Parishes need to aim high
THE parish douzaine rooms will be alive with ‘election fever’ tonight – but most of the elections in the 10 parishes will be over after a roll call. There are almost as many non-elections, where not enough nominations have been secured, as there are contested elections.
Despite the excellent work done by Women in Public Life to raise the profile of these annual elections, and the efforts of the douzaines themselves, enthusiasm still appears limited.
This is disappointing when the introduction of island-wide voting has left the parishes with less influence on an island level than they have ever had since 'Les Etats’ in the 17th century.
It seems that the douzaines themselves are currently struggling to establish a modern identity or role, and this uncertainty is projected on to would-be candidates.
Some parishes are showing ambition, however. In the past few months we’ve had St Peter’s, with its community plan, followed by Castel’s aspirations to identify enhancement projects for the parish’s coastline. Both are a significant departure from the standard parish business which must be conducted as a minimum requirement – managing parochial assets, the church, cemeteries, refuse collections and so on.
The success, or otherwise, of these projects may go some way to defining a brighter future – and more exciting elections – for the parishes.