Clearview Township’s Electoral Review Committee held its first meeting on Tuesday, outlining the four possible recommendations it could eventually make to Council: to reconfigure the municipality’s existing ward system, to decrease the number of wards, to maintain the status quo, or to dissolve the wards in favour of an at-large system.
The committee also spent much of the night grappling with how to engage the public at large, across all demographics and the entire municipality, on the subject of electoral review, especially considering that most of the 15 or so residents who sat in the audience at Tuesday’s meeting were of retirement age and from the Creemore area.
Those members of the public were free to voice their opinions throughout the meeting, as Councillor Brent Preston, who was elected chair by both the committee and a show of hands from the audience, set up a meeting structure that encouraged free discussion among all present.
An initial move by Councillor Thom Paterson to have two members of the public officially sit on the committee, which also includes Councillor Deb Bronee and Mayor Ken Ferguson as an ex officio member, was rebuffed given the tight time line governing the electoral review process. With the Township’s policy requiring that any public openings on committees of Council be advertised, Preston instead suggested that the entire scope of the electoral review be split in two. The existing Electoral Review Committee, he said, could continue without representation from the public and deal strictly with the question of wards versus no wards, making a recommendation to Council by October 21 and leaving time for any appeals of that decision to occur within the statutory 45-day period before nominations for the 2014 election get underway on January 2.
A second committee, Preston offered, could be struck to deal with roles, responsibilities and remuneration of Council members. That committee could include representation from the public and could continue its work into the new year if necessary, unhindered by the deadline imposed by the nomination period.
A motion was then passed by the committee to make a recommendation to Council at its August 12 meeting that it form this second committee.
Other decisions made Tuesday night included the setting of the Electoral Review Committee’s terms of reference and the formulation of a communication plan.
The terms of reference, as passed, state that the committee will evaluate consultants’ responses to the Township’s Request for Proposals and report back to Council on August 12. The extent to which a consultant will be involved in the process will depend on the committee’s recommendation and Council’s decision. Once that decision is made, the Electoral Review Committee will “provide forums for educating and informing the community,” and “collect and compile all information received from the community concerning the four options for consideration.”
As for the nature of those public forums, it was decided Tuesday night that the Committee will hold four town hall meetings during the first two weeks of September – one in Creemore, one in New Lowell, one in Nottawa and one in Stayner. Two of the meetings will take place on weekends and two will take place on different days of the week, in an effort to give people maximum opportunity to attend.
How the Township will get the word out to the public about those meetings and what’s to be discussed at them was a topic of great discussion on Tuesday. While Preston and Paterson promised to write columns in the local media and everyone agreed that a concerted effort should be made to communicate to the public on Facebook and Twitter, consensus was also reached on the possibility of a direct mailing or two. A decision on that approach will be made at the Committee’s next meeting, pending a report on the cost of making a Township-wide mail drop.
Clerk Pamela Fettes also pointed out that a dedicated “Electoral Review” page has been set up on the Township’s website (clearview.ca) and an email address, electoralreview@clearview.ca, has been established to receive comments from the public.
The Electoral Committee will next meet at 9 am on Tuesday, August 6 in the Clearview Council Chambers. The public is invited to the meeting and will be allowed to participate as the Committee opens and evaluates responses to the Township’s request for proposals from consultants.