One of the concerns I’ve heard raised by some of the residents I’ve spoken with is the size and structure of our council. Welland’s current model of having two councilors representing each of its six wards dates back many decades to when the city amalgamated with nearby townships.

The ward-based approach provides certain advantages in that each councilor can gain a deeper understanding of the concerns specific to their ward’s residents and can advocate more effectively on their behalf during decision making. Having two councilors per ward improves the odds that each ward will be effectively represented in council discussions and it also provides greater responsiveness to residents when they need to contact a councilor.

However, this is perceived by some as wasteful and I’ve also heard the concern that if a resident raises an issue with both ward councilors and the two disagree on how to proceed, the issue is unlikely to be resolved efficiently. One councilor per ward would certainly address this, however some of the wards have a very large population and it might be quite challenging for a single councilor to effectively support the ward’s residents.

A motion was put forward by some members of the current council to modify the model to increase the number of wards from six to eight but to only have a single councilor per ward. This would address the effort concerns with a single councilor representation under the current ward structure. This motion was not accepted by the overall council.

An alternate model which is used in Niagara Falls and other municipalities is to avoid ward-based councilors by having councilors-at-large who represent the entire city. This structure enables having a smaller number of councilors, but does increase the effort spent by each councilor on community outreach and on their respective election campaigns.

An interesting fact about our current structure is that while councilors are elected by the residents of a specific ward to represent them, the candidates do not need to actually reside within that ward. While councilors might represent the interests of their ward’s residents, they are supposed to work together as a unified team focused on the overall betterment of Welland. And if a councilor spent many years in one ward and happened to move somewhere else within the city, they might continue to have relationships and deep knowledge of what’s happening in their old ward. However, if this is something which you are concerned about, feel free to ask your candidates whether they live in your ward or not.

For more information on my campaign platform, please visit kiron4welland.com.

Authorized by the Official Agent for the Kiron Bondale Campaign.

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