Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

One of the great mysteries is why so many people don't vote in their civic election (well, we're not allowed to vote here but back home). When you look at voter turn outs, federal elections (I'm talking Canadian, apply as appropriate for your nation) get the best turn out, followed by provincial. Civic elections (mayor, council) get the lowest turn out. 20%.

The mystery is no level of government can so effectively mess up or improve your daily life. What a PM or president does, beyond raising/lowering your taxes, doesn't much change your life. However a city council that's poorly run can be a huge disaster. Street lights don't get repaired, roads don't get fixed or plowed. The police become corrupt. Garbage men go on strike. Meter parking gets jacked up. Street parking rules are changed wildly. Long and the short of it what the federal or provincial government does rarely has a chance of adding 15 minutes to your daily commute, robbing you of precious home time because new parking regs mean you have to park your car farther away, bus fare goes up, whatever. Something as simple as the addition of a traffic light instead of a two way stop can materially affect your daily grand (good if you have to take a left from the stop sign onto a busy street, bad if you have the right of way and now suddenly there's a light).

And while tax increases at the federal level are national issues and governments can fall, your city can jack up fees for all kinds of things.