All over the province, taxpayers are complaining that their civic leaders aren’t listening to them.
It’s happening in big cities like Surrey. It’s happening in smaller towns like Port Alberni and Oak Bay.
A tempest struck Pitt Meadows recently, when it was reported that taxpayers are paying $5,500 for Mayor John Becker to take a Simon Fraser University course in civic engagement.
But the Becker blowback was little more than a stiff breeze compared to the furor over Penticton spending $85,000 to hire a civic engagement officer – on top of the recent creation of a communications officer job.
Several mayors and councillors actively pushed their spending agendas in local referenda campaigns and taxpayers rejected them.
There is clearly a disconnect between taxpayers and the level of government branded as being “the closest to the people.” Residents feel they are not being heard, or that their priorities are not being reflected by their leaders.
Rather than take courses or hire expensive bureaucrats to listen to citizens, there are better ways for mayors and councillors to turn this around.
First, councils should make every effort to avoid “negative-option billing” approval processes.
Negative option processes are inherently unfair (all non-responses are counted as a yes) and shift the focus away from making a case for the positives of a given proposal. It corrodes the relationship between residents and councils.
Second, create environments that spark real discussion – and do them in places and times where everyday taxpayers will be. Community events, shopping areas, festivals, kids’ sports: there are dozens of opportunities every week to go and get a good feel for what the public is saying and feeling.
Third, ask voters for their opinion before a city’s plans are virtually set in stone. Too often, the public isn’t “consulted” until thousands of dollars have been spent on plans and supporting material. Why not ask them first?
Finally, leaders have a responsibility to resist their own cynicism and scratch beneath the surface to hear what people – even those who are opposed – are saying. What is the core concern driving the speaker? Is it affordability? Safety? Mayors should ask genuine questions of people, and actually listen to their responses.
No elected official is ever going to be perfectly in sync with voters on every issue.
But turning around the growing disconnect between B.C. city halls and the taxpayers they serve needs to be a top priority for every mayor and councillor going forward.
Jordan Bateman is the B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
