The Citizen, 2012-06-21, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2012.Continued from page 1money fighting for a bylaw thatwe’re not going to use anymore,”Hessel said. “We went to court over
the bylaw and we spent taxpayer
money not to follow the bylaw and
to change it immediately.”
Hessel said he would not be voting
for the recommendation. He also
said Bluewater having a third
representative (which he is) is very
important to the municipality and he
feels Bluewater deserves the extra
representative, so he wouldn’t be
supporting it based on Bluewater’s
interests.
Goderich Mayor Deb Shewfelt
also questioned careless spending if
council didn’t choose to follow
recommendations that had been
made as a result of Cuff’s report.
“We pay for a performance review,
but then we don’t like what is said to
us,” Shewfelt said.
He said he felt council was
“missing an opportunity” and that
council should take a serious look at
reducing the amount of councillors
around the table to nine, as
recommended by Cuff in his report.
Warden Bernie MacLellan was
concerned that ratepayers don’t look
at the councillors as county
representatives. For the most part, he
said, he is thought of as the mayor of
Huron East, so he said when people
are voting, county representation
doesn’t seem to be something that ison the minds of voters.Bluewater’s Paul Klopp wasuncomfortable with the
recommendation because he said it
locked every municipality into a set
level of representation. If one of the
municipalities with fewer residents
experiences a boom in population,
he said, would the council of the day
choose to add another representative
to be fair? Klopp said councillors
would like to think so, but that there
would be no guarantee, which didn’t
sit well with him.
Morris-Turnberry’s Paul Gowing
agreed with Shewfelt, saying that the
Cuff report made it clear that the
county could be run by nine
councillors, maybe fewer and he felt
it should be investigated further.
“We have the Cuff report in front
of us, the recommendations have
come out; that should be the starting
point and then we should go to the
public on this,” Gowing said.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek said a
few different options should be
considered and sent to the lower tiers
for a vote. However, he did not find
much support for that idea.
Councillors said there needed to be
one option and the lower tiers would
vote to either accept it, or not.
Anything more than that, many said,
would be convoluted.
North Huron Reeve Neil Vincentsuggested that municipalities beallowed to send whoever they wantto Huron County Council and that
the wording in the recommendation
detailing that the mayors and
deputy-mayors specifically be
appointed to council be removed
from the recommendation.
Councillors questioned whether
council could operate with nine
representatives and if a new system
could be implemented to decide who
is sent as a representative and
Shewfelt said the model already
exists in Bruce County, so Huron
wouldn’t be reinventing the wheel if
they chose to shake it up a bit.
“Bruce County already has the
model and they’re not in jail,”
Shewfelt said.
Vincent suggested that an alternate
be appointed for each municipality,
in case something were to happen to
a representative and that idea found
little support.“You think council is spinning itswheels now?” Bluewater’s BillDowson asked, “You bring an
alternate in. I cannot support an
alternate. I have seen more meetings
disrupted and sent in the wrong
direction by an alternate in my time
than I care to admit.”
Shewfelt said being a county
representative should be opened up
to anyone at the lower tier who feels
they could do the job. It would
prevent a mayor or deputy-mayor
from being the only voice around the
county table for years. The method
of determining who would represent
the municipality at the county level
would be up to the lower tier
council.
That recommendation, however,
didn’t sit well with all councillors.
“So it’s a popularity contest of
elected officials then?” questioned
South Huron’s Jim Dietrich.
Surrounded with confusion, amotion to table the vote was made,but quickly defeated and theconversation continued.
Van Diepenbeek suggested that
the term “or an alternate as identified
in the local municipal bylaw” be
added to the sentence detailing every
municipality’s representation in the
wording of the recommendation,
that way, he said, a municipality
could choose to send its mayor and
deputy mayor, or another councillor,
it’s the councillors’ choice to make.
Van Diepenbeek’s amendment
was passed by a recorded vote of 9-
6 with Central Huron Mayor Jim
Ginn absent for the vote. The
original motion, now with the
amendment, was then passed by a
recorded vote of 11-3 with Gowing
and Ginn absent for the vote.
The recommendation will now
come to the July 4 Huron County
Council meeting for final approval.
WI takes mystery tour
The Majestic Women’s Institute
met on May 9 for a mystery tour,
with 10 members present. The first
stop was the town of Newton and the
Canadian Family Resource Store,
which started as a catalogue store in
2004 and opened to the public in
2008. They sell quite a variety of
items such as toys, stationery,
scrapbooking materials, giftware,
arts and crafts and bulk food, and a
great selection of kitchen items for
cooking and processing.
Just down the street was E&E
Fabrics, which has a great selection
of fabric, custom-made quilts
and rocker pads – well worth a
stop.
At Anna Mae’s in Millbank a
wonderful lunch was enjoyed by all.
After lunch there was a stop at a
country quilt shop where there were
lots of quilts to look at. Rural
Ontario is full of talented people. As
you drive, keep your eyes open,
small towns often have some of the
best shops. Shop local, good things
come in small packages.
Councils given choice on county representation
A fatherly tradition
A Father’s Day tradition was held on Sunday when members of the Brussels Fire Department
cooked breakfast for hundreds of hungry area residents. Seen here pleasing the crowds with
food are, from left: Murray Kellington, Brian Deitner and Duane Gibson. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Seniors? Look again!
As part of East Wawanosh Public School’s dress like an old
person spirit day on June 15, Alex Coultes, left, and
Katherine Coultes donned their best old person guises as
well as their dourest looks to try and imitate some popular
art. (Denny Scott photo)