HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2009-02-18, Page 9_____ "CA , -
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Tb # Huron Expositor • February 18, 2009 Page 9
News
County council sticks with the status quo
Cheryl Heath councillors with weighted votes, per
municipality.
The status quo is a go. MacLellan added the 6,000 popula-
After months of comnilitee-ie-vA tion cut off benefits some municipali-
discussions and debate, county coun- ties more than others.
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cil voted in favour of maintaining its Coun. Neil Vincent (North Huron)
current structure of 20 councilors. noted, however, that the 6,000 figure
Following a recommendation of is deemed to be the fairest option
the county's committee of the whole, since each of the member municipal
which includes representation from -
ities, except one, would be properly
all nine member municipalities, represented 't within a two per cent
councillors grappled with a proposal margin.
to hire a consultant to discern the Coun. Bill Siemon (Huron East)
ideal cotmty-council structure. added his voice to the chorus of those
Some councilors expressed con-
preferring to seek out input from the
lower tiers rather than hire a consul -
cern with the plan given that regard:
less of the consultant's recommenda-
tant.
tions, the decision ultimately rests "It's money for something we have
with council. to do ourselves any how," he said.
I
Coun. John Bezaire (Central Hu-
In speaking in favour of consul
tants, Coun. Bert Dykstra (Central
said the bonus is they would
ron) questioned whether a consul -
H
tant's report would be submitted in
time to ensure county council is re-
report back fairly quickly" and coun-
structured in time for the next muCil would be able to further discuss
nicipal election in 2010 --
the issue. Dykstra said turning the
.
Given the time frame, said Bezaire,
options over to the lower tiers to de-
ite would bsomewhat foolhardy" to bate is a questionable move given
be "plundering ahead" with a hastily the county council is in a leadership
. -
made decision. role
Warden Ken Oke acknowledged "We're sitting here. We know what
will work, whatever the number is,"
while the ideal goal is to have the
change enacted in time for 2010, said Dykstra.
that was only a guideline and chang- In further pushing against the
es could instead be implemented for6,000 figure, Coun. MacLellan sug-
-.
the 2014 election. gested councillors are speaking in
favour of the cutoff since it. is the (%
"It wouldn't be wasted money," said
easiest number to put through ."$ -,4
Oke. "If we run out of time, we run
out of time" That, he said, is not a good enough
.iowt; 4 -4e
reason. He added that it's likely the
Coun. Ben Van Diepenbeek (Ash-.
field Colborne Wawanosh) favoured lower tiers will only want to ensure
foregoing the consultant and, in"'
they have as much representation as
stead, putting forward two options to possible
member municipalities to consider: The warden noted urban centres
either a 6,000-minimunipopulation often have councillors representing
for an additional councillor for each up to 60,000 people, which is the
municipality or one county's approximate population.
representative
permunicipality.
. „ "Here we have (20) people repre-
"If we want to
drag our his
for the next four
or five years, we
can hire a con-
sultant," said
Van Diepen-
beek.
In speaking
against hiring
a consultant,
Coun. Max De-
maray (Howick)
said consultants
have been used
in the past with
limited success.
"Will you fol-
low what he
says if he says
more councillors
are necessary?"
asked Demaray.
Coun. Bernie
MacLellan (Hu-
ron East) said •
an
id?a1 scpply-
ics 18 to belie two
senting 60,000 and saying it can't be
done," said Oke. "We have to start
looking at it objectively.
In a recorded vote, 12 councilors
voted against hiring a consultant
while seven were in favour of the
move. One councillor, Joseph Seili
(Huron East), was absent.
Followin the motion's defeat,
resounding defeat, prompting the
warden to proclaim: "OK, what we
need now is a decision."
Vincent stepped forward with, a
motion to maintain county council at
its current level, which allows for an
additional councillor per additional
4,000 municipal residents.
Coun. Bill Dowson (Bluewater) sug- That motion resulted in a nine-to-
gested sending the issue along to the nine tie, with the warden left with
lower tiers for further discussion as the task of casting the deciding vote.
per Van Diepenbeek's recommenda- Oke voted in favour of the status
tion, which became a motion. quo, citing a need to get on with
Coun. Deb Shewfelt (Goderich) county business.
noted a number of regions, includ- "We're not interested in restructur-
ing Bruce and Perth counties, have ing at this time,"," said Oke. "We're
succe48fully reduced the number of spinning.our wheels."
representatives at the table. A smattering of councillors, includ-
"We're all sort of protecting our- ing Shewfelt and Bezaire, expressed
selves," said Shewfelt.
Meanwhile, Coun. Bezaire argued
the point of the restructuring pro-
cess is to figure out the best possible.
setup for representation' and not to
"make an arbitrary number."
Meanwhile, Coun. Dave Johnston
(Bluewater) supported the notion of
allowing the lower tiers to have some
input.
"This has to go to the public and
there must be a rationale,"he said.
Van Diepenbeek's motion met with
disappointment with council's wv:ii
willingness to change.
Bezaire said the brave move would be
to introduce a system wherein county
councillors are elected at large rather
than the current practice of having the
council comprised of reeves or mayors,
deputy mayors or deputy reeves and
for municipalities with three repre-
sentatives, senior -level councillors.
"There's not the courage in this room
to .make that kind of decision," said
Bezaire.
Festival Hydro does ll a have employees going door
to door selling electricity contracts.
You will never need to show your bill to a
representative at your door who claims to be •
from Festival Hydro as we have your information
available to us in the office.
,
Jt Many independently owned companies have
acquired a license from the Ontario Energy Board
to sell electricity in the province. They quite often
will sell their services door to door. These companies
are owned and operated separately from
Festival Hydro.
• •
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