East Gwillimbury should add 2 councillors for 2018 election: town staff

Yorkregion.com
March 7, 2017
By Simon Martin

The East Gwillimbury electoral review took another twist March 7. After a consultant’s report suggested the preferred electoral system for the East Gwillimbury 2018 municipal election would be a ward system, town staff responded with a report of their own recommending East Gwillimbury not move to a ward system in 2018, but add two more at-large councillors.

Town clerk Fernando Lamanna said the preferred option of a ward system presented by consultants Andrew Sancton and Tim Cobban was confusing because boundaries had to change after one election. A ward system would be premature for the 2018 election, but Lamanna said council should re-evaluate the electoral system in preparation for the 2022 or 2026 elections.

Lamanna was in lock-step with the consultant’s recommendation to add two more councillors. The estimated cost of bringing the total number of councillors in East Gwillimbury to 6 from 4 would be around $10 per household, Lamanna said.

Council was interested in hearing from residents about the idea of adding two more councillors. There will be a public meeting Wednesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. when the public can provide input about staff recommendations.

Mayor Virginia Hackson urged staff to make a large advertising campaign to get residents to come to the meeting.

“This is the biggest decision we are going to make during this term of council,” Mayor Virginia Hackson said. “For only 50 or 60 people to give input on something of this magnitude would certainly be unacceptable.”

For the town to implement any changes before the 2018 election, Lamanna said it would have to make a decision before a deadline of Dec. 31.

Sancton and Cobban delivered details of their final report to council on Dec. 20. “It is clear from our consultations that a minority of citizens and stakeholders favour maintaining the status quo,” the report stated.

The consultants recommended council move to a ward system that would feature three wards: Holland Landing, Queensville-Sharon and Mount Albert-rural in the 2018 election, with two councillors each. In the following election in 2022, there would be five wards as the Holland Landing and Queensville-Sharon wards would be split and the Mount Albert rural ward would remain intact.