Voter Turnout, Part Three: Effecting Groundswell Changes

While there is no magic wand (or formula, for that matter), I'm willing to bet that if we're looking for ways to replicate the inclinations of consistent voters, the expression 'Live with a pirate long enough and you learn how to curse,' provides an invaluable clue.  

So here are some offhand suggestions as to what basic situations might provide for the inculcation of a higher sense of civic duty, of service, of obligation related to the end-examples proffered previously, how a value system that honours community engagement might be promoted:

-Households where a strong sense of responsibility outside-of-self is propagated, where neighbourhood cleanups, community projects and volunteering aren't seen as esoteric activities foster the mindset associated with civic duty. 

-Education systems where 'civics' isn't dealt with in a lip-service way, but rather support long-term awareness and the potential for participation. Where politicians visit classrooms to reinforce what's being taught, where students finish their education with a full understanding of how each level of government work, and can discuss the practicals with as much aptitude as they might be able to rhyme off their favourite professional sports team's stats or the minutiae of the latest social fad. 

-Parents who show by example that 'politics' and 'politicians' don't have to be addressed from a default of negativity or cynicism or dismissiveness, who take their children along to debates and candidates' nights and to actually watch them vote. 

-Perhaps most of all, families, neighbourhoods and communities where respect is valued at all levels. Because when the idea of respect is planted and fostered, when an individual is respected and feels respect for themselves, this 'default setting' carries over into all aspects of Life. While it doesn't guarantee 'perfect people', it certainly makes for more situations that resemble what we all in our hearts want our families, our neighbourhoods, our communtities to resemble. 

M Adrian Brassington

Voter Turnout, Part Two: So why do people who vote, actually vote?

Because they see things entirely differently than the person that doesn't vote...or maybe just differently enough. 

Because they feel a sense of responsibility. 

Because they feel a sense of obligation.

Because they feel a sense of civic duty. 

For the most part, the consistent voter (and by association, the voter who joins their local neighbourhood association, who is active in their community), casting a ballot isn't some overwrought thought process. 

I believe that it's instinctive. 

It's like loving someone. You don't go all angsty over it...you just do it. (Or you don't, in which case the conversation is moot.)

Voter Turnout, Part One: Maybe we're asking the wrong question?

This week's provincial election voter turnout was 49.2%. 

This year's federal election voter turnout was 61.1%. 

Last autumn's municipal election voter turnout was roughly 40%. 

Which naturally begs the question 'Why don't people vote?'

Going back to the title of this editorial, maybe we're asking the wrong question. Maybe we should be asking: 

'Why do people vote?'

Some clarification, if you please...

"I may have been born at night, but not last night."

I knew that when I took the town halls notion from soapboxing on My Stoney Creek to the next level –actually implementing it– that the path would not be smooth.

On many fronts.

The first thing I understood I'd encounter was cynicism from observers. Residents, 'commenters', etc. Cynicism, skepticism, negativism... I knew that part of this would be attributable to the 'legacy malaise' of the city. Part of it would be the person's preternatural tendency to scoff at an endeavour that was, well, 'aspirational'. And part of it would be borne out of insecurity. Envy, if you will. People don't like to be shaken up. They don't like the status quo to be questioned...especially if they're then forced...even sub-consciously...to be nudged to deal with their status quo.

The second thing I understood was that what I was proposing was, for the Councillors involved, subversive. That no matter how I couched the effort, it could easily be seen as slagging-off their habits where engagement with their constituents was concerned. That it could easily be seen as encroaching on their turf. That it could be seen as being invasive, abrasive...insulting, even.

May we have your attention, please...?

Town Halls Hamilton is proud to announce:

Ward 2 Town Hall: An Evening with 

Councillor Jason Farr

Thursday, November 10th. 7-9:00 pm. 

City Hall

(Doors open at 6:30)

Wowza. Big news.

I can't let the cat out of the bag quite yet...but hopefully within a few days, we should have an 'official press release' that will preface the initial results, the culmination of over a year's worth of soapboxed ruminations...and the start of this endeavour's real work. 

Stay tuned. 

Dedicated to all the cynical and the down-trodden Hamiltonians I've met...and have yet to meet...

The Story of Town Halls and The Do-Nuthin' Bunch That Decided to Finally Do Something

Once upon a time, a Stranger strolled into a city. He could tell from the moment he arrived that something wasn't quite right; the mood of everyone he met was...off. That they were each having a bad day. But soon enough he realized that it was more than just a 'bad day'.

"What gives?" he asked his Server in the diner he had a late dinner in after spending his first day wandering around the city, dipping into this neighbourhood and that community, venturing far and wide...for that is what a strolling stranger does. Even if he may be sticking around for a while. (Or not.)

A sigh and a shrug...and a faraway stare was her response.

Later, when she brought the bill, she didn't let go of it right away, played tug-o-war with him for a few seconds...then sat down opposite him in the booth. "You have to understand," The Server began, wiping the table with her utility cloth. Back and forth and back and forth, shining it mindlessly... "We're a city with no hope."

"Cities don't have hope," The Stranger winked. "People do."

Rolling her eyes, she began to get up.

"Why no hope?" he asked in a kind, conciliatory way. 

And she explained.