![Kincardine Council Directs Staff To Give Estimate For Voting Reform Consultations](https://media-cdn.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/2522/files/2020/10/kincardine-logo-resize.jpg)
Kincardine Council received a report about potential electoral reform and changes that could be made ahead of the next municipal election.
At the March 27th meeting, council had directed staff to provide the report, which would outline the Council Composition and Ward Boundary Review Process.
The current boundaries for the three wards were established in 1999, which outlined that Ward 1 would be the former Town of Kincardine, Ward 2 would be the former Township of Kincardine, and Ward 3 designated for the former Township of Bruce.
As for the number of councillors elected, those guidelines have not been fully reviewed since 2005.
Up for future discussion would consider having voters select only 7 members of council instead of the current 9 members.
“It is a very technical study to look at how many council members you have. The previous council did change the composition, they made the deputy mayor a vote,” says Director of Legislative Services Jennifer Lawrie. “So council can change the composition.”
A few councillors shared their opinion that council could be more efficient with fewer members and no longer have councillors-at-large, but rather stick to picking representatives from each ward.
Councillor Mike Hinchberger spoke up as to why councillors-at-large are actually a good thing.
“In my experience in a year and a half, almost two years on council, is that this municipality remains very divided, especially with those who are extremely politically active,” says Hinchberger. “So there is a case to be made that the at-large councillors who are voted for by everybody from every ward, provide a bit of a buffer to prevent the further siloing of the political body.”
Councillor Amanda Steinhoff-Grey agreed with Hinchberger, adding, “I know that in the rural [areas] in Ward 3 and Ward 2, we don’t always feel heard. And I can honestly say in this council with the current composition we have, I can never predict which way anything is going to go.”
The initial report says that the Council Composition and Ward Boundary Review will require interaction with key stakeholders through a public engagement process with the help of consultants. Staff will provide a cost estimate at a later date.