I am of the mind that its never to early to plan for the next round of CaRT elections. It's also time to learn from the past and find people who are actually truly electable. The previous CaRT Council Elections are now history. A great deal of time and effort went into trying to find and get elected four 'independent' individual boaters.
However, one of the issues that was not immediately evident at the time of the previous election. Was the hijacking by the IWA of the vacancies. The issue only became something of a concern in the discussion after the election was concluded. The problem that was forefront in the mind of the electorate was that the 'Canal World Forum' were pitching two of their own 'unofficial' candidates. I am now more than ever convinced that because of the poor reputation that precedes the Canal World Forum. It would be best to find suitable fresh faces that come without the baggage created by such alliances.
The individuals deserving of our support in the CaRT council elections will need to be of good standing within the wider boating community. They will need to have previous experience in a similar role or bring a broad ranging knowledge of the Inland Waterways. One of the concerns expressed from the previous election is that those elected have been almost invisible to the majority of the electorate.
The continuing allegiance to the Inland Waterways Association has been almost palpable. To elect anyone with a similar allegiance no matter how 'fleeting' would be to commit the same mistake again. For who would these individuals actually represent. All boaters or a minority.
The continuing allegiance to the Inland Waterways Association has been almost palpable. To elect anyone with a similar allegiance no matter how 'fleeting' would be to commit the same mistake again. For who would these individuals actually represent. All boaters or a minority.
The 'independent' representative will need to be truly independent of all affiliations or be seen as trying to do the same as the IWA with their membership three line whip. Candidates for various offices traditionally only get one chance of standing for election. If they are rejected once by the electorate they are already seen as rejects in the mind of the electorate and will be rejected again in the future.
New blood is needed.
New blood is needed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please put your name to your comment. Comments without a name may automatically be treated as spam and might not be included.
If you do not wish your comment to be published say so in your comment. If you have a tip or sensitive information you’d prefer to share anonymously, you may do so. I will delete the comment after reading.