Dear Editor,
It was disheartening to see voter turnout was so low for the last city council election. Is it apathy or do voters not see any change in the councillors?
The elected councillors who may be patting themselves on their backs should dwell on this low turnout.
If they are elected by only 25 per cent of the residents, do they have a mandate to commit the residents of Richmond to long term projects? It is a controversial subject, but council should examine the reasons behind it.
It may be that the voters do not see any change in council, but if they do not vote they cannot bring any change. If the term of the councillors is limited to two terms, it should resolve part of the problem.
Maybe residents feel the council has not been effective in the city’s operation, it is left to the bureacrats to manage the city’s daily affairs. I feel that we should not only be looking at council’s ability to manage the costs of the operations, oversee bylaws and zoning, they should also be looking forward to see where the city will be in five, 10 to 20 years. Are we planning for future generations?
Will they have roof over their heads? Is the present road network adequate to match the future population growth?
We need new councillors to plan ahead.
Sadru Ramji
RICHMOND
