Summer’s not even over and already an inspiring number of people have come forward to say they want to run for Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows council.
All those who have taken that bold step, take a bow, because it’s no small job to enter a campaign, and to serve as an elected official.
For the newcomers, if they’re lucky enough to be elected, the job requires a quick adjustment to reality, necessitated by the stark fact that each councillor’s individual views, their passions that got them to run in the first place, must all be tempered with the reality that they’re one of seven voices and only one of thousands of perspectives in Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows.
For the veterans, a new term on council is an opportunity to re-examine their priorities and performance and to see if there’s a way to improve.
Serving on council is not for the faint of heart. It’s politics after all. To do a credible job requires much listening, grueling meetings, learning and above all, goodwill and compromise.
It also requires two-way communication, with the public to ensure each knows the others’ perspectives throughout the four years that council will be in place.
That communication should include only limited amounts of social media.
The job requires: commitment, compassion, communication, compromise, and consensus-building. If each councillor adheres to those, while still promoting their priorities, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will be well served.
– Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News