Dear editor:

As our local election draws closer, I (and no doubt many others) am asking what candidates am I prepared to vote for. What characteristics should my choices demonstrate? How would they likely behave as lord mayor or councillor?

Is it possible to draw up a template that could be applied to each candidate to see how they rate and how they might function once elected?

A bit of research about public service led to a profile. Six characteristics were identified:

Is the candidate capable of strategic thinking? Does he/she have the skill to mobilize people? Promote innovation and guide change? Collaborate with other stakeholders? Achieve results? And, is he/she likely to behave with integrity, transparency and respect overall and given various issues and viewpoints that arise?

Answering such questions is easier for rating those seeking re-election. Each has a track record to apply as a measure. Each made commitments before the last election which they either kept or ignored.

Even that’s tricky, however, for a particular action may depend on the circumstance. In those cases, we should know why the promise was compromised. Sometimes that question once asked simply goes unanswered.

With new candidates, careful evaluation and judgement calls need to be made. Campaign materials can be read, debates attended, specific questions asked and the opinions of others solicited.

That’s a lot to take on but take on we should for this is a critical election. I’m not alone in believing we are presently overextended and a course correction is needed.

I sense, even now, I know who I’ll vote for, but applying a template could serve for confirmation. Typically, a 1-to-5 scale might be used in the evaluation process. That could look something like this:

Taking one candidate, candidate A, and putting them up next to another, candidate B, then giving each candidate a score from 1 to 5 based on how strongly they possess the following characteristics, with 1 being the weakest score and 5 the strongest: Strategic thinker; mobilizer; innovative; collaborative; achieve results; and, integrity.

For the total rating, a numeric value could then be calculated for each candidate, some leading, some lagging. After that, it’s a gut/judgement call.

These six characteristics of public leadership are used frequently as evaluation tools federally and can equality apply for our local coming critical council election.

The key point is to consider this election seriously, recognizing the stakes at play and cast your votes accordingly. And by all means, let’s make sure we all turn out to vote.

Terry Mactaggart
NOTL