As I sat down to write this column I interrupted myself (blame it on my ADD) to remind my son, yet again, to vote this Saturday in Richmond’s byelection.
His response was a shrug and, “we’ll see,” which led me to harangu him about how he should vote.
His response was, “What’s one thing I would notice or would change if I voted?”
And there we have it — the very reason why, right now, we’re sitting at 3.4 per cent of registered voters having cast a ballot in early voting, why a full-on civic election for mayor and council, as well as school trustees, is lucky to break 30 per cent, why this byelection, where we’re voting for a single city councillor, may get half that.
So, here’s my answer.
Remember, I’m talking to a 23-year-old (who’s long since left the room), so let’s start with basketball courts and soccer pitches.
How many soccer pitches there are, who can use the basketball courts, where the bike lanes go, how much gym memberships, all this is determined by the city.
Granted, the unelected bureaucracy work out the details, but the big picture of the kind of city we want to live in comes from council.
Moreover, that big picture emerges out of lots of little bylaws and regulations. Think of it like a detailed paint-by-number.
Not many, apart from our intrepid city hall reporter, are going to sit through a council meeting in which hours are spent discussing zoning, for example.
But, when it comes time to buying a condo, renting a home, deciding where to go for dinner or what day care to put your kid in, it matters.
Those bylaws add up, particularly in this election where it seems the balance of power between left and right leaning candidates is up for grabs.
Housing, for example, is a provincial jurisdiction, but the city can set rules for housing developers that can determine who and how people are housed. How?
- Councillors can determine if a condo complex has one floor of social housing, five floors of social housing or no floors of social housing. (More social housing is good if you need it, but not if you want more options to buy.)
- Councillors can set regulations that would ensure all new stratas allow an unlimited number of units to be rented. (Good news if you’re a renter, not if you don’t want to live with renters.)
- Councillors can require some developments be rental-only or have a portion of units rental-only and the size of that portion. (A combination of the above.)
Point being, these apparently small decisions can have a huge impact on people’s lives, where they live or how they invest.
And if housing isn’t an issue for you right now, what about greenspace, is there enough of it? What about your business, do you feel supported? What do you think of all those patios popping up, do you like them? What about services for seniors, are there enough?
City council has a say in all of the above.
Granted, we’re not going to wake up to a whole new reality after Saturday’s byelection — but don’t underestimate it, either.
To my son, and whoever else is looking for a reason to bother, you will notice not just one thing but a myriad of things — over time and if you look.
This is the last paper before the election. As such, we have a policy not to print election material that may be seen as “political” (although I’d argued everything is political, including whether or not you vote.)
And while we don’t have election stories in this paper, all we’ve written throughout the campaign is on our website.
Results are expected Saturday night after polls close at 8 p.m. so tune into Richmond-News.com for coverage.
