According to a report in this morning's Windsor Star, Council members spent 3 hours and nearly a dozen failed motions, before happily giving up on changing the current bloated and numerically distorted ward system.
I am sure the Council members were exhausted, and the reporters too, but at the end of it, every Council member position and chance for re-election was preserved.
This whole thing started out well enough. Council admitted that the 30 year old system was outdated, they hired a consultant, allocated $50,000 from the grateful taxpayer, and said a new ward system should be in place before the next election. Read the paragraphs below which I copied from the City of Windsor website.
Ward Boundary Review
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Introduction
On December 8, 2008, City Council approved CR497/2008 with a recommendation for a full comprehensive ward boundary review to be undertaken in the City Windsor with the assistance of a consultant.
CR497/2008,
That the City Clerk BE DIRECTED that a full comprehensive Ward Boundary Review BE UNDERTAKEN which could result either in the creation of new ward boundaries or the dissolution of the existing ward boundaries for the 2010 election, and a possible change in the representation of council members. Such a review would be undertaken with the assistance of a Consultant and the project would have an allocated budget of $50,000.00 to be funded from the unallocated 2009 balance as a pre-commitment to the 2009 Budget. In this option, the City Clerk would be directed to engage a Consultant pursuant to the provisions of the Purchasing By-law, and, the Chief Administrative Officer and General Manager would be directed to execute a contract for such consulting services satisfactory in technical content to the City Clerk, in financial content to the City Treasurer and in legal form to the City Solicitor.
Since that time, CAO report #1084 authorized Council Services Department to engage the services of Dr. Robert Williams, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo to provide the consulting services required to direct an independent review of the City’s ward boundaries. Dr. Williams specializes in municipal affairs, Ontario politics and electoral systems.
Objective
To conduct a comprehensive review of the municipal ward boundaries in the City of Windsor in order to arrive at an effective and equitable system of representation. Insofar as possible, the review should accommodate for growth in the City for at least the next 10 years. The revised ward structure is to be in place for the 2010 municipal election.
Parameters
The review will be conducted within the following parameters:
Respect the principle of "effective representation" as enunciated by the Supreme Court in its decision on the Carter case;
Build from the experience gained through other municipal ward boundary reviews and the outcome of OMB hearings in those cases where a review has been appealed (Best Practices);
Insofar as possible, develop a ward structure that will accommodate growth and population shifts for at least 10 years;
Conduct all steps in the work program including research, public consultation, review of options with the public and provisions for a final report and recommendations to Council no later than July 2009.
Guiding Principles
Subject to the overriding principle of "effective representation" as set out in the Carter decision, the following criteria will be referred to for guidance in the conduct of the review:
Communities of interest and neighbourhoods: It is desirable to avoid fragmenting traditional neighbourhoods or communities of interest within the City;
Consideration of representation by population: To the extent possible, and bearing in mind the requirements for effective representation, wards should have reasonably equal population totals. Given the geography and varying population densities and characteristics in the City of Windsor, a degree of variation will be acceptable;
Consideration of present and future population trends: Insofar as possible, the ward structure should accommodate growth for at least 10 years;
Consideration of physical features as natural boundaries: Wards should have a coherent, contiguous shape and the boundaries should be straightforward and easy to remember.
Contact:
Dr. Robert Williams, Consultant: windsorwardreview@hotmail.com
Windsor City Clerk's Office: clerks@city.windsor.on.ca
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In my opinion, there is only one thing that stopped the Council from moving to a new ward system, reflective of current population trends and the need for fewer elected officials: self interest.
Let's see if the Windsor Star polarizes the community over this issue. After all, what could be more important than how we are governed?
Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis should not let this stand. He should show the same determination on this important issue as he has shown while debating the Canal Project, the new Windsor Arena and the current CUPE strike.
Let me repeat what I said yesterday. The City of Windsor could get along just fine and very efficiently with 6 Wards, one elected official per Ward and a Mayor. As a matter of fact, City Council proved my very point last night.
