Meed Ward agrees to surrender some ‘strong mayor’ powers
Burlington’s mayor is handing over some of her “strong mayor” powers but insists on holding onto those that give her singular authority over the city’s top bureaucrat.
In an open letter Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Marianne Meed Ward responded to a unanimous March motion of Burlington council asking her to give up those powers. It is not clear if her move will satisfy council.
“This is a half-measure at best,” said Ward 3 Coun. Rory Nisan, who drafted the motion. “I can only speak for myself, but this doesn’t satisfy what we were calling for.
“It is not that these powers have bee misused in Burlington. But the spectre of those powers is what is concerning.”
In a Wednesday interview, Meed Ward said there has been a lot of “misinformation” going around the city about what she can do, and hopes her letter will help clear the air. She also called for a “reset” on the issue in council and the community at large.
“Democracy is alive and well in Ontario,” she said. “There is an inaccurate view that council is just reduced to an observer role, and that is not true.”
Last month, councillors passed a motion asking for Meed Ward to delegate what strong-mayor powers she is permitted to turn over under the Municipal Act.
Those powers include the ability to unilaterally hire and give direction to the chief administrative officer — the person who effectively runs the municipality. They wanted her to relinquish the power to hire senior staff and appoint standing committees of city councillors.
Councillors gave Meed Ward until its April 16 meeting to respond to their motion.
In her letter, Meed Ward called the delegation of any powers “politically performative” because she could take them back at any time. Nisan said he believed delegation would be more than a show and would set a democratic norm for this council and those that follow it.
Nevertheless, Meed Ward is delegating standing committee powers to council, and the power to hire senior staff to the CAO.
However, she said is keeping the power to hire a CAO and give them unilateral direction, with whom a mayor has a “unique relationship.”
“It is essential for the good of the community and the corporation (that) this relationship be compatible,” the letter reads.
She said having these powers protects the CAO from “undue pressure behind the scenes by any member of council.”
Meed Ward would not say if she believed councillors were manipulating the previous CAO behind the scenes, nor how the CAO would be protected from undue pressure by a mayor. But she said she is required to post online any direction she gives the CAO, a process that maintains transparency.
“I am trying to set the table for strong governance.”
Nisan said council can only give direction to the CAO in an open council meeting and there were no allegations of councillors trying to pressure the CAO away from the scrutiny of a council session.
Last year, mayors who agreed to follow the provincial government’s housing targets were given new powers under the revised Municipal Act.
Some powers can be delegated, while others — including the creation of a municipal budget — cannot be turned over to council.