It is generally agreed that the concept and the fact of subsidiary governance at the level of local councils have been an experience that contributed to improvements that would otherwise not have taken place had everything remained under the control of the central government.
The reason is obvious. The central government cannot be expected to cater, not efficiently anyway, for the detailed needs of the citizens in every nook and cranny on the island. It does not have the necessary bureaucratic outreach. Breaking up the island into areas of local government more or less reflecting its parish geography makes eminent sense, not least because the communities to be governed already have a "personal" character that can best be developed and promoted by "insiders" rather than faceless bureaucrats.
The setting up of local councils, albeit their limited responsibility, has made a major contribution to the 67 localities in which they have now been operating for 15 years. Residents have seen major improvements taking place and, in many cases, not all, serious attempts at making the general environment more agreeable than would otherwise have been the case if this devolution had not taken place.
Councillors have, by and large, taken pride in beautifying the space over which they preside.
Some localities are a vast improvement on what they were a decade and a half ago, precisely because those in charge of them were close to the facts on the ground. They knew what needed to be done, which eyesores had to be removed, which sites preserved, where plants and flowers could make a difference, what needed to be protected.
It is also true that not everything has gone seamlessly. There have been occasions where things have been far less than hunky-dory. Mtarfa's local council, which had not met since last November when the law requires them to meet once a month, was rendered so ineffective, indeed functionless, it was dissolved last month by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. Its 1,700 residents are voting for a new council tomorrow. Prior to this, Paola and Sannat suffered the same fate.
Coming so soon after the general election the outcome of the Mtarfa elections will be of interest to both parties. It need not be the triumph or the failure either party will make it out to be, but the result will certainly add to the political landscape. The particular circumstances of this local election also underscore the voters' responsibility to think well before they choose.
It may be opportune for the responsibilities of local councils to be reviewed. Talks about reforms in this and other directions are on the agenda.
The fact that the Prime Minster has decided to assume responsibility for the environment may mean that local councils' role on environmental matters affecting their locality will increase substantially, and so it should in every respect, from refuse collection to heritage protection to building development.
Dr Gonzi will do well to receive feedback and recommendations on these matters from the councils - his Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Dialogue can be worth his weight in gold here and more so in the government's aim to turn Gozo into an ecological island.
The local councils there will be central to such an endeavour.