It has been two weeks since Election Day. While most New Brunswick residents were hoping that the battle between wards and the at-large system of government would be over, Empower Our Neighborhoods, the group campaigning in favor of wards, is far from done with the fight. It might be time to throw in the towel and come up with new ideas to better the city.
Final results of the election were not released until Nov. 7, four days after the election, due to a number of provisional ballots that needed to be counted. The results depicted a close race, with the anti-wards votes succeeding pro-wards votes by 82 votes, according to a unofficial voting results There were 2,474 “no” votes versus 2,392 “yes” votes. EON is petitioning for a recount. There were a lot of issues for students at the voting stations. Many were told they could not vote because of issues with voter registrations, and many provisional ballots had to be filled out. But still, no matter if the election was lost by a landslide or lost by a small margin, losing is still losing.
Students and residents alike were getting tired of hearing about the issue while the campaign was going on. While they have every right to ask for a recount, pushing the wards matter further will only annoy people more and turn people off from civic engagement. They should, instead of using up more time and money on something that cannot be fixed, work to now utilize the current system of government. They should try to work better with the city council. They should also stop worrying so much about politics and about the entire city as a whole. Community projects and service could be beneficial to everyone living in New Brunswick, and EON should use their resources to help others and not just themselves. Trying to fight the election result any more would just be beating a dead horse. Accept the fact that the at-large system is here to stay and change your attitude about changing things completely. There should be work on one thing at a time. Maybe just a change in attitude and the way the current city-council is handled now will give the most change, and satisfy at least a few more people with the way things are run.
Stop campaigning, start improving
Editorial
Published: Monday, November 16, 2009
Updated: Monday, November 16, 2009 21:11
9 comments
When did Ben Bucca and Bill Bray start writing your editorials?
"pushing the wards matter further will only annoy people more and turn people off from civic engagement. " Really, can you back up this claim? "instead of using up more time and money on something that cannot be fixed" Cannot be fixed? You mean we can't make elections run smoother? The numerous people who were DENIED a PROVISIONAL BALLOT shouldn't complain that their fundamental right to vote was taken from them?
"They should also stop worrying so much about politics and about the entire city as a whole" WOW! And you said EON was turning people off from civic engagement. Go ahead, encourage the students to shrink back behind the wall the city has created b/w the Students and the Community at-large.
This is not the quality writing that I have come to expect from the Targum. It lacks both Validity and Soundness. and because it encourages students to detach from the issues surrounding them it should be condemned.