Kitchener Coun. Yvonne Fernandes won’t be seeking re-election
KITCHENER — Coun. Yvonne Fernandes has announced she won’t be seeking re-election in this fall’s municipal election, citing unpalatable conditions on the city’s current council that she feels are often dictated by personal agendas.
“I think one of the things I have learned is council’s ability to make decisions around certain things really isn’t there,” said the
Ward 4 councillor. “I sometimes wonder, do we even need council?
“This recent council is certainly not amenable to making changes at budget time,” she said, “and we do have a number of developers on council, which is also disconcerting to me.”
Fernandes said people regard politics as a professional vocation, but it’s far too often about moving forward on personal agendas with “backroom deals” and “forced smiles,” she added.
“And I can’t do forced smiles, ethically.”
Fernandes drew the ire of several city councillors earlier this year after writing a column in the Kitchener Citizen that questioned their attendance on city advisory committees.
In speaking with the Post, Fernandes chose to keep details of the personal repercussions she faced off the record, only to say that things have been “very tense” with some of her council colleagues in recent weeks. However, she still stands by her assertions and said there’s not enough transparency when it comes to the day-to-day activities of some councillors.
Council is a 100-per-cent commitment and many have come in with the intention to put in that level of commitment, Fernandes believes.
“But their own personal agendas have risen well above the need for community development and working with the community.”
Fernandes, 62, is a former educator and has served the south Kitchener ward since 2010. She said her aging parents and a firm belief in a two- or three-term limit for members of council helped guide her decision to leave local politics, though she conceded that the makeup and culture of the current council was the overarching factor.
It’s a decision that hasn’t come easy, Fernandes said, noting that she’ll miss relationships with city staff and that sitting on council was one of the greatest experiences of her life, second only to being a mother. She said her daughter’s recent wedding provided some time to sit down with family and weigh the pros and cons.
It’s no secret that Fernandes has had differences of opinion with a majority of her council colleagues.
During the past term, she’s been on the losing end of decisions to financially bolster the tech sector and other interests focused in Kitchener’s downtown, often arguing that economic development spending should be more evenly spread across the entire community and that the city has already done enough to help the private interests of tech companies that should be able to survive on their own.
When council decisions are released, the recorded votes should also be made public, so people don’t think the decisions are unanimous, Fernandes said.
She and other city councillors who wanted an opportunity to chair city standing committees were advised to build consensus, she noted.
“But building consensus does not always mean we have to agree on everything,” she said, “and when you disagree with other people, whether it’s a group of two or a group of five, you have to continue to be respectful and I have not seen some of that respect translate to council chambers or behind the scenes.”
While she is leaving politics, Fernandes still plans on being involved at the grassroots level.