(Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Staggered civic elections would avoid ‘learning curve’ jitters

Dec 29, 2022 | 4:48 AM

THIS COMES UNDER the heading of “Advice, absolutely free of charge.”

As the wet-behind-the-ears Kamloops City council emerges from the holiday season and heads toward a new year, we can expect more of the same kind of struggle it demonstrated during the first couple of months of its tenure.

It’s the struggle that comes from being brand new to the job, and this council is about as new as it gets. Less than half its nine members have any previous experience at running a city.

They haven’t looked very comfortable in their new roles so far, and that should come as no surprise. But, other than waiting for them to get the hang of things, is there any long-term solution?

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If you’re like me, you’ve already grown tired of hearing, almost daily, that council members have “a steep learning curve” and need to be shown patience. Well, the City doesn’t have time to wait forever for them to learn the ropes.

The annual budgeting process, and decisions about big recreation and culture projects, for example, present serious challenges for this green council.

So maybe we need to re-visit the frequency of elections. I’m referring to the old practice of staggered elections in which only half the councillors were elected at one time, ensuring that there would be sufficient continuity of knowledge around the table to affect a smooth transition from one election to the next.

That was scrapped in favour of the current all-or-nothing system because it saves money by cutting the number of civic elections in half. It’s rationalized with the mantra that voters should be able to throw the rascals out holus bolus if they aren’t doing a good job, but major turnovers are problematic, as we’ve seen.

It would take our provincial government to make such a change at the civic level but maybe the cost of staggered elections would be worth it in terms of smart, efficient government.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.