Adam Prudhomme
Editor
At large voting, candidate signs and voting methods were among the topics discussed at Greater Napanee council’s Nov. 23 meeting, held at the Selby Community Hall.
Any decisions on the matter were held over until the Dec. 14 meeting, as an updated report will be presented be town clerk Jessica Walters at the next council meeting.
Prior to the discussion, council heard a deputation from former councillor Shaune Lucas, asking that the matter be held over until more public input could be gathered.
“We need to have public consultation on any proposed election proposals for next year,” Lucas told council. “On the representation side I just want to remind council we’ve had several recorded votes in the past terms of council on how to best represent our tax payers and the last two votes were in fact 4-3 votes to maintain status quo. I think this issue deserves another vote of council. I think this issue deserves to have another public input because it’s that razor thin and term to term conditions might change and we might finally end up supporting a system like our neighbours to the north did, Stone Mills, which is elections at large.”
Lucas also voiced objections to online voting.
“I’m very concerned about the process (of online voting),” he said. “We all know our voters list comes from the MPAC assessment list, which has never been correct. We all know that we’ve been issuing PIN numbers to people, the first time we did it two elections ago it was a complete disaster because there’s no checks and balance of the PIN system.”
On the issue of keeping the ward system or moving to at large voting, Walters suggested they are running out of time to make any significant alterations.
“A ward boundary review is an important exercise for this municipality,” said Walters. “The ward boundaries have not significantly changed since 2003. But it is a process that takes a long time to do it well. You need to be looking at your historic and projected population trends for the next 10-15 years. You should be doing community consultation, you should be looking at your community fabric and what areas and interests need to be represented and what looks like fair for the community. You might want to look at the question of how the community feels about wards versus at large and that should include a significant public education component and council education.”
Walters agreed a review is necessary but added there’s simply not enough time ahead of the next municipal election, which is set for October 2022. All policies and procedures for the next election must be finalized by May 1 of next year.
“If council passed a motion tonight and said we want to dissolve ward boundaries, bring a by-law to the 14th, you pass it on the 14th, if one person appeals it within the mandatory 45 day appeal period it does not take affect until the 2026 election,” Walters added.
The tight time line aside, there didn’t appear to be much appetite around the horseshoe to move to at large voting.
“When I first started to run for council I thought at large would be the best thing,” said councillor Dave Pinnell Jr. “Once you’re in here you actually are at large…because you do get people calling you from other wards and such. Also you are giving residents of your ward security of who they can call.”
Councillor John McCormack agreed it should be looked at, but not for the next election.
“This is a long process and we shouldn’t just wing it,” said McCormack. “In my opinion it’s not going to be something that’s going to change for the next election. At the clerk and the CAO’s pleasure they should start looking into it when it’s appropriate for the following term.”
Councillor Ellen Johnson says the current system is working for the time being.
“We have seen it work very well for us,” said Johnson. “If you have a councillor who does not represent the ward or who works only at large and has special interests, we can see the system work in a bad way. I think all of us are a little bit prejudice for wards because it has worked well for us because we all take what’s important to the whole community to heart first and foremost.”
One potential option would be to have residents vote for their preferred method during the next election. Johnson said she’d like to see some public education made available to help inform voters before they put the issue to a vote.
Mayor Marg Isbester says they gathered public opion on the issue back in 2018, with more residents being in favour of keeping the ward system.
“With this council, with no disrespect to other councils, has operated as one,” said Isbester. “We’re all seeing what’s happening in everybody else’s ward without even having to communicate and we’re all learning about it. You all know I have been an at large supporter for ages but I guess when I found out what it was like to campaign for mayor and deputy mayor you think, maybe everybody else should see that. But certainly this council, and it may not hold true for the next council, has worked as a unit. The two U and R words (urban and rural) haven’t been used too much.”
One proposed change that had been mentioned by previous council was the notion of introducing ranked ballots. That decision has been made for the town, as the option has been removed from the province’s election act.
At large and ward voting won’t be the only topic expected to part of Walters’ report at the meeting. Also expected to be discussed further on Dec. 14 is whether or not to keep a by-law that prohibits placing election signs on public property. Walters said the current by-law limits signs strictly to private property, but notes it hasn’t been spelled out in plain language and hasn’t been enforced. Lennox and Addington County is expected to pass a by-law that would prohibit signs being placed on county owned land.
Walters also indicted in her report that she intends to hold in-person voting locations for advance voting, making an effort to make them as accessible as possible to all parts of the community. Walters’ report recommended staying with internet and phone voting for the upcoming election.