A proposal to reduce the size of city council, while making councillor positions full-time, has the support of Mayor Cam Guthrie, who holds the only position not directly impacted by a series of recommendations put forward by consultants.
In a report headed to council during a special meeting on Nov. 5, Watson and Associates Economists Ltd. recommends the city move to eight wards instead of six, with one councillor per ward rather than the current two – making council nine members, including the mayor, down from 13 – and that the position be upgraded from part-time to full-time.
“We’re such a growing city. This really has been a longtime coming,” Guthrie said of the recommended changes, stating he’s pleased to see the reform put forward by a team of third-party experts. “It is 100 per cent the right thing to do.
“It really mirrors what a lot of people have been thinking for a long time.”
The consultants’ recommendations follow a process that began in 2012, covering several terms of council, and involving a variety of public engagement efforts and surveys.
City staff propose a deadline for any changes to be made for the 2022 municipal election and that if ward boundary changes aren't finalized by Dec. 31, 2021, the existing council composition and ward boundaries should remain for the 2022 municipal election.
The recommended change in council composition, a city staff report said, would cost the city an estimated $303,000 in additional councillor and support staff salary, plus $198,000-$237,000 in one-time costs in order to accommodate office space and meeting rooms for the full-time positions.
GuelphToday reached out to all members of council for their reaction to the recommendations. At the time, almost no one had read the report in full but offered their initial thoughts on the recommendations.
When it comes to the size of council, two major lines of thought were mentioned. One is that having nine council members instead of 13 will reduce the number of proverbial cooks in the kitchen.
“I’m okay with that,” said Ward 5’s Coun. Cathy Downer of having eight wards and one councillor per ward. “A group of nine will be better at decision-making.”
“Decreasing the number of councillors and increasing the number of wards appears reasonable,” added Coun. June Hofland of Ward 3 in an email. “Increasing the wards from six to eight makes total sense with the city’s fast paced growth.”
Coun. Christine Billings of Ward 4 agrees it “seems reasonable” to reduce the size of council, however, she is not in favour of doing it at the expense of increasing the “financial burden so significantly” for taxpayers.
“I don’t want to increase the budget.”
Ward 6’s Coun. Mark MacKinnon is also “leaning toward” supporting the reduction in council’s size, in large part because he feels having third-party consultants conduct the review was the right way to go for “a dramatic change like this.”
“If you go to a full-time scenario, then you want to make sure the city is divided up appropriately. Dropping to six councillors, keeping the six wards, is probably too small to have an effective representative democracy,” he said. “An expansion would be needed but something like 12 wards would be too much.”
The other major line of thought is that having a smaller council means fewer voices, from less varied backgrounds, at the table when decisions are made. If the recommendation is approved, five votes will be needed for motions to pass, down from the seven needed now.
“Five votes can result in radical swings in priorities and policies,” said Ward 4’s Coun. Mike Salisbury. “Having said that, eight (councillors) is not an unreasonable number.”
Ward 3’s Coun. Phil Allt is uncomfortable with downsizing council, noting the city is growing and he worries fewer people making decisions could lead to challenges with democratic input.
“It strikes me as counterintuitive,” he said, floating the idea of putting council composition reform options on the next municipal election ballot as a referendum question. “I’m entertaining if that’s the way to go.”
Coun. Rodrigo Goller of Ward 1 worries about ensuring ward constituents are heard by their representatives if the number of councillors per ward drops down to one.
“What if you get a councillor who is not very responsive to constituents?” he wondered.
Coun. Dominique O’Rourke of Ward 6 is also is unsure if a smaller council is the way to go.
“History will tell us that,” she said.
One thing most council members agree with is that the councillor position should be full-time.
“The position, at times, can be all-consuming,” said Ward 1’s Coun. Dan Gibson. “Regardless of full-time or part-time, I don’t think the work changes.”
“We have to admit that it’s no longer a part-time job,” agreed Coun. James Gordon of Ward 2.
“The amount of time it takes to be a responsive councillor is more than part-time,” added Goller.
A longtime advocate of making councillors full-time, Downer said the position is “part-time pay with volunteer work” as it stands now.
“It’s a passion,” she added, pointing hours of reading staff reports and other background materials required for “critical assessment” in decision-making.
Making the position full-time would allow for “the most engaged level of councillor,” commented MacKinnon.
But not everyone is in support of the idea.
“You want councillors to be a mirror of the community,” said Ward 5’s Coun. Leanne Caron, suggesting its best to have a variety of backgrounds at the table making decisions as a public service. But when you have a career politician, “it’s a different kind of councillor.”
“I can’t be a full-time city councillor,” added Ward 1’s Coun. Bob Bell, noting he has a business to run in addition to his council duties. “I’m not sure that a professional politician is a good idea.”
Caron doesn’t feel the recommendations necessarily jive with the data presented in the report and plans to ask “many questions” as the discussion and debate unfolds.
Of the recommendations put forward, O’Rourke is most pleased about the ward boundary review – something city staff suggest should happen no matter what changes, if any,
“It’s going to address a demographic deficit,” she said of areas of the city that have grown in population at a greater rate than others. “Areas of the city that have grown will finally have equal representation.”
In the minds of several councillors, the recommendations should be put to a simple “yes” or “no” vote, with no amendments or adjustments made.
“Council should either accept them completely or reject them completely,” said Gibson, who doesn’t feel council should make any changes.
“I’m going to withhold judgement,” he added, suggesting council debating its own composition may appear “self-serving” in the eyes of residents.
