Kings County Mayor & Boundary Review Update

All eleven councillors have supported an historic motion to elect a Kings County Mayor. This will happen in the upcoming municipal elected set for October, 2016. This irreversible change leaves an outdated Warden system behind. My previous post outlines why I think this is a very good thing.

Council has also approved a motion aimed at reducing by three the number of councillors to be elected in 2016. This motion passed by a narrow margin.

While the election of a Mayor does not require approval from the Utility and Review Board (UARB), the boundary changes required to elect eight instead of eleven councillors requires an application to the UARB and approval by the UARB before coming into effect.

Council engaged professional services to help with the decisions made in December at a cost of $26,144. The resulting report by Stantec recommended a reduction from eleven to nine, not eight, districts. For me, the consultant's recommendation was sound and untainted by any notion of political interference. Notably, it was supported by a scientific survey and three public meetings. The report did provide boundary recommendations for eight districts in the event that councillors wanted further reductions than indicated by the survey and public meetings.

Nevertheless, council was not afforded an opportunity to vote on the consultant's recommendation because Deputy Warden Hirtle and Councillor Atwater were permitted to bring forward a motion to approve alternate boundaries for eight districts.

This alternate had been requested by Deputy Warden Hirtle and it was supported by a majority of six (Hirtle, Atwater, Brothers, Best, Ennis and Lloyd) when a vote was called.

Since then the Advertiser has published three articles about the controversial "in-house-alternate" eight district boundary map. It is likely that presentations will be made by a variety of individuals when the UARB holds its required public consultation. A date has yet to be set.

I am taking the time to do my own analysis of the boundaries and should have more details to post in the weeks immediately ahead. Click here for the Kings Governance and Electoral Boundary Review Final Report. Skip to page 59 for a description and map of the proposed eight district boundaries approved by council. These boundaries hold big changes for the community of Centreville (it joins Canning) and Meadowview (it joins Coldbrook).

Please do not hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions or if you want to discuss this issue in more detail. I can be reached at 902-670-2949.