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| November 16, 1999 In 4 short days the people of my city and surrounding cities that make up the region known as The Okanagan will be heading to the polls. I'm not one that's much for politics. In fact, I prefer to waddle about in my pond of make-believe, sloshing through the lilly pads of ignorance, digging my toes into the soft, gushy bottom of ignorant bliss. Don't get me wrong, with just a tiny bit of prompting I think I could name our Prime Minister, and, if we actually had a real one, I could probably name BC's Premier with no more than 5 mintues of thought. But when it comes to civil elections, I pay less than no attention to who sits on council, who is on the board of trustees, and I couldn't give a whim about the school board members. And even as far as Mayor is concerned, I've never given much thought to the person who makes civic decisions for my city. How narrow-minded and disinterested is THAT? I know, I know, I should be ashamed of myself. And I am.I SHOULD care. It is my right to care. It is my right to elect these people into office. It is my right to pay attention the world around me. And I suppose it's also my duty. It just doesn't interest me. Bad Lisa. Sorry, can't help it. Yet, this time around, I am at least mildly interested in the Mayorial portion of the election. Not so much because I really care who our Mayor will be, but rather because the candidates truly intrigue me. And the fact that these three men are our ONLY candidates serves to reinforce the reasons why I don't bother to care. Incumbent: Walter Gray. 59 years old. Been Mayor since 1996. I've read that he's done some cool things for the city. New stadium to house our awesome minor hockey team, The Kelowna Rockets......GO ROCKETS... among other things. But Walt's big claim to fame is his association, or better put, DISassociation, with the gays and lesbians in our city. Last year, when the gays and lesbians were organizing the Gay Pride celebration, Walt baby decided that the word "pride" could not be included in the title. Say what?? Nice move Walt...... Tons o' controversy over that one. And no matter how much flack he gets about that, and no matter the fact that he was taken up against the human rights tribunal for that little gem, he still sticks to his homophobic guns. One would think that, as we approach a whole new millennium, at least the Mayor of a city 100,000 strong would be a little more open-minded. Poor Walt. As the campaigns unfold, he is still defending his ruling despite his efforts to keep bygones out of the mix. Funny how these things can follow us around. For that reason, Walty doesn't get my vote. Sorry, buddy. So, that leaves two candidates from which to choose. The first, Mr. Tim Mercer. Ahem.....Mr. Mercer is 18. Yes, that's right....18. As in "years old". Okay, he's cute and all, but what does an 18-year-old know of running a city? Hmmm, maybe lots. Let's see what the paper says about our young man: He lives on the West side but spends most of his time money in Kelowna. Good man, Timmy. Keep those dollars east of the bridge. He disagrees with the current council direction. The lad feels it's too business-oriented. I wonder what he means by that. City. Progress. Future. Um......doesn't that equal business? But who am I, afterall, he's an 18-year-old Mayorial candidate, he's gotta know what it means. note to self: call Timmy and ask what he meant by that. Last but not least, we have Mr Jared Murray. Mr. Murray currently works in the local casino....as a slot machine worker. I guess that means he ...er...fixes them? Makes change at them? Polishes them? Tunes their chimes? Mr. Murray wants to see social issues get the same amount of attention as city development. Yeah, Mr. Murray! Oh, did I mention...Mr. Murray is 22. As in "years old". He still has pimples, I can see them, right there on his chin in his picture in the local paper. A big zit right in the middle of his chin. A homophobic. Someone who's not old enough to buy a beer in a local pub. And a pimple-faced 22-year-old. Quite the line-up. I knew I should have run. Next time. Always a next time.
This entry is dated Nov 16th as it was supposed to air that day. Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to air as scheduled. We hope you enjoyed any one of a number of reruns aired in its place. |
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