Very few people care about municipal issues. Local governments have a real problem just getting a mandate from an election, never mind consulting their residents on ongoing issues. Sure, the vocal minority is happy to give the mayor a piece of their mind, but that’s not a representative sample.

The planning department for the City of Victoria has a micro survey with just two questions, in the hopes of getting as many responses as possible. They’ve identified twelve issues, from affordable housing to heritage protection. For each issue, you specify how well it’s currently being addressed. Then you get 10 points to allocate between the issues to advise them how to spread their attention. It’s quick, elegant and it gets my stamp of approval as a voting system.

Dan, who is apparently an honorary member of the planning department, has come up with another micro survey tool. On Twitter, post a tweet how you imagine Victoria in 30 years (add the #VicOCP hashtag). If you don’t have a Twitter account, add a comment to this post with few enough characters and I’ll retweet it (eg: “RT Jack:[125 characters]#VicOCP”). Here’s mine:

Distinct. Dense: 200,000 people. Bike & pedestrian oriented. Diverse industries; most of CRD’s jobs. Amalgamated. #VicOCP

Prove Yule Heibel wrong that we have no vision for our city.