I'LL RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFICE ON THE ANTIQUE TICKET - BRING BACK THE WAY WE USED TO DO THINGS IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS
SOME OLD FASHIONED DEBATES? WOULDN'T THAT BE SOMETHING?
TORONTO SUN COLUMNIST, PAUL RIMSTEAD, RAN FOR MAYOR OF TORONTO, ONE YEAR, AND MIGHT HAVE EVEN WON, IF HIS BACKERS HAD STUCK WITH HIM TO THE BITTER END. WHAT BEGAN AS A BIT OF A LARK, BY THE MID-ZONE OF ELECTIONEERING, STARTED TO LOOK AS IF RIMMER WAS GOING TO BE A SERIOUS CONTENDER. SOME OF HIS MOST NOTABLE AND ACCOMPLISHED ASSOCIATES, IN THE MAYORAL THING, DECIDED TO PULL THE PLUG JUST IN CASE HE DID WIN. THEY JUST KIND OF DISAPPEARED FROM EVENTS, AND RIMMER HAD BETTER THINGS TO DO ANYWAY. HE FELT HE MADE HIS POINT. GOVERNMENT NEEDED TO BE FOR EVERYONE, NOT JUST THE WELL-TO-DO! NOT JUST FOR THE BIG TIMERS, AND SO CALLED "MOVERS AND SHAKERS." TORONTONIANS DESERVED BETTER REPRESENTATION. IT'S WHY HE EVEN ADMITTED THAT HE WOULD MAKE A LESS THAN FAVORABLE MAYOR, EVEN BEFORE THE ELECTION. BUT HE WAS AN INSPIRATION TO MANY, NONE THE LESS, FOR HIS EXCEPTIONAL HONESTY, AND INFUSION OF EXCITEMENT, AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS MOST DEARLY NEEDED, TO SHAKE UP COMPLACENCY IN THE CITY.
EVEN WITHOUT THE HEAVY WEIGHTS IN HIS CORNER, HE STILL FINISHED FOURTH, WHICH WAS REMARKABLE. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED, IF HIS CAMPAIGN HAD CONTINUED FULL STEAM AHEAD. THE PROBLEM OF COURSE, WAS THAT RIMSTEAD WOULD DO ANYTHING TO PROVIDE THE MATERIAL FOR A GOOD COLUMN, OR A SERIES, LIKE THE TIME, HE SHOWED UP FOR THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF ONTARIO PLACE, MONTHS AHEAD OF TIME, AND SET UP A TENT FOR LODGING AND WRITING, AT WHAT WOULD BECOME THE MAIN ENTRANCE ON OPENING DAY. HE EVEN BROUGHT IN MUSICIANS AND HELD PARTIES TO BUILD EXCITEMENT FOR THE OPENING OF THE NEW ATTRACTION. IT FREAKED ORGANIZERS AND POLITICIANS OUT, BUT IT WAS FOR THE GOOD OF THE CITY, TO HAVE THIS LIVE-WIRE OUT THERE, BEING UNPREDICTABLE, AND REACTIVE TO SITUATIONS. YOU COULDN'T SCRIPT THE GUY, AND YUP, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN A WILD MAYOR. IMAGINE THOSE COUNCIL MEETINGS? RIMMER WAS A CARD, AND THE TORONTO SUN READERS LOVED THE GUY FOR ALL OF HIS ANTICS. BUT WHAT RIMSTEAD DID, WAS DRAW ATTENTION TO THE REAL PEOPLE OUT THERE…..THE GOOD FOLKS AND GOOD NEIGHBORS OF THE CITY OF TORONTO, AND EVERYWHERE ELSE IN ONTARIO, WHERE THE TORONTO SUN WAS ON SALE. HE MADE READERS, FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, ALL ETHNICITIES, PROFESSIONS, AND INCOMES, FEEL IMPORTANT, AND ACCOMPLISHED. HE DID IT BY INCLUSION. IF YOU READ HIS COLUMN, YOU WERE A MATE. IT WAS THAT UNCOMPROMISING, AND UNCOMPLICATED. SO THE FACT HE HAD DECIDED TO RUN FOR MAYOR, WELL SIR, IT WAS PERCEIVED BY CONSTITUENTS, AS A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR THE LITTLE GUY…..THE POOR, HARDWORKING BUGGERS, STRUGGLING PAY CHEQUE TO PAY CHEQUE; FOLKS OUT THERE, FEELING HELPLESS TO CHANGE THEIR LOT IN LIFE…..WITHOUT A VOICE, OR A RELEVANCE TO GOVERNMENT POLICIES. WHERE HAVE YOU HEARD THAT BEFORE? SOUNDS LIKE A PAGE OUT OF THE ROB FORD ELECTION CAMPAIGN. RIMSTEAD DID IT FIRST. HE JUST DIDN'T WIN. I'M NOT SURE HOW LONG HE WOULD HAVE LASTED, IF HE HAD BECOME THE NEW MAYOR OF TORONTO, BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MEMORABLE, AND A WILD RIDE WHILE IT LASTED. BUT HE MADE AN EXCITING ELECTION, BECAUSE HE WAS THE GENUINE ARTICLE, AND WE ALL FELT HE WAS "ONE OF US," AND WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT; TO HAVE SOMEONE AT CITY HALL WHO HAD A PINCH OF SENSITIVITY TO WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE BROKE, BEHIND ON BILLS, HAVE A CAR THAT WAS FALLING APART, AND HASSLES AT WORK. GADS, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING.
I HATE HYPOCRITES. I CAN'T ABIDE THOSE WHO CRITICIZE WITHOUT OFFERING ANYTHING OF SUBSTANCE, TO CORRECT WHAT THEY'RE COMPLAINING ABOUT. ARMCHAIR CRITICS. SOFA HAGGLERS. FENCE SITTING COMPLAINERS. THEY GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF KNOWING HOW TO MAKE THINGS BETTER, BUT NEVER GET BEYOND THE COMFORT OF THEIR OWN STATUS QUO. SO CONSIDERING THAT I'M A PRETTY FAIR CRITIC, AND THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT LOCAL POLITICS, I'VE DECIDED THAT THE ONLY SENSIBLE THING TO DO, IS……WELL, BORROW A PAGE FROM RIMSTEAD'S BIOGRAPHY, AND TAKE A RUN AT GRAVENHURST COUNCIL, MYSELF, WHEN OCTOBER 2014 ROLLS AROUND. I WON'T BE RUNNING FOR MAYOR, BECAUSE THAT WOULD GET US MORE INK THAN ROB FORD, IN TORONTO. I HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF BEING A HEADLINE GRABBER MYSELF. SO I WILL COMMIT TO THIS! THAT I WILL SEEK A COUNCIL POSITION, AND I'M UNDECIDED AS TO WHETHER IT WILL BE A DISTRICT COUNCIL POSITION, OR FOR MY WARD. I WILL NOT SPEND ONE SHINY OR DULL DIME ON ELECTIONEERING, AND I MOST CERTAINLY, AFTER THIS DECLARATION, WILL NOT USE MY BLOG TO ADVANCE MY ELECTION PLATFORM……WHICH I WILL EXPLAIN BRIEFLY, AS BEING THE "HISTORICAL TICKET FOR 2014." MAYBE I'LL CALL IT THE "THROW-BACK CAMPAIGN," OR SOMETHING LIKE, "THE HISTORICAL RE-ENACTMENT OF SOMETHING THAT JUST MIGHT BE SPECIAL."
I VOWED NEVER TO RUN FOR ELECTION AGAIN, BUT SOMEONE HAS TO CHANGE COUNCIL'S PHILOSOPHY
My wife, Suzanne, doesn't know I'm announcing my intention to seek election, in the next municipal election. She is currently having a bath, and if she could read my mind, like the Amazing Kreskin, she would be ripping her way through the drywall, to get me by the scruff of the neck. To well, throttle some sense into me….as my mother used to say, while shaking me dizzy for something I may, or may not have actually committed. I don't blame the poor woman. I ran in two municipal elections, in Bracebridge, back in the 1980's, losing both times to old conservative geezers who still outperformed the kid challenger. Now I'm the old geezer, and Suzanne worries about my health, and hers, as I tend to get a little too involved in politics…..when I get near the brink of some new policy to react to….and lobby against. She knows that I am obsessively unhappy about the course of local politics, and she most certainly understands, how rigorously and even ridiculously I can pursue a mission, when I feel there is honor at stake…..and a perceived injustice to the ratepayers, constituents and eco-system of our community. A lot of folks thought I was kidding about chaining myself to a tree, to prevent the massacre of the forest and The Bog, here in our neighborhood, when council came calling a few years back…..with a fundraising plan. Suzanne knew what was close to happening, and she probably would have donned the chains herself. Passion for the town, our town, is a deep seeded reality for us, and we've been involved in a number of dust-ups with town council in the past. Seeing as I expect my differences of opinion will grow exponentially, from what I see of council today, I really don't have any choice but to make myself a candidate, and rattle a few significant sabers, to remind council that the shit disturber is alive and well…….for how long…..only God knows.
When Suzanne finds out that I've committed to such a thing, she will try to kill me……with words, at first, and then guilt, later on. But the reality is, and despite my tremendous reservations about running for office, a constituent can't stand on the sidelines and chirp nastily, and not, at some critical point, ask the coach for a chance to play. Give me the football, and an opportunity to take my critiques down the field, and if I don't make the goal line, or even enough yardage for a first down, I'll be able to feel I've done a smidgeon of good for myself…..as a first step; some council level input, for the good of the community, at the same time. I'm tired of being disgruntled and wanting to get in the game, and feeling as if, by time I do get into the play, the clock will run out…..and nothing can be changed….in my lifetime, in this hometown. I can't live with this level of regret, and I'm willing to live-fully with the very real possibility, I might win, and most likely, drive myself crazy sitting around a table with councillors twiddling with minor variances, and road closures. I will gnaw at my fingernails, and count ceiling tiles, but by golly, when some meaty issues, that I feel strongly about, come up for debate…….my council colleagues will feel very much a part of the three ring circus they loved as children. It will be a carnival atmosphere, and like nothing they have experienced before, when I stand on the table, and do an Irish jig, or a summersault, to keep the mood lively in there…..such that a mortician would have no reason to think of us as the newly deceased. I would bring electricity and controversy, and yes, some vigorous democracy to the table……by pounding down my fist, and challenging authority, and complacency; while reciting various appropriate passages of great leaders of the past, and maybe even a little demonstration sport, if this imprints my point a little more emphatically. They have never seen the likes of me before, except in something Alfred Hitchcock wrote. Suzanne knows this as the truth. I'm a point-maker, and a pretty fair debater, so for those who want to run for the new 2014 council, they should be aware in advance, that regardless the chump who is elected mayor, "status quo" will be outlawed; and the only thing conservative, will be the glass of water on the table. Everything else will be subject to change. Why? It's necessary to get excitement generating in this town, because the citizens need to see a council that's willing to work with them….not just dictate to them….or for gosh sakes, ticket their cars because they parked for more than an hour, to attend an event at the Opera House. A priority for the present town council. Ticketing cars on the main street. Yup, that an re-making the Opera House in their own image.
I will run on the idea that this town needs to go back before it can go forward. Maybe an antique dealer and regional historian, can pull a few meaningful historical precedents out of the archives, to scoop up some of the protocols that were great for this town decades and even centuries ago. What was good once, well, maybe good once more. The fact that I believe modern day councils are too removed from the core values and traditions of our community, is reason enough to seek some answers from the past, to use as models for the present and future. I know so. I don't want to turn Gravenhurst into a living museum, by prevailing history on an unsuspecting population……but instead, I want to infuse some old time values back where they belong, and then there won't be any more problems figuring out what is in the best interest of places like the Gravenhurst Opera House, and the Ryde Community Centre……which must be saved and funded for that amazing little pro-active, close-knit neighborhood (that is going to grow and grow). We have got along famously in this town, believe it or not, prior to this present council. It may seem surprising to some of these people, that this town was so very prosperous back then, without them…..and a leading community in this part of Ontario, with a lot of credits due to the leadership of the day…..who battled the stresses on the home front, during two World Wars and a Great Depression. How did we survive? We had some incredibly talented and diverse leaders in this community, who were sought out by the elected officials routinely, when they needed help…..and required assistance drawing in the rest of the community, to help the cause. Citizens felt part of the governance model, and they were true and exciting cases of "all for one, one for all." If history repeated in this town, there would be a lot to re-harvested for posterity, to get us back on track, and improve our dynamic…..by simply improving our access to democracy. These are the loose boards of my antique platform.
Truth is, I don't want to run for elected office. I would much rather have willing candidates come to me, over the next year and a half, and beg me to remain as a civilian…..and instead, allow them to carry the torch for the traditionalist vote. I would surrender immediately to those candidates who would, on their mother's graves, commit to the standards of democracy, and transparent governance…..and seek our advice, as long time, intuitive constituents. I would throw every ounce of support I can muster, to the candidate who would listen to counterpoint, before making decisions, and practice due diligence like brushing his or her teeth. And of course, commit to speaking openly, honestly, and vigorously, including to the media serving this community, regardless of any or all toes stepped upon, in the process of free speech and democratic representation.
I will don a top hat, and frock, and act the part of the antiquarian, to make history and tradition relevant again, in this town, as a tool to unclench what has become constipated and generally obstructed by the "compliance of the agreeable." My council will be a haven for "the critical," and we will yell, and quibble, and occasionally roar in adversity, like the House of Commons, and we will then agree to disagree, and vote according to our conscience, based on the values and interests of our constituents……regardless of the inherent party line. There is no party in municipal government. Right?
If and when I register as a candidate, for the upcoming Municipal Election, I will not spend one cent, to promote myself in the media, by sky-writing, a festive parade, full page addds or with noisy fireworks. I will meet up with voters the old fashioned way….with outstretched hand, that you can either shake, butt your cigarette in, spit on, or hand-off a bag with a doggie turd inside, to show either support or disdain. I will only participate in an election debate, if it is actually a full fledged, no holds barred debate…..and not the love-in of restricted, submitted questions, it was the last time……and the result was predictable. I won't offer a criticism, that I won't explain and defend. I will be open to suggestion, re-active to new information, and be willing to take constituent concerns to the main stage, to share with other candidates…..should there be a democratic, fair opportunity to present and defend the boards in the platform. This was denied previously, and organizers need to re-think their strategy for a "safe" get-together, as wrong-minded, for the good of this community's sense of full democracy.
I don't know, but maybe I would become the first modern era antique dealer /historian, to win a council seat. On the other hand, I might just be the first antique dealer / historian, to get soundly thrashed by those who couldn't care less about history…..but prefer an old fashioned popularity contest. It's exactly what happened before, and it could well happen again, without a shred….a word of critical debate…..which after all, isn't supposed to happen during elections in this country.
I will never bring this up again, even when I do register as a candidate. Hopefully I will be alive then, as a robust 59 year old. On the other hand, I might have to enter my ghost as a candidate, on the paranormal platform, if something should happen in the meantime. Actually, it would be kind of funny, to haunt the very next council…..and influence policy from the grave. Suzanne would agree, her husband won't leave this mortal coil without creating a little havoc with complacency. But honestly folks, I don't want to be a side show…..but I will provide the entertainment, unless I can encourage some interested citizens to take my place…..and let me hover graciously, but without flare, in the background. I want democracy returned to this town. Will you help me inspire this most needed turn of events?
Thanks so much for your patience, in read this……my declaration as a future candidate…..an election hopeful…..a bugger for punishment…..but someone willing to put up….or shut up, as the case may be.
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