
Here goes. You wrote:
"In 5, which always seems to be the throwback, wild west ward of Mississauga, they like their politics rough and tumble.
How else do you explain easily re-electing a councillor who seemed to be plagued with problems? For example, infuriating the powerhouse mayor by getting caught using City staff on your campaign during office hours, and then denying that it ever happened in the face of sworn evidence to the contrary?"
"in the face of sworn evidence to the contrary" --That one's easy to explain John. You just have to know:
"Corporate Policy and Procedure Policy No. 01-03-07
Page 1 of 5
Effective Date 1999 03 31
Supersedes Corporate Policy and Procedure
TAB: HUMAN RESOURCES
SECTION: EMPLOYEE CONDUCT
SUBJECT: STANDARD OF BEHAVIOUR"
Policy No. 01-03-02
Page 7 of 7
Effective Date 2006 07 05
Corporate Policy and Procedure Supersedes 1993 02 10
Under heading "Political Activity":
"Political Issues:
City employees may not publicly state an opinion which is in opposition to an official City position on an issue."
It's the Corporate GAG ORDER, John --especially when you know that:
"Political Issues:
City employees may not publicly state an opinion which is in opposition to an official City position on an issue."
is immediately followed by:
"DISCIPLINARY ACTION Any employee who fails to act in accordance with the provisions of this policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action including termination of employment."
I told you Adams "denying that it ever happened in the face of sworn evidence to the contrary" was easy to explain.
Adams MAY have justifiable reason "denying" it!
Let's go one step further. In all these documents, "the City" really means "the Corporation". So let's re-read this statement substituting the word "Corporation" for "City".
"Corporation employees may not publicly state an opinion which is in opposition to an official Corporation position on an issue."
IRONCLAD HAM-FISTED GAG ORDER on any employee's conscience.
Bottomline, John?
A government (let's not forget The Corporation actually believes itself to be a government) with an EMPLOYEE CONDUCT STANDARD OF BEHAVIOUR that says employees may not publicly state an opinion which is in opposition to an official position on an issue --CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
Make no mistake. "interests of the City" and "interests of Mississauga" are NOT the same thing.
And get this.
There exists an EMPLOYEE CONDUCT STANDARD OF BEHAVIOUR with "City employees may not publicly state an opinion which is in opposition to an official City position on an issue" and then The Corporation trumpets "transparency" and "accountability"?!
"transparency" and "accountability" when employees have a GAG ORDER to toe the party line?!
You can add "hypocritical" to "evil empire", John.
Signed,
The Mississauga Muse
Posted by The Mississauga Muse | November 17, 2006 12:55 AM
Posted on November 17, 2006 00:55
I don't care if Slippery Cliff is planning a comeback, you're not getting another bottle of wine out of me. And you don't need to devore an entire blog to the idea that we'd be better off when all the councillors resign. The idea has merit ands stands on its own.
gdt
Posted by gdt | November 16, 2006 7:58 PM
Posted on November 16, 2006 19:58