The plan to possibly readjust Chatham-Kent’s ward boundaries and the size of council was put on hold at last night’s council meeting.
By a narrow 8-8 vote, council declined to approve a tender for $68,000 to Strategy Corp to conduct a review of ward boundaries and council composition.
In February, council approved a motion to bring in a third-party consultant to review and provide options to ensure both rural and urban voices are represented and included in each ward.
Councillor Anthony Ceccacci said it’s an expensive exercise and noted the changes will affect the rural community.
With Chatham-Kent spending $420 million annually, councillor Brock McGregor said spending $70,000 was a small price to pay to make sure people in the community feel represented.
“This has been an ongoing issue. It is something that should’ve been done before and even when we do this it’s something that should be done again,” McGregor said, noting it is something that should be done regularly to make sure people feel represented.
Councillor Trevor Thompson was against taking a look at ward boundaries and council composition, saying it is a very divisive issue.
“I think when you look at the old reports you recognize that we would go down the same road again,” Thompson said.
“I don’t like to make the same mistake over and over again. I think that this was going to be a mistake,” Thompson said.
Shrinking council would lead to more of a workload for councillors, which would lead to councillors having to become full-time politicians, Thompson said, noting the committee and community work that goes on behind the scenes.
There would also be a loss of diversity of opinion on council, Thompson said.
Previous municipal reviews were conducted in 2015, 2011, and 2008, however, there has not been a re-adjustment of ward boundaries since amalgamation in 1998.
Voting in favour of the motion to accept the tender were: Rhonda Jubenville, Aaron Hall, Brock McGregor, Darrin Canniff, Michael Bondy, Alysson Storey, Melissa Harrigan and Lauren Anderson.
Against the motion were: Anthony Ceccacci, Marjorie Crew, Jamie McGrail, John Wright, Ryan Doyle, Trevor Thompson, Conor Allin and Amy Finn.