The year 2010 is off to a flying start. Jan. 4 was the date when people could begin filing papers to run in the Oct. 25 municipal election, and quite a number of people have already tossed their hats in the ring.
Municipal campaigning is not for the faint of heart. This is the level of government where the representative answers to his or her constituency on a daily basis. Anyone who prefers to keep personal skeletons hidden in the closet should reconsider any plans to seek public office at the municipal level. Around here, we know where our municipal leaders live and work, who their dentist is, and where they buy groceries (and what they put in the cart).
At this level, leaders are responsible to their constituents on a daily basis. That can mean everything from a heated confrontation in the check-out line at the L & M, to an enthusiastic discussion over coffee at Greenley’s, Suzie’s or Out to Lunch. It often includes phone calls at home during dinner, and getting cornered at the bank’s instant teller. Municipal leaders could never get away with making a phone call to some nebulous quasi-regal figure and suspend government for three months – the coffee shop philosophers would confront them at every turn, every hour of every day. Those guys are a force to be reckoned with, as many a municipal leader has discovered.
While the community’s recovery from the economic downturn of the last year will play a prominent role in municipal election 2010, local candidates should be prepared to answer some tough questions about how Minto intends to pay its share of all those federal-provincial partnership projects. It is difficult to turn down offers of two-thirds funding from upper tier governments, especially when it is for work that needs doing. But when too large a portion of our property taxes is devoted to servicing debt, it effectively ties the hands of future councils.
Federal and provincial money comes from the general tax base, while the municipality funds its share from property taxes. Money required by upper tier governments comes mostly from those earning money; in municipalities, it comes from property owners. The people hit hardest by property tax increases are elderly pensioners. Our leaders can talk all they want about the need to provide the amenities to attract future investment; it still seems almost criminal to do it at the expense of the people who worked hard to build Minto into a successful political entity.
Further to this is the general problem of property assessment faced by many municipalities. Despite a scathing report by the Ontario ombudsman, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is rife with problems. Last year, incorrect assessments on a number of agricultural properties caused budget woes for this municipality.
The status quo is not an option where MPAC is concerned. Municipalities have to do more than scream in frustration, throw their hands in the air, and blame the province. Someone at the municipal level has to spearhead a movement that will see municipalities join forces and work together for badly needed change.
Municipal government is not for the faint of heart, it is for people who truly care about their community and want to make a difference. Bravo to all who have decided to run for office – you have our respect, you will get our questions, and you have to earn our votes – and keep earning them for the next four years.