To vote for an uncle, a cousin or a niece?
My social media timeline is suddenly full of candidates running for municipal councils. In one way or another, relatives, friends and acquaintances have been announcing their candidacies for some local government authority or another and seeking our support in the digital world.
I am not here to mock them, of course. The fact that they are running for office actually makes me very happy. We’re always talking about how indifferent we are as a society toward our communities, and in this sense, these massive lists of candidates are a great development that points to a growing pool of people with a sincere interest in doing something for their community.
There are, of course, many ambitious “veterans” on these lists and maybe a smattering of idlers, but there are also thousands who are willing to give up their private time to deal with issues that concern their city, town or village. What’s more, most of the newcomers know they are very unlikely to get elected but are making a run nevertheless.
These massive lists of candidates are a great development that points to a growing pool of people with a sincere interest in doing something for society
According to the Interior Ministry, there are 63,906 candidates for municipal councils, 80,465 for community councils and 7,395 for regional councils. All together, that’s 151,766 candidates. So, once the elections are over, all the new councils could take on one more challenge, and that is finding ways of making use of all the people who are still ready, willing and able to do their part.
On the downside, going through the resumes of some of these candidates shows us that, with few exceptions, most are beating the same tired drum. Do we really need to know about their interest in sports and culture, how active they are on the PTA of their child’s school or how much they love animals? That is not to dismiss these issues as unimportant, but what about their position on other, more “mundane” questions, like waste management, recycling, the municipality’s finances, sustainable mobility etc? Those with something to say on these issue are rare. Even rarer are candidates with more radical proposals, like prioritizing bicycles over cars, reducing the amount of space cafes, bars and restaurants are allowed to occupy on sidewalks and public squares, new zoning regulations, cracking down on illegal construction and curbing construction outside zoned areas.
Let us hope that the local elections bring to the fore good and worthy people who, even if they lack experience, are ready to learn on the job and fight for the good of the whole. That said, what seems to be sorely lacking overall is, in my humble opinion, vision.
