It's been over a week?

I have a few free hours tonight and as I sit on my front deck watching these dark clouds roll in over Saint John, I thought it would be a good time to compose a post Saint John Municipal Election blog. After all, it has been a week already. The new council has yet to me sworn in, but I am surprised I have not heard or read of any complaints yet. I say this with some sarcasm of course but I will focus this blog a bit on separating needs and wants and taking action within your community. I will offer less details on the particulars of the results from the election.

Saint John overwhelmingly chose to elect a new Council, only returning two candidates to their former seats. I am confident this new Council will have some great ideas and produce some great results and have no major concerns with who was elected....I wish them the best and know they will do great things, after all, we elected them. However, they will have some major obstacles to overcome and there will be many difficult decisions to make and alas, not everyone will be happy. Not everyone will ever be happy with all decisions, thus why we have our chance to have our say every four years.

This is where I get into separating needs from wants and taking action in your community. It is also where I further develop some comments I made on election night about the negativity in this campaign (and many campaigns for that matter). You see, we as a community, have to realize that we have some issues and concerns that must be addressed if we are to prosper. We cannot pretend like they do not exist and expect perfect roads and sidewalks, perfect transit, perfect relationships around the Council table, etc. We have fiscal constraints for a variety of reasons, however, that does not mean that we cannot become engaged in our community in a positive and meaningful manner.

What bothered me on election night where the many negative comments on social media sites about various candidates, incumbent and otherwise. While taking five seconds to post something negative on Twitter may seem like social action to some, it simply is not. All it does is belittle and berate those whom the community has elected in the past or those whom have had the interest and passion to let their name stand for public office. I admit, it is easy to do, with all the social media sites now days, and I have even done it myself in the past. But the level and ugliness I saw on election night really bothered me.

The alternative, get truly involved in your community. Throw away the Twitter account and get out to meetings, rallies, fundraisers, City Hall sessions, Boards/Committees, non-profit groups, research think tanks, etc. and contribute to turning the page in Saint John. I hope and believe the new Council will be open to getting new people involved and listening to the thoughts and ideas of all citizens. So, take these opportunities and with the new  reality we face, change your wants and take action to make your community a better place. If you have issues with decisions politicians are making then engage with them and have your viewpoint known, but don't just post some remark on Twitter in the hopes that you will change the world, because you will not.

In a nutshell, I think the election results were a call for change, but people must realize that government cannot change communities on their own, they need the help and support of the citizens that make up those communities. They are some of the only permanent champions of change within the community and the new Council must realize this and take advantage of it if the wish to see real change. The election is over but the call for change has just begun. Be part of it!

Danny

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Gandhi