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Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Public to vote on possible ward system By Ron Giofu
The concept of Amherstburg switching to a ward system is still on the table, but the public will have a say in whether it is implemented. Town council agreed to let the public vote on the matter in the 2022 municipal election with the ballot question being “Are you in favour of a Ward Election System?” Clerk Paula Parker stated in a report to council that public education is required prior to passing any bylaw on the matter, with those public education sessions explaining how a three or five ward system could work. “Once the 2022 Election results are in, if the question on the ballot is determined to be valid, meaning that over 50% of the electorate vote on election day and over 50% of those that voted vote in favour of the question (“yes”), Council can then, as is within their power to do so as per the Municipal Act, consider whether a 3-ward or 5-ward system works best for the electorate,” Parker stated in her report. “Council may at that time, also wish to consider further consultation from its electorate on both 3 and 5 ward systems by conducting a survey, in-person gatherings (if permitted), through social media platforms or virtual open houses to consider what the electorate favours of the options proposed.” Currently, the public elects the mayor, deputy mayor and five councillors in an at large system. If the town were to go to a three-ward system, the mayor would
continue to be elected at large with two councillors elected in each ward. Under that scenario, the deputy mayor would be chosen by council among the six councillors or selected on an annual rotation. A five-ward system would see the mayor and deputy mayor elected at large while there would be one council member elected in each ward. “The financial impacts of an At-large Election have been considered in budget deliberations since 2019. Council has approved a transfer of $33,600 to the Election Reserve in 2019, 2020 and 2021. That same level of annual allocation will be requested again in 2022 in order to fully fund the 2022 Election. Adding a question to the ballot is not expected to change the cost of ballots for the 2022 Election,” Parker stated. “It is somewhat difficult to determine the financial impacts of a change to a Ward System at this time, as there are a number of unknown variables. If assumptions are made that the 2026 Election would be conducted in the same manner as the 2022 Election with the only change being a mixed system, administration estimates an increased election cost of $35,000, which would be evenly distributed ($8,750 per year) in the budget requests for fiscal years 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 to fund the 2026 Election at a total estimated cost of $169,400.” Councillor Michael Prue was in favour of adding the question of a ward system to next year’s ballot. Continued on Page 3
A three-ward system is pictured here and is one of the options the public will be able to consider. The five-ward system that will also be considered is on Page 3. Special to the RTT
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