Ladies and gentlemen start your engines, the political maneuvering has begun and the race is on. One by one the candidates for District of Sooke council are beginning to come out of the woodwork.
Some may feel they haven’t completed their objectives, others feel they have some, and the odd one may think they can add a positive spin to the serious job of running a municipality. And it is a very serious job. It takes a lot of time and energy, determination and common sense. It is not just a few hours a week, it is more like a solid part-time job. That is if one wants to do the job well.
One needs to be able to look at issues objectively, from both sides, and then question the reasoning. No one voted anyone in just to go with the flow, they elect their candidate to insure the work of the district is being done with the wishes of the residents in mind, not the wishes of a chosen few. This is crucial because people are elected to think for themselves. They are too often part of a slate, handled by someone on the outside with their own political agenda — they become a puppet of sorts. Independence from undue influence is crucial for a politician, or at least is for an honest and principled one.
The gloves are coming off, one can already sense that. There are some candidates running who are not strangers at the council table and others who have only seen the working of council from the gallery. It’s a whole different ball game in the dugout.
This is going to be an interesting and volatile campaign and an even more interesting council.