Shame, Vantuckians! (Tongue In Cheek)

So...this is NOT a rant post. It is a sad post, given its on the sorry state of local political involvement (i.e. VOTING in local elections) in our Wet n Wild City - a post based on shocking numbers I found while researching iniative/referendum procedures for our City.

First off, the numbers:

# people in Vancouver (est 2012): 165,000

# people in Vanc over 18 yrs age: 122,000

# registered voters in Vanc (2010): 82,200

# ppl who voted in 2013 mayor race: 29,900

What these numbers say is this:

1/3 of eligible city residents arent registered to vote (+/- 5000 ppl)

ONLY 38% of registered voters actually VOTED in the 2013 mayoral race (which had an awful lot of hoopla, and turned into a squeaker cuz of I5 bridge hooha, among other things)

So this yes, sucks. I realize its hard to give a crap about local politics when its not on the TV or on the Net where yall surf. However:

Local officials have MUCH more say about how we live our lives, + choices we make, than do national ones (for instance, they have power over zoning, parks, parking tickets...all sorts of piddle shit).

Local officials are MUCH more accessible to voters. For instance, I can usually email someone on Vanc City Council + get a response (or from our city manager, etc). Its hardly likely Obama's gonna email you back, or even Herrera-Buetler.

The NARROW swath of voters actually voting hold MUCH more power than they would otherwise - my vote, as one of the 30k approx ppl who voted for city races, counts 3 TIMES AS MUCH.

Im not gonna lecture on your "duty" as a citizen to vote, or register to vote. Its easy to do, and some folks just dont wanna. Or cant (felons, etc). Thats fine and dandy. Just BE AWARE youre giving up the power of having any sort of valid say over your local government when you dont vote (and crying about issues to your neighbors, colleagues, or the paper doesnt cut the mustard when it comes to hypocrisy).

It makes me sad not more of you use this simple tool-voting-to bear witness and make your voice heard. Ah well. Not my side of the street - I'll just cluck my head + build my fence a bit higher, no need to get all apeshit on you for giving up your power. And rights.

In the meantime, your LOW voting turnout for mayor means I only need around 4600 signatures to pop an iniative or referendum on the ballot. Yeayyy me. Much easier than doing it in say, Seattle (which requires 15% of around oh, 150k actual last election voters to do same).

Can y'all guess what Im aiming to put on the fall ballot? Ive only been griping about it for the whole time Ive been a Vantuckian. Thats right: I wanna vote on switching us back to the "strong mayor" form of govt - like other same sized cities (Tacoma, Spokane, hell, Eugene even). I want a mayor and city council directly accountable to voters, with direct and meaningful oversight of city employees, processes, and govt - like hiring/firing power. I wanna pay our 7 councilmembers similar wages to Tacoma or Spokane (or pay 7 council folks part time comparable wages, with a full time mayor).

I want a City Council who has offices actually AT City Hall (they dont now). I want a mayor + council who earns enough to work ALWAYS with the best interests of our city as a priority-rather than use their current $25k/yr wages as pin money. I want a mayor with a strong hand on our city keel, and a council eager to oversee executive decisions, and override if needed. I want city employees answerable to elected officials, rather than being untouchable bureaucrats.

Mind you, this isnt about Eric Holmes doing a bad job (but what if the next city manager isnt as great?)

Most of all, I want our now city-sized Vantucky to get OFF auto pilot, and start acting and running like the coherent and thriving metropole it wants to become. We've gotta have checks + balances, and oversight accountable to US, the citizens of Vancouver USA, in order to do that. Otherwise we may as well do what Madore-ites keep harping: disincorporate + let an oligarch over at County decide whats best for us.

Look for initiative signature sheets soon, I hope. Contact me if you feel the same + wanna help. Lets toss this idea of Vantucky controlling its own destiny around a bit too, fine tune it before we submit to a ballot. Lets get our city government RIGHT, and turn off the auto pilot. Its past time to change things and grow up, Vantucky.