HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-11-08, Page 21THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012. PAGE 21. Continued from page 1feel is failing in their job.But costs were also important, he
argued. “We asked all our
departments to trim the fat,” he said.
“It’s only fair we look at our own
costs.” He pointed out that the
$23,000 saving isn’t just for one year
but every year in the future, which
will add up.
Other councillors who support of
the changes also voiced their
opinions.
Deputy-Mayor Jason
Breckenridge said he had
campaigned on trimming the fat and
getting rid of the ward system.
Councillor John Smuck noted that
before he ran for election he owned
land in both Morris and Turnberry
wards but was allowed to vote only
in Morris, having no say over the
Turnberry councillors whose
decision could affect his land.
Noting that recently Huron
County cut the size of its council, he
said it was time for Morris-
Turnberry to cut back as well.
But Jackie Riggs from theaudience worried about councilbeing too small. “Do we really want
to put all the power in the hands of
four people instead of six when it
won’t save us much?” she wondered.
Someone else asked if councillors
felt they had enough time to attend
more committee meetings with
fewer councillors to share the work.
Councillor Neil Warwick pointed
out that there are several fewer
committees to attend than there used
to be, including fire boards and
recreation committees in both
Wingham and Blyth.
But Councillor Jamie Heffer
worried about the growing time
commitment. “I know from my
perspective that I would not have the
time to devote to more meetings. I
could not take on more [work].”
“This is a very responsible job and
it needs to be done well,” said Bill
Coultes from the audience. If
councillors think they can still do the
job well with fewer councillors then
that’s fine but money is not the
important factor, he said.Underwood pointed out that it’s 35kilometres from Belmore to Walton
and there’s a good chance down the
road there will come a time when all
four councillors are from one of the
current wards. As well, he said, if
you only have four councillors
“You’ve got to have good
people.”
Gowing argued that it’s up to
residents to stay involved and make
sure there are good candidates from
across the entire municipality.
Candidates can declare their
intention to run from January 2014
until the final nomination day in
September, he said, so there’s lots of
opportunity to see who the
candidates are.
Councillor David Baker said he
was worried about the size of the
municipality given a reduction of the
size of council. “It’s [council costs]
not much money when you look at
the price of a grader or paving a
piece of road,” he said. “I hope it’s
money well spent.”
While the early part of the meetingwas dominated by those whoquestioned the need for change, later
on supporters spoke up from the
audience, with several saying they
thought it was wrong that they had
no say in electing councillors from
the other ward under the current
system.
Former Morris Township Reeve
Keith Johnston was in favour of
getting rid of the ward system saying
it was supposed to be a temporary
things when amalgamation
happened but is still in effect 12years later.“We’re supposed to be one big
municipality,” he said.
Looking at the audience at the
meeting Underwood asked Gowing
if he felt comfortable making a
decision based on the small turnout.
“These guys have been elected to
make tough decisions,” Gowing
said. “I wish more people had come
out. They had their chance but they
didn’t. I feel comfortable moving
forward.”
In the Nov. 1 issue of The Citizen,
a picture of Hannah and Emily Uyl
was identified incorrectly.
The girls were serving food at a
free breakfast at Memorial Hall,
hosted by Living Water Christian
Fellowship, not a roast beef dinner
hosted by the Blyth United Church.
The Citizen apologizes for the
error.
Council size, restructuring discussed at meeting
Correction
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