Cochrane has voted (33 per cent of Cochrane), so what does this election say about the wants, needs and mindset of residents?
Election issues that continued to surface throughout the campaign cycle were the Aquatic Centre, Cochrane’s current tax base (87 per cent residential, 13 per cent commercial) and, albeit to a lesser extent, transit.
Monday’s election yielded Ivan Brooker as mayor and incumbents Jeff Toews, Tara McFadden and Ross Watson, along with newcomers Morgan Nagel, Gaynor Levisky and Mary Lou Davis (who sat on council from 2004-07) making up council.
Toews was the top vote getter of all councillors, with McFadden second and Davis third, which, combined with Brooker winning the mayoral seat, begs a few questions.
First; are Cochranites that eager about implementing a transit system in the foreseeable future?
Brooker, Toews and Davis have all made their feelings clear on the matter: that Cochrane is not yet ready for a transit system and should wait until its population increases greatly to better afford such a venture.
Nagel has also voiced trepidation over a transit system and its potential impact on taxes in Cochrane.
Second; the much-anticipated and heavily-priced Aquatic Centre seems to be more important to Cochranites than was previously thought, and it has always been a top priority.
Brooker said he wanted to break ground on the new pool in 2014, a goal many, including outgoing mayor Truper McBride, were leery about, considering the cost of the project ($35 million) and the amount of money still needed to get close to that number.
Toews has been a vehement advocate for the pool, as was Davis and Levisky.
Third; does this election truly mean anything, considering only 33 per cent of eligible voters believed it was important enough to get out and vote?
Cochrane certainly has a boisterous contingent of passionate community advocates, on both sides of the many issues facing the municipality in the coming years. But does this election’s turnout prove that there’s an even larger group that feels the challenges facing Cochrane are not important enough to get in the way of their own personal day-to-day lives? Or that what people read in the newspapers each week about transit, economic development, the pool and other seemingly contentious matters is simply the voices of a small minority in Cochrane, and the vast majority have little interest.
Cochrane had 16 residents step forward and give their time and effort to serve their community. The municipality was guaranteed a new mayor and three new council members, offering voters a golden opportunity to help shape the future of the place they have chosen to call home.
In 2010, 39 per cent of Cochrane voters came out to vote for 10 council and two mayoral candidates.
Why are voting numbers on the decline?
Are people tired of hearing about Cochrane’s issues? Is municipal politics not sexy enough to get people to the polls? (The last provincial election saw 54.4 per cent come out to vote, while 2011’s federal election had 61.1 per cent, which is the third lowest in history).
The table was set for a great turnout in Cochrane…plenty of candidates, new mayor and half a new council being elected, pressing issues in the coming years, nice weather, advertised and publicized in the media, an added polling location…but it didn’t matter.
Which brings the final question, and perhaps the most interesting; how long until Cochrane’s new council makes a decision and an uproar within the community ensues, and, how many of those residents voted on Oct. 21?
