Mayor urges Merrittonians to vote in Nov. 15 election

With the municipal election less than two months away, Merritt Mayor Susan Roline has a message for Merrittonians: get out and vote.

That message was delivered via part one of a two-part letter titled How do we make November the best election ever in Merritt? posted on the City of Merritt website back in August.

Roline told the Herald she wrote the letter to let voters know what they should be aware of and what they should be looking for in their governance structure.

“Demanding more from their council other than just fixing individual’s issues,” Roline told the Herald in an interview. “That’s all we seem to be doing. We’re reacting all the time, not being proactive to put proper policy in place and proper bylaws in place that would mitigate some of this reaction stuff.”

In the letter, the mayor wrote that skipping the vote “is not rebellion — it’s surrender.”

“They think they can’t change nothing, so they give up, they don’t even bother going out to vote anymore,” Roline said.

Roline writes that she believes there is rampant cynicism in politics these days that can be changed if those elected practice a balance between individual concerns and overall public benefit.

In the letter, Roline writes that an elected official must work as part of a team to get things done, and must work for the greater good.

She said she’d like to see more people making informed votes and taking an interest in local issues.

She said she’d also like to see younger people voting and getting involved in politics so they have a say in decisions that are going to affect this community for decades to come.

Roline said part two of her letter is still in the works.

Part one of the letter is posted on the city’s website at merritt.ca.

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