Goderich Signal Star, 2017-03-15, Page 11Wednesday, March 15, 2017 • Signal Star 11
Central Huron keeping ward system
Justine Alkema
Postmedia Network
After seeking public input,
Central Huron council voted
to stick with their ward sys-
tem for electing councilors.
At their meeting on Febru-
ary 6, council voted to begin
the process of changing to a
vote at large system with a
vote of 4-3.
Members of the public
were given a month after
that to send in comments
and participate in an online
poll. A public meeting was
held in conjunction with the
council meeting on March 6.
During that month,
council received several
letters against the change
and some councilors.were
approached with concerns
from residents. Also, the
online poll indicated that
there were almost triple the
amount of people wanting
to retain the ward system
compared to people want-
ing to dissolve it.
There were also several
presentations at the meeting
by residents of Goderich
Township regarding their
opposition to the change.
First to present was Bill
Stevenson; he expressed sev-
eral concerns. First, he did
not think there was enough
time given for public input,
and the change was not at
Justine Alkema/Postmedia Network
Clinton's town hall.
the request of the public.
Stevenson also sited
Goderich Township's
attempt to de -amalgamate
from Central Huron sev-
eral years ago. In 2013,
70% of Goderich Town-
ship signed a petition to
de -amalgamate. If Goder-
ich has expressed they'd
like to be their own town-
ship, getting rid of their
ward is a step in the oppo-
site direction of what
those residents want.
"This is disrespectful of the
residents of this ward who
have a very long, proud his-
tory of self-government at
the local level," he said. "Cur-
rently, the representatives of
the ward are easily recogniz-
able, easily accessible and
are very aware of our needs
and wishes"
Next to present were Dave
Hemingway and Brian
Barnim. Also both residents
of Goderich Township, they
expressed similar concerns.
Barnim suggested that they
hold a referendum to know
exactly what residents' opin-
ions are on the issue.
This was discussed with
councilors on either side,
but ultimately there was no
decision to hold a
referendum.
Most councilors spoke
against changing the system.
Most said they did not have a
strong opinion on the issue
either way and voted against
the change due to the strong
dissent from the public.
Council voted to keep the
current ward system with a
vote of 6-1. Voting to retain
the system were Mayor
Ginn, Deputy Mayor Jewitt,
Councilors Anderson, Lobb,
Robinson and Metzger.
Councilor Dan Colquhoun
voted in favour of changing
the system, and Councilor
Westerhout w s absent for
the vote.
Clerk Bre Ida Maclsaac
told the Ne Record after
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OFFICE HOURS
The office hours for
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Tuesday — 8 am - 5 pm
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Friday — 8 am - 4 pm
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120 Huckins Street., Goderich, ON N7A 3X8
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the meeting that the issue
had come up several times
since the 2014 election; in
that election, two councilors
ran in wards they did not live
in, which is permissible
under the Municipal Act.
This caused council to bring
up the question of why have
wards at all.
It was over a year ago that
council formally asked
abTOYOTATOYOTA
MacIsaac to write the report
during a strategic planning
meeting, and that was the
report that came out at the
February 6 meeting. For the
system to be changed, the
bylaw would have to be
passed December 31 before
the year of the election,
which is this December 31
since the next election is
2018.
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