Probably because no-one has managed to formulate the correct question.
That question should be "how can we encourage young, motivated, think-outside-the-box residents to run for political office in our communities?"
We're having trouble even getting them to vote.
But youth is the bright light that we need.
This week's announcement by Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oakes of four-year terms has not only dimmed that light, she has managed to extinguish the flame of getting youth into municipal politics.
Four years is a big chunk of commitment.
Three years was, too, but given enough--and growing--disgust with political ramblings in the North Okanagan, there had recently been hints that younger, educated people were questioning how our communities were being run.
We residents not only know the points of view of our politicians, we know their biases and shortcomings.
And they fall short of what's needed in our communities in future.
Young people are needed to run for office in the North Okanagan.
Back east, Rick Mercer gave it a stab, just to get them to vote.
The trick is to get them to run for office, especially women.
The new longer terms will apply to elected mayors, councils, park boards, school boards, regional district directors, and Islands Trust trustees.
I agree with many people that there is a serious democracy deficit in British Columbia.
And it's getting worse, as evidenced by Maurie Deaton's letter to the editor on March 2, 2014, an excerpt of which is: One presenter was told: "at least you have some credibility, since you used to work for the city."
Rather than going into a lot of details, this article says more than what I would have published here. Many public attendees at Vernon Council agree.
Have a look at archived council meetings in your community's internet site.
Any idea of what really transpired at those meetings?
Apart from knowing who voted how, there is never a reason given for their decision at the meeting.
Is that transparent government?
Certainly not.
How are you to vote for individuals when you don't know why they voted a certain way on community issues?
Because their true opinions, anything of substance, are discussed in camera.
Patrick Smith, director of Governance Studies at SFU, agrees that extending terms doesn't fix the problems.
The old fart syndrome condones politicians thumbing their noses at transparency and accountability in local politics.
Because they've been getting away with it for a long time.
Why a four year term? Our politicians are caught up in the paperwork tangle they helped create, indicated by a local politician: "It takes a year to ease into the job, a year of productivity and then a year of people wondering if they're running again," as reported by the Morning Star.
So we residents get a year of productivity out of three currently?
Does that warrant moving the election term to four years?
The Local Government Elections Task Force produced a report for the Union of B.C. Municipalities on election terms.
Wikipedia has an interesting page on election terms all over the world.
"Maybe Patrick Smith can get youth to run for office," suggests Kia.
That's likely a no-go.
He opened their eyes to what's wrong in the first place.
As a young person interested in politics, I don't think the length of the term is a barrier to youth interested in running for office. At the local level the true barrier is that the remuneration is too low to support someone who doesn't have a supplemental income, or is financially independent.
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