Tom Says: There is no “I” in team…
It’s too bad the municipal election campaign in Saint John has to end a week from next Monday.
The reason being, if the campaign was to continue for those running for mayor, (all trying to out do the other candidate,) in another six weeks one of them would promise that he or she would actually pay you to live in Saint John.
I love it when I hear people say: “I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that, I’m going to do something else…” It seems like they’re all suffering from the “I” syndrome.
The only thing any of the candidates can hope for is that he or she becomes mayor and is able to put together a group of like minded individuals on the council concerned more with the municipality rather than themselves. Some of them have not yet grasped the concept that a mayor is much like a chairman of the board. The mayor on any given issue gets one vote. That one vote is no more important or any less important than the vote that comes from any one councillor.
In order for this city to become progressive, voters have to have something at City Hall that they haven’t had for a good long time. Instead of a bunch of “I’s”, they need a team. They need people in Saint John who are willing to vote on an issue and then have the courage of their own convictions to stand behind the vote.
They don’t need a mayor and council who will vote one way and then continue to cry about how the vote went after it’s over. What the candidates should be saying to the voters is stuff like: “We think this needs to be done, We think that needs to be done, rather than this “I” business.
Every time when it’s election time, people always say such things as: “This is the most important vote in the city’s history” and with good reason, because it probably is. What voters have to do is take a look at all of those running and ask themselves this question…
“If I owned a one-hundred million dollar corporation, would I hire this person as my CEO?” Not only that, but: “Would I want this person to be a member of my board of directors?”
Too many of the mayoralty candidates in Saint John are trying to suck and blow at the same time, and no matter how good they think they are, that simply can’t be done.
Maybe it’s time for the provincial government to enact some kind of “honesty in municipal government act.”
Remember, it’s your duty to vote!
I’m Tom Young.