As a good friend of mine, John, remarked recently, elections bring out the very best and the very worst in people.
We both agreed that we are seeing that locally right now.
I said the good things about elections are the fact that they give people an opportunity to have a say, and make a choice. They also give the people standing an opportunity to put their credentials on the table, and stand up and be counted.
Many of those eligible to vote simply don't do so. And some of those standing choose to bag and belittle other candidates, or those already in office, often to distract from deficiencies in their own credentials, and instead of offering constructive ideas and telling us why they believe they can do a better job than anybody else.
Those candidates know that confusion usually results in low voter turnout, and split votes, which means some of the less worthy manage to slip into office. Not because they would be any good at the job, but because some of the perennially unhappy people of this world, who often make up a large percentage of voters in a low voter turnout, seem to like to rattle some cages – dangerous as that rattling may be.
At the end of our conversation John asked me, 'so what should a man do then?”
I told John that he needs to encourage everybody he knows that is eligible to vote, particularly those with a positive outlook on life, to do so, and that in my view, 'the eyes have it”.
'You mean the ayes have it, surely?” asked John.

'No I really did mean the eyes,” I replied. 'I reckon voters need to whittle down the list of candidates to those they believe have the knowledge and experience to run a billion dollar operation that the community depends upon. Make the effort to talk to those candidates if you can, and look them straight in the eye. Ask them about their credentials, and whether they can work constructively with others for everybody's benefit. And also ask them for an assurance they won't be standing for the council elections next year, which if they were successful, would mean they couldn't be able to see out their full term if elected this time. Watch their eyes closely, and if they blink excessively, or can't keep eye contact, just remember that the eyes really do have it.”

Graeme Purches, Sterling Gate.