Hamilton's municipal election is coming up on Oct. 27. Depending on where you live, you could be voting for (Click links to view lists of candidates): mayor, a representative to City Council and a school board trustee.
How can you choose where to place your support? You don't know the candidates and are skeptical of promises and platitudes. How can you get beyond the campaign strategies to find a candidate worthy of your vote?
Here are some tips from people who've cast (or appeared on) many municipal election ballots.
Google it
Pull up the websites, or spread out the brochures, of the candidates in the race you're evaluating. Make a pre-screening sort.
What you're looking for: "At first blush I could probably vote for these three people," said Russ Powers, a city councillor from Dundas who is retiring from municipal politics this year. "Narrowing down the ones that you believe are worth your consideration."
"Then you can do your homework, do a name search," he said.
You can search for news articles (some great ones right here!) that might tell you more than what the candidate willingly put on his or her materials.
On social media, searching for candidate names, or the term "#hamont" this week, will turn up a number of election-related messages. Some of them will be coming from the candidates' camps; some are from opponents.
But whether you're reading a media account, a tweet or anything else, remember that there's a lot of room in politics for emotion and subjectivity.
"You always have to temper what's said," Powers said. "Social media and the information age is such that you can dig up the good bad and the ugly on anyone."
Powers should know: His current romantic relationship began three years ago with a blind date where he learned his partner had Googled his name before meeting for coffee.
Narrow it down
Prioritize the issues you most want to see addressed.
"Think of one or two top issues that are important to you, like the development of local land, or the non-development of local land, and look at the candidates' positions on those issues," said Nicole Goodman, Research Director at the Centre for e-Democracy and an Assistant Professor at the Munk School for Global Affairs.
And if you can't find the answer to your question in media or candidate statements, Goodman said you should contact the campaign.
"We still have some time leading up to the election," she said. "Call the candidate's office and ask!"
Powers tends to examine how a mayoral candidate promises to address issues in his part of the city, Dundas, first. Then, he looks beyond at citywide issues, like transit and infrastructure. And finally he wants to examine a candidate's knowledge about how the responsibilities break down between the province and the federal government.
"What type of person is going to take Hamilton into the attention of the provincial and federal government," Powers said. "How knowledgeable are you?"
Jessica Brennan, retiring this year from the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, said she asks about who has shown the ability to work with other people.
"It can be in other community organizations," she said. "It doesn't mean they have to be a pushover, but do they find ways to find common ground with other people?"
Looking at a volunteering or past employment record can help indicate which candidates have paid more than lip service to something you care about.
"Voting is sometimes so difficult," said Pat Wright, interim director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion. "I sort through that by looking at diversity and inclusion (measures). I follow the candidates' careers -- how did the diversity agenda fare?"
An effort called the People's Platform collected 47 ideas for Hamilton and is putting them to a public vote for the rest of this week. You can vote through Friday, and see how your priorities compare to the mayoral candidates on Saturday.
Ask a friend
"In most of the cases, for mayor, councillor, school board, I already know the people, so it's not that difficult," said Bob Morrow, Hamilton's mayor before amalgamation from 1982 to 2000.
But if you're not in Morrow's shoes, don't despair. If he doesn't know a candidate in a race, he'll ask around.
That's a pretty common tip — ask a neighbour, a family member or a friend about what they've learned about the candidates.
Brennan said she's often asked by friends, and sometimes acquaintances at the grocery store or the gas station, for help choosing whom to vote for.
"It's constant because people know I'm a political animal," she said. "I'm engaged in it all the time."
But Brennan uses those same tactics.
"Frankly, in a way, I'm doing the same," she said. "I'm testing out how my colleagues and friends and family are thinking, getting some information about [candidates'] work habits or perspectives or values, and I'll add that to my calculus."
Watch the candidate
Watch a video of the candidate and get a sense for how receptive they are to new ideas. (You can see a video of CBC Hamilton's mayoral debate of the front-runners here.)
Brennan said she looks for something that "makes me comfortable that they have the energy to get the work done."
And she has an educator-appropriate tip, too.
"I'm also looking for a learner — someone recognizing that they need to learn, what is the process," she said. "Not so that they can comply with the rules, but someone who knows how the rules or a process can be a barrier to getting a new idea out there."
Morrow looks for an impression of leadership, which he admits is subjective. He wants to see examples of when someone has cooperated with someone else compromised.
"If they've already participated by volunteering that only helps in terms of my impression," he said.
Don't get cynical
Even though he's seen these things from the perspective of making them fit into a budget, Morrow said he doesn't mind too much when candidates get all pie-in-the-sky about what they will do in office.
"I think it's fair enough to talk about the things you would like to see done, bearing in mind that it's not quite as easy as it may look — to give your general impression of the kind of community you would like to see," Morrow said. "That doesn't mean making false promises. You can't be so far out to be ridiculous. But I also don't begrudge people the opportunity to express their dream."
Go with your gut
After all that, some of the challenge of voting comes down to a judgment call.
Wright said she's often asked by people who don't speak English whom they should vote for.
She said she resists giving that shortcut.
"When people come and ask me who to vote for, i don't tell them," Wright said. "Find what their literature says; try and get someone who speaks English to translate.
"When you consider everything, what does your gut tell you?"
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