Disappointed. That is the answer I would give if asked my reaction to the London 2014 Municipal Election. From listening to a talk show today on AM 980, and from checking the result in my Ward, I am disappointed with the results.
It seems to me, London voters did not vote for change by leaving only three incumbents in office, and bringing in 11 new Councillors and one new Mayor. The City Of London voted against something, not for it. They voted against the previous Municipal government. That, in my opinion, is a mistake.
I certainly wanted to see change, but I voted for something when I voted for my choice of candidates for Ward Councillor and Mayor (neither were incumbents), and not against something. I voted for policy. I voted for the candidates (Ward, Mayor) who I thought had good ideas.
I did not think that I would vote for someone just to get another person out of office. I did not vote for a new person just to take me farther down the same road the person I voted against was taking me. I did not vote for someone just becasuse that person was was in opposition to the person in office. I did not vote just to punish a person in office by getting him or her voted out.
Back around 2006, London City Council got this idea that erecting metal trees of various colours which are of a design of austere simplicity was going to attract tourists to the City downtown.
Coun. Cheryl Miller, who has long championed the core's revitalization, said the tree art could even draw more tourists.
"I think this could put London on the map," said Miller.
- London Free Press, November, 2006
Funding for this project came from the downtown improvement tax on the business owners of downtown London by the London Downtown Business Association.
The brainchild of architect/developer Andy Spriet, and funded with $200,000 mostly from the London Downtown Business Association, it's part of the city's effort to promote public art in the core area.
- London Free Press, November, 2006
After approximately 14 years and approximately $500,000 tax money dollars later, the metal tree project has long been a failure.
On October 19, 2014, 2,300 people, double what was expected, turned out for a Comicon event organized by L.A. Mood Comics And Games, one of the downtown business that must pay the London Downtown Business Association tax. The event was an overwhelming success without any metal trees.
I am certain there is already a debate about polls being released before an election vote is completed. Prior to the voting, the news media tells who is going to "win" the election based on some polling of eligible voters. This is what has happened here in the 2014 London (Ontario, Canada) municipal election.
After an election, the only voters who "won" are the voters who voted for the candidate who won the election, and everyone else lost. To quote Mr. Brown from the movie The Big Combo (1955): "First is first, and second is nobody", and nobody wants to be the loser in an election.
Exactly why the news media reports these pre election polls, I do not know. What influence it has on the average voter I am just as unsure of. I do know what effect it has on me. It makes me want to vote even more.
Voting for a "loser" has never bothered me, and I have voted for my share of election "losers". I will certainly be voting for a "loser" this election too because the person I support for Mayor only 5% of those polled also support under the definition "other". I will not vote or not vote for someone based on an opinion poll. I will vote for whom I choose to vote for after my own evaluation of the candidates I have to choose from. If the polls say 45% of those polled support Candidate A, and only 5% support the candidate I do, I will be more determined to cast my vote for my candidate. I realize opinion polls are not how we elect people; marking a selection on a ballot is.
