By Donna Macdonald
This is my 30th political anniversary — it was 1988 when I first ran for Nelson city council. Back then, there were two-year terms, and an election was held every year to elect half the council, and every other year the mayor.
Gerald Rotering was mayor then and had another year to go in his term. As was his inclination, he decided to do something a little different. He approached three candidates and asked if he might publicly endorse them. He wanted to signal to voters the kind of people he hoped to work with.
Gerald’s endorsements ran the political gamut: a conservative businessman (Bob Allen, then owner of A&W), a middle-of-the-road incumbent (John Neville), and a lefty woman (yup, that was me). When we got together for a photo with Gerald, Bob Allen looked me and said, “Oh, so you’re Donna. No one I know has ever heard of you.”
So we weren’t a slate, which is typically a group of like-minded individuals with similar politics, values and approaches. Bob and I might agree on the excellence of A&W root beer, but not much more. Still, the reaction to Gerald’s announcement wasn’t enthusiastic.
Letters to the editor chided him for telling voters how to vote. Other screamed “slate” and “bloc” and I learned that Nelson voters prefer independent-minded people to choose from. I spent much of that campaign assuring voters I wasn’t part of a slate, I wasn’t Gerald’s puppet, and I did have my own mind. On voting day, for the three available positions, John came first, I came second, and Bob was a distant fourth.
To my knowledge, formal slates and political parties have been tried a couple times. In 1972, the Nelson Civic Group was created to bring change to City Hall, such as support for recycling after piles of cardboard were burned by the city. NCG ran slates a couple times, and managed to get one very reluctant candidate elected.
Flash forward to the early ‘90s and the appearance of the NRA. No, not that one: the Nelson Ratepayers Association. They were very fiscally conservative, harshly critical and rather grumpy. They ran a full slate with limited success in 1993, when three-year terms began, and then disappeared.
Flash forward to 2018, and the arrival of CORE Nelson, the Coalition of Responsible Electors. According to their Facebook page, their goal is to elect a slate of candidates who agree with their four principles: fiscal responsibility, core service focus, economic growth, and civic pride. Hard to argue with those principles; of course, how they’re implemented is critical. Those are pretty much priorities for every elected person, including the current council. Many people will, however, recoil at the notion of a slate.
I understand why large cities have municipal political parties. It’s a way to present a particular direction, with clear goals, in campaigns that can have dozens of candidates. It’s easier to fundraise, share information, and get the message out with a coordinated campaign. Once elected, parties help to get things done. But clearly they are divisive, just by their nature, unless areas of cooperation can be established among parties.
Despite the benefits for larger communities, I don’t want political parties around Nelson’s council table. We have seven council members (including the mayor). What is the value of having slates? Aren’t we better served by independent-thinking people who use their brains and hearts to guide our community? I want council members who’re willing to learn and understand, question and assess, rather than arriving with a party platform and the mindset that they know the problem and the solution. Governing is more complex than that.
I believe most Nelson voters, as history has shown, want to make their own independent choices. They want a diversity of council members who care about the common good, and who listen to their community, not to their party.
I’m curious how CORE will choose the candidates they want to support, since pretty much everyone could support their principles. Do they truly want diversity as they say? If I were to decide to run (don’t worry; there’s no chance of that) and approached them for support, would I get it? What about Charles Jeanes, or Philip McMillan, men who’ve run before with, shall we say, edgy platforms?
I’ll be watching with a critical eye how CORE evolves over the next three months. But one thing I know: I want voters to make independent choices for a diverse, committed, caring and responsive council. That’s what I intend to do.
Now, how shall I celebrate my anniversary?
Donna Macdonald served 19 years on Nelson city council until 2014. She is the author of Surviving City Hall, published in 2016.