I felt paralyzed by indecision at last night’s council meeting. I found myself in an impossible place between two types of democracy – direct or representative. The neighbourhood was unanimously opposed. I asked them to explain their fears, and they did so very well. But in my review of the application and the communications from the neighbours, I wasn’t opposed. I wasn’t necessarily in favour either – I could easily argue both sides. So how do I make a decision when there’s a group of people who think something will be bad for them, but I am confident that it won’t be?
If it were simply a question the applicant making money, that would have tipped my scale in opposition – all else being neutral, I would rather please the neighbours than allow someone to bend the rules to make some money – but in talking with some of the neighbours and walking the street, it seemed the subdivision might actually be better for them than the status quo. The house across the street would retain a view of the ocean and the rhythm of the houses would be more consistent with two houses than one.
I came to this conclusion because I’ve been learning about urban planning and design and seeing the impacts of applications I’ve had to vote on for four years now. I’ve learned a lot.
That’s why I’m elected – so that others in the community don’t have to do all that reading and testing of assumptions and ideas. I do that on their behalf. The challenge with that is sometimes the people I’m elected to represent won’t understand the decisions I make. Does that make the decisions wrong?
In direct democracy we trust the wisdom of the collective of whomever chooses to vote and allow them live with the results of their choosing. In representative democracy we trust a group of representatives to study the information and perspectives and objectively render a judgment, then replace them if we are not pleased with the results of their decisions.
So, faced with a group unanimously opposed to a project in their neighbourhood, do I vote against the proposal even though I don’t believe their fears would materialize? Or do I vote for the proposal because my conclusion is that it would benefit more people than the alternative? For the first, I would make a lot of people happy and they would probably vote for me in the next election. For the second, I would actually be implementing the vision expressed to me by the neighbours… but they wouldn’t see it that way and would probably not vote for me in the next election.
In the end, I chose the second… but only after I spoke to the first. And so I ended up with the worst of both options. Everybody walked out disappointed with me, and the project was defeated anyway. But worse still, my last minute change of mind created a confusion that is probably worse than anything else. Voters hate surprises. They also hate overt indecision.
I voted for the choice I believed, based on my experience, would be best for the neighbourhood. I chose to trust my judgment. Unfortunately my attack of conscience last night benefited no one and likely cost me several dozen supporters.