The first of the local election leaflets have already made their way through my letterbox and it’s only a matter of weeks, I’d say, before the canvassing begins in earnest for June 2009.
Though the local election process fascinates me, there is nothing I hate more after spending eight hours a day writing about local politics then the doorbell ringing while I’m making the dinner and a City Council hopeful standing on my doorstep, brimming with enthusiasm and poised to regale me with their Herculean efforts on the previous council and/or intention to revolutionise local politics. Which is why, in the run-up to the past two local elections, I’ve stuck a polite notice in my front window spelling out: ‘No Canvassers Please’.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to belittle their efforts. Though many elements of the media tend to undervalue the significance of local elections, I think they hold a crucial place in the Irish political process.
Local politicians are essential if we, the people, are to feel we have any real input in the democratic process and those decisions made concerning our welfare.
The evidence suggests that canvassing does pay off for politicians: a recent Yale study reckons for every twelve voters who you talk to at their doors during a local election campaign, one voter goes and votes who would not otherwise have done so. This figure, moreover, is a conservative estimate.
What’s in it for you?
But what do you, the voter, get out of the process. I reckon the majority of voters are like me – they perceive canvassers as an unnecessary disturbance during the ‘family’ time of their day. Just as Eastenders is about to start, the dog starts howling at the unfamiliar visitor making their way up the driveway and you just know that your dinner will be gone cold by the time they depart. But the canvassers are nonetheless going to come a-knocking so you have to ask yourself whether you’re content to let the eyes glaze over and nod like a bobble-head figure in a rear window while they say their piece. Or instead come up with a few questions that might make them stop parroting the party line and think for themselves.
So they tell you they’re for a university for the South East, job creation for the city and region, improved cancer services and educational facilities. In the name of all that is sacred, who isn’t? The existing (and let me add hard-working) City Council has been seeking meetings with the IDA, various Ministers and State bodies for months now to discuss the jobs crisis in the area and from what I can see they’re just being fobbed off.
No power on healthcare
Local councillors have nothing to do with decisions on healthcare – if they did St Brigid’s Ward up in St Patrick’s wouldn’t be getting the axe. They have no input into spending on education (though they should).Though they are exceptionally well-intentioned, they hold little or no persuading powers when it comes to these sort of decisions (aside from putting pressure on their respective parties but, let’s face it, I doubt they’re the only local politicians at this right now).
At the end of the day, the best candidate in a local election is someone who will get something done on a local level. So look at their track record. If they’ve already served a term in office, ask what specific developments they’ve been instrumental in bringing about. And I don’t mean talking shop committees, of which there are plenty. I mean real action, visible to the voters.
Ask where they stand on service charges, think about road conditions and safety in your neighbourhood and ask what they’ve done about them or better still ask their opinion on that issue and see have they actually done their homework. Ask which major developments in the city they’ve supported in recent years and which they’ve opposed. Our increasingly urban community will best be served by elected officials who have the wisdom to take the long-term view in growth management planning. Ask what they’d do (or have already done) to provide activities for young people. The list is endless but, most of all, watch out for party political waffle. Failing this, give me a shout and I’ll make you a sign for your window.
