Elected officials should serve the interests of their constituents, instead, some are preoccupied with their own pernicious ambitions.
Politics is a challenging profession and politicians must regularly take difficult stands. However, in taking their stands, they should do more serious reviewing of their positions. On the other, voters need to cut them some slack with the decisions they make. However, politicians need to rise to a higher level of responsibility and job fulfilment than some currently do.
Many months ago, Lisa Robinson, municipal councillor for Ward 1 in Pickering, dug herself into a controversial quagmire by declaring that flag raising in favour of any one group was biased. Rather than a single flag being raised, she stated that all groups deserved equal recognition by having all flags raised. An indisputable position without argument. However, what is definite and undebatable is that the issue was emotional and sensitive and needed closed-door discussion to refine and polish it before any public exposure. Then she stirred up the community over the public washrooms at a community recreation center. Robinson keeps diving into the deep end of the pool of controversy. Her justification for doing this is that she has the right to independent and personal views. No question but is she doing a disservice to the community in doing so?
Today, she steps into another heated quagmire: whether or not she can locate ‘constructive type’ storage on her property to the detriment of good neighbourhood appearance.
The issue here is not whether or not Robinson is detracting from the appearance of her neighbourhood with the storage bin. Nor is it a question if she has the right to do what she is doing. Rather it is one of being a good neighbour and not upsetting the neighbourhood by doing something that troubles three nearby neighbours. [ Robinson has been suspended without pay for 30 days for rebutting her neighbours’ criticisms with a “sarcastic” response. ]
No one can argue that Council Robinson has a right to view issues from a personal perspective. She has rights most certainly. However, as a politician who can affect issues in the community far more than a regular citizen, perhaps she needs to start thinking at a higher level. She may have the right the do what she does but is she right to do so? Perhaps she needs to view her decisions and declarations from the bigger picture. What is the impact on the average citizen? This is not to say she should avoid controversial decisions and issues or eschew personal stands. Rather she should give them greater consideration. She may be right in her stands but her role is not to stir up controversy and turmoil in the community. She has a right to her personal positions but she also has responsibility to the broader community.
Politicians must rise to a higher level than the average citizen. Citizens vote for a particular politician because they believe that the politician is special, is above average, and will rise to the level of responsibility incumbent with that elected office. Politicians are not elected to take personal stands that disturb the peace and regularity of life in the community. There are enough social influencers and community peace disruptors as is. The electorate is not voting to add to that number.
Politicians like Councilor Robinson need reminding that they are elected officials with responsibility to the broader community. They need to review their positions on issues and at times, it may be better to steer away from the issue totally than to take a personal stand that antagonizes and alienates voters. Otherwise, the electorate may help the politician be more mindful with a reminder vote in the next election.
See the full story at HALLOWEEN.
