Island Notes from A Woofer by Melody S Wolfe – Maybe the Problem Isn’t Our Politicians

I was sitting at Briana’s Deli eating my garnachas when I overheard a conversation about a meeting for the Fisheries Department happening that night. And I had absolutely no idea there was a meeting.
My fault.
Later, I heard the attendance was very, very poor.
And it got me thinking.
Because we complain.
Lord, do we complain.
We complain about corruption. Development. Roads. Garbage. Traffic. Mangroves. Cost of living. Permits. Decisions being made without us.
But then, when there is actually a meeting where we can show up?
People don’t show up.
Now, I know part of the problem is communication. Sometimes these meetings aren’t advertised well enough. Sometimes you find out about them the same day. Sometimes the announcement is buried somewhere on Facebook between a barbecue sale and somebody asking if anyone’s seen their lost dog.
But let’s not pretend Belizeans aren’t online.
Belizeans are VERY online.
Post the silliest thing imaginable and watch how fast the comments come in. Somebody park bad? We are there. Somebody man get ketch with wah next gial in an Insta story? PRESENT. Somebody asks an innocent question in a Facebook group and by comment number 47, we are discussing their mother, their immigration status, and something they allegedly did in 2009.
But a community meeting?
Six people and somebody’s uncle.
And I’ve seen this same lack of participation when it comes to voting.
I’m running a voter registration campaign. I’m trying to encourage people to register, and it’s like I’m asking them to get their teeth pulled. I also ran a poll for about three months asking people whether they would consider voting for an independent candidate.
Not necessarily me. Not only me.
I genuinely wanted to know if people were ready to consider something outside of the traditional red and blue.
And now that new independent candidates are slowly announcing they are running, I’m hearing the same thing again.
“My family votes red.”
“I vote blue.”
“An independent can’t win.”
I’ve had many people tell me they will not vote independent because independents won’t have any government backing.
And there it is.
We say we want change, but before we’ve even heard who the choices are, we’ve already decided there are only two.
Why?
And I’m not saying vote independent just for the sake of voting independent. Absolutely not. An independent candidate can be just as useless as anybody wearing red or blue. 😂
I’m saying make people earn your vote.
Because politicians understand voter behavior too.
If a political party knows that no matter who they put on that ballot, a certain percentage of us will vote for that person simply because they’re wearing the right color, what incentive do they have to give us better candidates?
Think about that.
If they already own your vote, why would they have to earn it?
And then the election finishes, something happens that we don’t like, and we’re right back on Facebook complaining about the same people we just put there.
Maybe the problem isn’t only our politicians.
Maybe some of the problem is us.
Maybe it’s that we don’t register.
We don’t attend the meetings.
We don’t ask enough questions.
We don’t research the people asking us to put them in positions of power.
We complain about decisions after they’re made instead of showing up while they’re being discussed.
And then every few years, we vote for a color because that’s the color our family has always voted for, or because of the favor they have done for us.
I really do hope that changes.
I’d actually love to see an independent win a seat in San Pedro. I’d actually love to see a mixed slate. Not because I think an independent is automatically better, but because I think breaking that expectation would be healthy for all of us.
Imagine every candidate, red, blue, independent, or otherwise, knowing that your vote isn’t guaranteed.
Imagine having people in office whose first loyalty is actually to San Pedro. Not to a party. Not to whoever funded the campaign. Not to developers with deep pockets. Not being puppeted by corruption or pressured to fall in line because somebody higher up says so.
Imagine a Town Council where people could disagree, vote differently, and still work together because San Pedro’s best interest came before party politics.
Imagine us asking: What have you done? What are you going to do? Who is funding you? Who gets access to you? What do you believe about development? Our reef? Our mangroves? Housing? Cost of living? And when your party tells you to vote one way but San Pedro needs you to vote another, who are you going to answer to?
Those are the conversations I want us to start having.
Because maybe change doesn’t start with another politician promising to save San Pedro.
Maybe it starts with us becoming harder voters to earn.
And this is your kind reminder to go get registered.
Elito just announced he is running for Mayor as an independent. I believe he has the Islands’ best interests at heart, and I wish him all the best, but I think we are in for some more surprises. A little bird told me there are still a few more independent mayoral candidates and possibly 2 PUP Mayoral candidates? Could be rumors; could be true. Either way, if it’s who they say it is…
I actually give them the green light.

Island Notes from a Woofer is a column by Melody Sanchez Wolfe, an artist, writer, wedding planner, entrepreneur, mother of three, and proud San Pedrana who notices a little too much and writes about it. Blending island life, culture, humor, nostalgia, community conversations, random observations, personal experiences, art, business, relationships, social commentary, and whatever else happens to wander through her beautifully chaotic neurodivergent brain that week, this column is part island diary, part storytelling, part open journal, and part love letter to San Pedro – the old, the new, the beautiful, the frustrating, and everything in between.