Many tend to overlook the local council elections, or tend to vote along party lines out of party loyalty.

But here, at the locality level, one cannot stress enough the importance of voting for the person rather than the party.

Having a good or a bad mayor makes the difference between a mayor who fights tooth and nail for his or her locality, and one who just toes the party line.

We’ve seen prime examples of good mayors in recent years, fighting tooth and nail to stop overdevelopment, prevent take up of green areas, and fight for the rights of citizens.

Voting blindly in the local council elections, without knowing the candidates and what they stand for, could mean that when one truly needs a strong council, you won’t find it.

But councils also need to be given more tools to defend residents. How right is it, for example, that a massive project be planned for a locality, and despite the council’s objections the project goes through anyway? How fair is that on residents who will undoubtedly be seriously affected by it? Local councils need to be given a stronger voice.

Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Research and Innovation, Keith Azzopardi Tanti recently said that “local councils were not stripped of their responsibilities.” He said that the “greatest argument” made about the loss of responsibilities of local councils related to buildings, road construction, and road maintenance. “If I am going to agree that powers were lost, then one of these lost powers was the burden of roadworks,” he said.

Yes roadworks being removed from under councils was probably beneficial to council finances, as he points out, and possibly also for the state of roads themselves. But councils shouldn’t be completely removed from the decision making process. What if there are trees in an area the locality wants preserved, but the roads agency wants to go through anyway? What happens then?

Aside from roadworks, waste collection was effectively removed from council’s  responsibility, keep in mind the problems this brought about and councils being unable to modify the number of days a type of refuse bag is collected depending on the locality’s needs. Councils at one point also had wardens, which now they do not.

One can also ask whether funds for councils increased enough to equal the rise in costs of paying for works, services or projects the locality needs, or do councils have to rely on government agencies to carry them out as their funding has not been raised enough? How has the autonomy of councils been strengthened?

The strength and powers of local councils also need to be a campaign issue in the elections.

Pembroke Mayor Dean Hili recently spoke about something else, enforcement issues. “Expecting the mayor to be a policeman with contractors who work in the locality, a policeman with the Building and Construction Authority, a policeman of the wardens, and a policeman of the police themselves, needs to stop as soon as possible,” he posted on Facebook. He said that an increase in commercial and economic activity must bring with it an increase in enforcement “so that we don't have chaos on the streets - and whoever is responsible for this needs to take it up, with commitment and responsibility, without having to push them every step forward. Let's leave our mayors free to work on projects, on local policies, and how they want to see the village develop.”

His statement indicates the need for more action from authorities when residents or councils call. This, too, is something that needs to be addressed.