The Langley municipal election is certainly one of the more unusual ones that I have ever experienced, in over 35 years of covering municipal politics and going through countless elections in many communities.
In virtually all of them, activity heated up in the final two weeks before voting day, with a number of all-candidates meetings scheduled, and issues were raised with a higher level of intensity.
That has certainly been the case in all the Langley Township municipal elections I have covered, which go back to 1996, when the Langley Leadership Team swept to power in Langley Township, winning four council seats and five school board seats.
The lead-up to the 1999 election, in which the LLT lost control of both bodies, was intense for months, and this led to a 43 per cent voter turnout, a modern record.
While the 2002 and 2005 elections were not as dramatic, there was some intense activity in the two weeks before election day. The same happened in 2008.
In 2011, because there was a three-way race for mayor and Langley Township politics had been controversial for several years, there was no shortage of activity in the final two weeks.
Now we are two and one-half weeks away from voting day, Nov. 15. There have been several all-candidates meetings. There is one tonight (Tuesday) for Township candidates, at Langley Events Centre.
No more are scheduled, other than a meet and greet at Langley Seniors Centre next week.
There have been no meetings at all scheduled for Board of Education candidates. Langley City candidates took part in only one, even though there is a three-way race for mayor. There have been two Township meetings (including tonight’s), and one other debate involving mayoral candidates for both municipalities.
It is a significant amount of work to organize meetings, and the level of public interest in such events has been flagging for years. Yet they provide an excellent way to find out more about candidates and easily contrast their positions with one another.
If there aren’t any more meetings, how will potential voters find out more about the candidates? The Times is planning to publish more information, notably in the form of questions and answers which will be on our website.
All the candidates who have sent us photos and information about themselves and their issues are also featured on our website, under the Election 2014 heading.
Media outlets outside Langley will publish and broadcast a small amount about the election here, and will focus mainly on the mayors’ races.
There will be almost no information about the board of education race, despite the fact that the lack of funds for new schools in Willoughby may be one of the top issues in the Township.
I’m not sure if organizers of meetings simply feel fatigued, or don’t want to put in the effort this year. However, it is important to again point out that we are electing the members of the three local governments into office for four years, and some scrutiny before election day is very useful.
Update: Publication of this article online led to two organizations advising The Times that they are sponsoring all-candidate meetings for trustee candidates. Despite placing a number of phone calls last week, The Times was unable to find out about any meetings other than those mentioned in this article.
Here's the details:
"The Langley DPAC has a forum scheduled for the trustee candidates on Thursday, Nov. 6 from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Christian Life Assembly gymnasium, located at 21277 56 Avenue near the Langley airport. The doors will open at 6:30. The invite has already gone out to the trustees along with a list of 20 questions for them to respond to. The invite for the paper has been drafted and will be going out later today," says Bernice Kristoff-Trowell.
Langley Teachers Association is hosting an all-candidates meeting this Thursday, Oct. 30 from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Langley Seniors Recreation and Resource Centre, 20605 51B Avenue, Langley City. This information came from LTA president Gail Chaddock-Costello on Tuesday morning.