Voters in Collingwood will still be able to elect the people they think will best represent the interests of the entire town.
Council this week voted 6-3 to keep the current process and not go to a ward system for the 2010 municipal election.
It was expected to be a controversial debate, but it was actually a civilized discussion, although quite long.
The councillors who wanted to, got a chance to voice their opinions including Ian Chadwick.
Chadwick supports going to a ward system because he says it allows for a higher level of democracy.
He also feels there is less competition in a ward system and cuts down on the grandstanding he says the at-large system promotes.
Chadwick, of course, voted against keeping the at-large system.
He says he’s not surprised with the turn out since he says it’s hard to change people’s minds.
He adds with the election coming up, he figures a few people may have been worried about whether they’d get re-elected in a ward system.
Councillor Tim McNabb and Mayor Chris Carrier voted in favour of keeping things they way they are.
He says it’s the right system for this size of a community.
McNabb says the ward system is designed to work best in a large city.
Council also voted in favour of dissolving the existing historic town wards.
Even though a ward system isn’t in place, there have been electoral boundaries in place across town.
Councillor McNabb also put forward the idea of taking a look sometime in the future at decreasing the number of council members from 9 to 7 including the mayor and deputy mayor.