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Opinion: I've never voted in a municipal election and I'm not sure if tomorrow will change that

lazy guy
(via Shutterstock)

Stu Meeks was a loud, old man with a mustache-and-beard combo that he would gel, so that it shot straight out from his face, making him kind of resemble a grey Wario.

He was my first exposure to municipal politics. As a young, bored kid flipping channels, it was impossible to not stop and gawk at him on the public broadcast of Belleville council meetings. Even though my parents seemed to disagree with his views, I always thought I would vote for him when I got older. He had a silly mustache, what more did he need?

By the time legal voting age arrived, Meeks had passed, so I never voted for him.

In fact, I have never voted in any municipal election, period.

Yeah, I know, voting is important. As we've highlighted, municipal governments are responsible for a number of things that would figure to, and do, affect the everyday life of a poorly-dressed reporter. Yet I've never bothered to make that trek to the polls for a municipal election, and I don't feel particularly bad about it either. 

shutterstock_434944729It's almost time to cast your ballot. (via Shutterstock)

Perhaps that's because my interactions with the municipal powers that be have been so limited since I've been eligible to vote?

The first time I ever experienced the kind of civic outrage that might motivate one to take to the polls was back in university. We found a gross old couch on the side of the road and brought it home to sit on the porch of our equally gross student house. But this seemingly perfect match was broken up after bylaw officers for the City of Waterloo informed us that furniture designed for indoor use was not allowed to be displayed outside. 

"This is bullsh*t," we argued. "They're just picking on us because we're students."

That outrage remained even after we discovered it totally was written in the city's property standards act. Surely, you should be allowed to sit outside on a mildew-ridden couch on your own land if you want to? (Skipping over the fact that we didn't own the property, either.) 

Boy howdy, we were going to give the city a piece of our mind!

And then, we didn't. We found some bylaw-friendly chairs that more than did the trick and forgot all about our gripes. It's just as well: I don't recall any council candidates running on a pro-couch platform.

Anger has always been one of the great motivators to get people out and vote. But as a youngish person who owns no property, it's very hard to get worked up about municipal issues and even harder to stay engaged with them. (Students who day-drink on mouldy couches aren't exactly a first-round pick to join neighbourhood associations or PTAs.)

Caring about hyper-local government is also a struggle when the city you're supposed to worry about is constantly changing. I lived in Waterloo at the start of this decade and since then, I've called four other places home before coming here. It's the nature of the business, but it also means you don't get too worked up when councilperson X says that property taxes need to go up or a swimming pool needs to close. Chances are, you'll be gone before it happens and it becomes some other person's problem.

Then, there's been instances where the city I live in isn't also the place I work, be it working out of town or online. Without that daily commute thrown in the mix, you miss out on another bevy of common city gripes: parking, traffic, how the downtown "used to be so nice." Sometimes, you can live somewhere and really not have any connection with it.

Sometimes, a city can just be a place where you store your shirts and pants.

The people who municipal elections matter to are the ones who know Kamloops as more than a storage bin. They've chosen to make a life here and know what they like and don't like about it. This is the city where their kids will grow up, or they'll launch their first business; its future survival is paramount. They know all the candidates involved too because they're voting for and against their neighbours, whether it's the guy who sells them polish sausage or the lady who does their taxes.

I'm glad that people like that exist. In all my years of non-voting, the streets where I live are still being plowed, garbage is still getting picked up and the infrastructure hasn't collapsed on itself. Plus, sometimes there's a parade. Good job voters, you've done a fine job representing my basic needs!

SignsCandidate signs populate an intersection. (via Brendan Kergin)

So for this upcoming election, I still don't have any real motivation to partake. I have no great anger about this city. (Granted, I still haven't experienced a major snowfall here in Kamloops yet, so the snow removal on my street could be terrible.) 

As for the candidates, most of the names on the ballot are still just Arial 11-point font to me. They're signs on the sidewalk. They're beards on the TV.

So tomorrow, if I don't end up voting, I'll use the excuse that I was busy working. But really, I just couldn't muster up enough reason to care about a place I've only lived in for six months.

And if I do end up casting a ballot in tomorrow's election, know that I actually took the time to do my research and made a well-thought-out decision. I'll have to for this one because none of these candidates have a hilarious beard and mustache to get my support.

— Eric Thompson is a reporter for KamloopsMatters