A businessman was once nominated as a town councillor. I was in that business with my dad when the businessman told my dad: “I don’t want to be bothered with that job.” My dad said, “Is this not a pretty good place to live?” The fellow replied, “It’s a great town and the best that I know.” Dad asked him, “Do you not think that you owe one term of your time to be a councillor and help keep it a great town?” The businessman thought for a few seconds and replied; “I never thought of it that way, I guess you’re right.”
As a result, he became a councillor for a couple terms and was a great asset to the town. Everyone should run for councillor at least once just to appreciate the problems, big and small, some more sensible than others. A councillor will always hear; “I want lower taxes, all the services”, and council will soon figure out that that some people want everything their way.
I, like many people, learned common sense through many years of making mistakes and watching others do things right or wrong. Things such as water runs downhill and, as both Toronto and Montreal learned recently, cement and pavement don’t absorb water. Often, towns and cities grow faster than the capacity of the water storm sewer system. Sometimes people buy a home or build one in a low spot and eventually water will accumulate in that low spot (or maybe infiltrate their basement) Farmers learn very quickly that loam soil swells a lot more than gravel or sand with water and heaves with frost and puts extra pressure on foundations, roadways, and it also shrinks when it dries causing depressions in a street where a water or sewer line crosses under the road if the same type of soil is not replaced after the water or sewer pipes are installed.
Everyone wants all the roadways cleaned of snow before they want to use them, but don’t want to get woken up by the snowplow before they normally get up. Nobody likes the snowplow to push snow back into their laneway after they cleared it. There is a $10,000 attachment for the end of the wing on the snowplow that can be dropped down on each laneway and carry the snow past the lane leaving the lane clean; but should every taxpayer share the cost of that extra attachment for only those who need it?
Some municipalities and insurance companies require one way backup valves on all private sewer lines to prevent sewer backup and flooding by large rains or other sewer backups. Otherwise, insurance will not pay for damages and the municipality will not be responsible either. Sometimes elevations on streets or approaches to major roads must be changed to avoid vehicles from sliding down too steep an incline on an icy winter day, causing a serious accident. Or sometimes the street elevation must be changed to allow water not to flood a neighbour (water only flows downhill). Sometimes people (sometimes it’s youth) get into trouble with the law and instead of giving them a harsh jail or prison sentence, they are given a community service sentence. Often, after completing community service in a town or municipality, they not only learn not to do that again, but the satisfaction of doing a job right and on time. Many municipalities employ students in summer jobs and those youth grow up to be very responsible and productive citizens.
Council meetings (town, city, or municipal) are not very often visited by taxpayers. Not even budget meetings when they discuss how your money will be spent over the next year. Although many council meetings are not very eventful, more people should talk to their councillor and sit in occasionally just to observe their council in action. It’s your right and obligation to tell your politicians what you want. And remember, “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.”
