Dear editor:

As Niagara-on-the-Lake heads toward another municipal election, I believe residents should ask themselves a very simple question:

Are you better served by your Town government today than you were four years ago?

Forget campaign slogans for a moment. Look at the record.

Do you believe council has listened to residents? Has decision-making become clearer and more accountable? Are your tax dollars being spent in ways that reflect your priorities? Do you have greater confidence in town hall today than you did at the beginning of this term?

Those are questions every incumbent should be prepared to answer.

The patio issue provides one example worth considering.

The Town undertook extensive public consultation on its temporary patio program. According to the town’s own staff report, 394 people completed the survey — significantly higher participation than the town typically received for its surveys — and 93 per cent supported the temporary patio program.

Despite that level of support, council ultimately directed that the program be discontinued.

Council is not legally required to follow an opinion poll. Elected representatives sometimes have legitimate reasons for making decisions that differ from public sentiment. But when they do, residents are entitled to ask why.

What is the purpose of public consultation if overwhelming feedback can be set aside? What evidence outweighed that feedback? Was the reasoning communicated clearly enough to the people who participated?

The same standard should apply to accountability and conflicts of interest.

Residents should review the public record for themselves. Look at council minutes. Look at declarations of pecuniary interest. Look at integrity commissioner reports and decisions. Look at occasions when councillors participated in discussions and occasions when they removed themselves.

Then make your own judgment about the standards you expect from the people entrusted with making decisions on your behalf.

A declared conflict does not, by itself, mean somebody has done something wrong. Nor does an allegation establish misconduct. But transparency matters. Public confidence depends on residents believing that municipal decisions are being made in the public interest and that elected officials are taking appropriate steps when private, family or business interests intersect with matters before council.

This election should not simply be about who has the best signs, the largest social-media presence or the most familiar name.

It should be an assessment of the last four years.

Ask what was promised. Ask what was accomplished. Ask how council responded when residents spoke. Ask how individual councillors voted on the issues that mattered to you. Ask who demonstrated transparency, accountability and respect for public participation.

Most importantly, don’t take anyone else’s word for it — including mine.

Look at the record.

Then vote according to what that record tells you about the kind of municipal government you want for Niagara-on-the-Lake over the next four years.