So, an election means the winner understands art better than someone else? Is that why people voted for them?
You are giving some people way too much credit. I heard one of these elected people in my city, ranting on about something far more important than glass walls: education. She voted against a certain project to help keep a school alive, claiming we need diversity and educational goals. Clueless idiot, the school provides exactly what she was saying, she actually sounded like a proponent of the plan, in her comments claiming to be against. Luckily everyone else on the council voted for the school's proposal, it will have a better ownership situation soon.
That's just one example. There's nothing special about most politicians. Esp at this level, it's often just the only people that signed up.