"I've obtained legal advice" are words that should never pass the lips of an elected official. HINT: If you need a lawyer to tell you if you are breaking the law, as a representative of the people, you shouldn't do it.
Nor should any elected representative ever decide "do it until we get a complaint'. No! You have been elected to represent people, and part of that is to follow the rules, especially when dealing with the electorate.
These are things that are important to me. Yes, I know there are an abundance of major issues in our city. A lot of things are happening here. My point is... if candidates can't follow simple rules, how will they handle the big stuff when they are facing pressure and time constraints? I love using election signs as an example because the rules are simple.
I'm not as hard on challengers as I am on incumbents. These rules were written by this Council's administration. The decision was made to include a specific letter in the Candidate Package.
Drive around our city, incumbents can't be bothered to follow the rules they created.
The Election Clerk's office will tell you to contact 311. If you email your concern to 311@citywindsor.ca, you get the automated response that your complaint will take 3-5 days to address. If you call 311, you need an address of the sign infraction. Please tell me, if the sign is in an empty lot with no visible address, what does one do?
Again, I know it is not a big issue and to some I am a whiner. To those people, I ask you to look at the big picture. If incumbents don't bother to learn the rules or don't feel any need to follow the rules, when it's in their best interest, how do they behave when representing us?
Don't only look at issues when evaluating candidates. Look at how they behave. Will they do what YOU want them to do? Will they represent YOU in a professional and dignified way? Are they capable of dealing with the issues which are important to YOU? Can they engage YOU and the public in order to get things done? No candidate will be successful without the support of their ward.
Give your support to the candidate of your choice. VOTE!
