Pipsqueak rule could get stronger
Local reaction to West Lincoln’s bid for another seat on Niagara regional council was swift, consistent and clear.
“West Lincoln is in Niagara? I thought it was part of Hamilton.” Who knew, indeed. Regardless of one’s familiarity with local geography, it’s hard to imagine this issue grabbing the attention of most Niagarans.
I mean, at the best of times talk of governance issues is usually sleepinducing. In this case, we’re talking coma.
Bottom line, though, the good rubes of West Lincoln deserve another seat at the table. OK, maybe ‘deserve’ is a bit of a stretch.
Let’s put it this way. If fellow municipal Niagara ankle-biters like Niagara-on-the-Lake, Pelham and shrinking Port Colborne get to have two representatives on council, so should Southeast Hamilton, er, make that West Lincoln.
I know what you’re thinking. Given past expressed concerns about the already bloated composition of regional council, the township shouldn’t count its chickens before they hatch, a metaphor somewhat clumsily employed to pay homage to Smithville’s Poultry Fest.
Thing is, when the deep thinkers of the day crafted the structure of Niagara regional government (it came into being Jan. 1, 1970), they devised a formula for assigning seats.
If a burg had less than 10,000 people, only its mayor served at the Region. Once the 10,000 figure was reached, a municipality got another seat. A representative was added for each succeeding 20,000 population increase.
Adhering to this principle is how Pelham got another councillor in 2003.
Mind you, the principle has been ignored in other instances.
This speaks to the reluctance of regional councillors to add to its swollen numbers, a disinclination fuelled mightily by citizen abhorrence with the idea.
What little widespread political sympathy there is for under-served municipalities is saved for the one representative pipsqueaks. That’s because it’s seen as unfair that a mayor must rule over his/ her local municipality while also shouldering all the regional responsibility.
Such thinking played to Pelham’s favour more than a decade ago and led last week to the Region agreeing to at least consider West Lincoln’s request.
There remains a fairly onerous process ahead to achieve the township’s goal. But I’ve already glazed enough eyeballs to bother getting into it.
Suffice to say, if West Lincoln is successful, it will add to the pipsqueak dominance of regional council. It would mean the cities of St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland, which combine for more than 60 per cent of the region’s population, would only have 14 of council’s new total of 31 seats.
Sort of ridiculous, don’t you think?
But who wants to fix the problem by giving the larger urban centres more seats, a remedy that could drive up council’s size to, say, 35 members.
Really ridiculous, don’t you think?
The aforementioned imbalance was pointed out by some councillors last week as a reason not to consider West Lincoln’s request in isolation.
But St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik supported West Lincoln’s bid, believing the discussion could lead to a more comprehensive study of the Region’s governance model. That’s true. In theory. Fact is, the same argument was made when the Region decided to give Pelham another seat. A governance committee was struck, meetings were held, input was received, recommendations were made and … nothing happened.
Still, if anyone has credibility for bringing about change on this front, it’s Sendzik.
He came close to revolutionizing governance in St. Catharines when his bid this term to introduce a dual representation system (city and Region), fell one vote short.
The effort heightened interest in the issue (relatively speaking), which means council restructuring might be a topic of discussion during the 2018 election campaign.
Governance reform may be a hot-button issue in the regional chair’s race, too.
It’s supposed to a direct election of the chair this time around, and a successful populist platform could include a promise to reduce the number of local politicians in Niagara.
So, enjoy your extra representative while you can, West Lincoln.
It might be a short-lived victory.