How about parties at city hall?

Should city politics be turned over to political parties? Before you utter a knee-jerk “No way!” think again.

What’s the problem with city hall democracy today? Aside from the fact it’s not a democracy at all, it’s a closed shop with the seats of power occupied year after year by the same pairs of cheeks. It’s long been observed and piously lamented by journalists and politicos that only about 30% of those eligible to vote in municipal elections actually scratch their X-es on ballots.

Dalton McGuinty stupidly added a fourth year to the 3-year cruise that councilors and the mayor already enjoyed without fear of a rare voter revolution. Of those Torontonians who do out of a sense of civic duty visit the polling place to cast ballots, most vote for the familiar name. The result is a predictable return again and again of the same familiar names.

Some deserve it. Others don’t. But all benefit from the anonymity of their competitors for the seats they occupy at city hall.

Seldom can an opponent muster enough attention, no matter how worthy the individual or platform, to attract voters. And that’s the problem political parties can solve. They have known platforms and the ability to publicize them so that voters have an idea who stands for what.

While it sounds most proper to say you vote for the person, not the party, the reality is you seldom know the person and usually have no way of knowing the person. Knowing the party line gives you a real choice instead of just marking for or against a familiar name.

There would be municipal parties forming that have no link to the national and provincial parties. They’d have their own issue and solutions, and pick their candidates on that basis. Voters would for once have a real choice across the board based on those issues.

The major parties would also be able to participate municipally, just as they do provincially and federally, and they’d differ internally from the bigger branches of their parties just as those branches currently differ from each other.

More citizens would vote because they’d actually know what they’re voting for. They’d have a better grasp on whom to keep in office and whom to turf. Who knows, maybe the public—us—might actually run more things at city hall instead of special interests.