What is a Municipality?

As I first started to mull this over I thought what does our Town (Town implying the Municipal Corporation that is Ingersoll) do? The Town is a collection of services provided to the residents and visitors within its borders. The customer is the resident and Taxation is how we pay for the services. This means that if you are dissatisfied in the short term you must move to improve the quality of service vs the level of taxes you pay for them. In the long term you can elect a Town Council that reflects the expectations you have of what services are provided and at what cost but you have to do your homework and pay attention to the workings of council and even then? Does this scenario leave us with an ‘us and them’ feeling to the town? Is moving when things are not as they should be an option when we have family and social attachments in the town?

Is the resident a shareholder in the town? By purchasing a property or living in the community paying rent that is then used to pay taxes we buy voting rights. The council is the Board of directors, there is an expectation of growth and dividends by the shareholder. New houses, businesses and Industry are expected growth, new or better services and lower taxes are dividends. This again leaves us with the perception of them and us. This is probably a fairly accurate view of the relationship, but is it the truth?

What if the resident, the Council, and the Administration are all part of one mechanism that is the Town? The product is the happiness, health and well-being for yourself and the community as a whole. The Council is responsible for making sure the rules, regulations and the actions of the Administration and the residents are focused on keeping the happiness, health and well-being as the objective. The Administration of the town is charged with making sure the mechanics of the services provided is working efficiently as well as coming up with new ideas to spur on the product of happiness, health and well-being.

The resident is working toward the delivery of the product. They keep their property in good condition, feed and clothe themselves and follow the basic rules that allow everyone to prosper. Further the citizen pays taxes supporting the delivery of services in turn supporting the end product. Further residents support ideas and projects in the community that support, happiness, health and well-being by volunteering. A citizen stands beside others to rally against issues that threaten our objective (think Landfill). A resident pays attention to the work of Council and the Administration and speaks out and communicates with others so that checks are in place to make sure we are all producing happiness, health and well-being. Together the machine or mechanism produces.

What is the best scenario? are there others? How can these ideas drive our thought before an election?