Post-election thoughts by Alan Markin

As expected, Penticton's post-election rhetoric includes expressions

of concern about voter apathy. Once again, voter turnout was shamefully low.

I want to suggest that most of the blame for this unfortunate situation ought to placed squarely on the shoulders of our politicians. A long time ago, in a university sociology class, I studied the concept of powerlessness/normlessness. In simple (perhaps too simple) terms, this means that voters who feel powerless to change the "system" soon start to feel normless. The extreme of this is the belief that the norms and values of society no longer apply to them. This, I suggest, is one of the underlying causes of voter apathy, civil disobedience, and even revolution. Someone once wrote that the time top stop a revolution is before its starts.

Of course, it would be irresponsible to compare Penticton's voter apathy to the civil unrest and violence currently happening all over the world. Still, it is fair to suggest that our City Council has not been very good at listening to the concerns and ideas of residents. I have heard many Pentictonites opine that, no matter what happens in the election, nothing will change at city hall. For the record, I do not agree with this stand. As frustrating as it might be, it is always possible to do better.

Penticton's "new" City Council would be well advised to begin work immediately on an effective communications plan that, in time, would show residents that they can have a real voice in civic governance. Otherwise this old adage will continue to plague us: "It doesn't matter who you vote for because the government always gets in."