November 16, 2008...12:18 am

Results are in…

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Results:

Results.jpg

Breakdown:

Mayoral

Council

7 Comments

Filed under Civic Election, Results for Nanaimo's 2008 Municipal Election

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7 Comments

  • Larry Gambone
    November 16, 2008 at 9:38 am

    Well, here we go again. The South End is shut out once more. This shows the undemocratic nature of the “at large” system. I think people have to seriously consider returning to a ward system. It would also help to increase the number of votes, which I see stood at a wretched 32%. It becomes a vicious circle. You have no representation, so you cease to vote. By ceasing to vote you lessen the possibility of getting a representative.

  • Barbara
    November 16, 2008 at 9:58 am

    I was absolutely astounded to find out that in 2005, a mere 660 people voted at Bayview Polling Station.
    An initial skim of these numbers to leads me to wonder how many South Enders DID get out and vote? We can’t make a direct comparison because our polling station is closed.

    Even if we HAD a great turnout, will the numbers always be stacked against us?

    Oh well, I am sure we can work with who has been elected, there are some good people there, and we’ve met most of them now. And I think they now know WHO WE are…:))

  • Allium
    November 16, 2008 at 11:05 am

    I’m disappointed with the turn out above all. What a let down for so few to show up. Only 660 residents may have showed up at Bayview last year but closing the station doesn’t work to encourage more people to come out. It does the complete opposite.

    I’m not convinced the ward system is a better way to go. (I’ll write more on my blog about why,) Sure something has to change but it needs to be something pretty significant to draw people out of their apathy. Do we change to follow other countries leads and make voting compulsory and not voting costing the citizen a small penalty of $25 or so?

    I guess I wonder what is in our power to do now? All that comes to mind is that we must start working now to get the community involved for next time. Perhaps open up discussion on how this could be done? What would get people to realise how much this affects them/us/the South End? Maybe more events with information and discussion? Rallies or meet and greets to get to know councillors and candidates who would support/represent the South End?

    I think having this weblog and the South End Community Association weblog are going to be an important key to offering people the ability to get informed from work or home at their own pace. Maybe there needs to be an opportunity to work with community members on increasing their computer/internet skills?

    Sorry this is all over the place. I’m just running with some thoughts.

  • Larry Gambone
    November 16, 2008 at 11:43 am

    Another concept that needs consideration is the formation of a municipal slate. This has worked well in Vancouver with COPE and Vision. In Nanaimo we have a host of community-oriented candidates, each spending their little bit of campaign money and competing with each other. Take four or five of the most likely to win candidates, put them on a slate, combine with the money that can be generated with a broader base of support and you are much more likely to elect candidates that represent the community at large rather than corporate interests.

  • Larry Gambone
    November 16, 2008 at 11:50 am

    I will be interested to read your alternative to a ward system, Ann. But I think we have to realize that “at large” is a deliberate rigging of the electoral system to favor the more privileged section of the population. Vancouver used to have a ward system, but it was abolished in the late 1930’s when it looked like the CCF could take city hall, since poorer wards outnumbered the wealthy ones four to one.

  • Allium
    November 16, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    My response was getting a bit wordy so I cut and paste it over to my blog: http://alliumbloom.blogspot.com/

    :)


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