Well, by Friday when the final ballots are counted, our newly elected city council will be officially revealed. Congratulations to all the candidates for putting your names forward in this election and to those who were voted in to serve the community for the next four years.
Democracy has spoken and although some decisions will be made that don’t please everyone, those who came out to mark their ballots have exercised their right for the governance of their choice.
Over the past tenure of local government, many individuals have raised their voices in concern over ‘closed door’ meetings and the many decisions that have affected the taxpayers without public consultation. It certainly isn’t that the general public doesn’t understand that council has the right to hold closed-door meetings for ‘sensitive’ information disclosed, but rather that decisions were made and mandated that ultimately affect us all as taxpayers without the community being allowed to speak forth in open debate. It’s much easier to swallow decisions that are hard to digest if there is the ability to speak forth to it and then agree to disagree, but when individuals are not allowed a voice and have to swallow what is pushed down their throats, that doesn’t appear to be democracy working at its best.
I certainly hope that those who have been elected will make an effort to bend their ears to hear what the citizens’ they represent are saying…
“Democracy is a small, hard core of common agreement, surrounded by a rich variety of individual differences.”
—James B. Conant
No matter what the outcome of the election, we will continue to be a voice for the people of Moose Jaw and hold city council/city hall accountable for decisions made without allowing the community to speak to the issues at hand.
As some individuals have accused our publication of having a bias against city council, let me affirm, we do not have a personal vendetta against anyone on council or at city hall but rather direct pointed questions and considerations that apparently they take as criticisms. Maybe a little more open communication would assist in allowing a better relationship all around!
“Democracy is measured not by its leaders doing extraordinary things, but by its citizens doing things extraordinarily well.”
—John Gardner
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
