It’s roughly 11 weeks before we go to the polls to elect our next municipal government — but who’s counting?

Well, clearly, I am. “A change is as good as a rest,” my mother used to say. I suppose the coming election might also be a good time to haul out another of her favourite aphorisms: “Be careful what you wish for,” because what I really wish for, apart from a change of some of the actual faces on council, is a change in the types of faces on Halifax Regional Council.

Last week, I talked about the importance of getting more women to step up and run for a position in local government. This week, I thought I’d add to that discussion by offering some perspective from a woman who’s been there — Francene Cosman.

Cosman was a Halifax County councillor for three years in the late 1970s; she was the first mayor of the town of Bedford, from 1979 to 1982. After that, she was president of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, then executive director of the Nova Scotia Liberal Association. She was elected as a Liberal MLA for Bedford-Fall River in 1993, and again in 1997, when she was given a cabinet position. She retired from “official” politics in 1999.

“I would love to see more women in municipal politics,” Cosman told me, when I called and asked her if she thought it was important to have more female candidates on the ballot in the coming election. “I think municipal politics is a wonderful arena for anybody who wants to find out what it is to represent people, because it’s the closest form of government to the people.” She noted that, beyond gender, it’s important that we elect individuals who have a strong voice and who will do a good job, but she says she thinks women bring a particular perspective to politics. “They bring great skills on the empathy and understanding and communication sides. It’s a challenge trying to raise a family at the same time — as in any elected job — but certainly at municipal levels it’s not like you are having to be away from your home all the time. And it’s a wonderful training ground for going on in other directions as well.”

The rewards come from helping people at a very fundamental level. “I always felt that the quiet achievement of finding solutions to problems on a day-to-day basis was more important than it was to work on the big ticket items — like new stadiums. There are so many opportunities to get satisfaction from quietly achieving your goals,” she says. “Because what I hear a lot now is that people have this sense of disconnect, and if (councillors) don’t get back with answers, that’s contributing to that disconnect.”

She speculates that one of the things that prevents women from running is concern about finances. “I think there is perhaps a perception that you can’t do it unless you’ve got your own money. But that’s why you have people who work to raise money for you. And municipal politics is the one area where you have to raise the least to get your name out there,” she notes.

Her advice for any woman who is considering a political career is to talk to other women who have done it. “If you feel you’ve got the fire in their gut to do this, you should do some homework. Figure out if it’s the place you want to be. If you have a desire to solve problems and to take action and get things done, then municipal politics is a good place for you.”

(community@herald.ca)