Regional chair must be elected politician
With the 2018 municipal election fading in the rear-view mirror, political watchers in Niagara have moved much of their attention to the impending selection of the next regional chair.
It’s a topic that continues to consume a lot of political oxygen, as watchers debate various strengths and weaknesses of people thought to be viable candidates for the job which is being vacated by Alan Caslin.
Much of the discussion revolves around who among the incoming group of councillors would make the best chair. With only eight councillors returning to the regional oval from the last term, experience is at a premium. Five of those returnees are mayors, which essentially disqualifies them. The remaining three are Bob Gale, Brian Heit and Tim Rigby.
Of the newcomers there are few potential candidates. The most plausible is former MPP Jim Bradley, who has been somewhat coy about his intentions.
Which brings us to the possibility of finding the next regional chair from outside council.
A 2013 bylaw passed by regional council has lately become the focus of speculation — the bylaw prohibited selection of the regional chair from anyone but elected members of regional council. Prior to its passage, the possibility existed the chair could be selected from the public at large. The possibility of revisiting that bylaw and opening the chair position to candidates beyond regional council has been coming up more frequently as the debate over Caslin’s successor has intensified.
Among candidates mentioned are former chair Debbie Zimmerman (who, it has to be noted, has not publicly expressed any interest in a return to her old job), and former Welland mayor Damian Goulbourne.
Goulbourne in an interview this week, said he would be interested in submitting his name for the position if it was opened up. This would require an act of council, either rescinding the previous bylaw or waiving it temporarily.
Goulbourne was among those seeking election to the regional chair’s position in direct elections. Those plans were destroyed when the new provincial government of Premier Doug Ford abruptly cancelled the chair election on the day nominations closed.
Other aspirants to the chairship — Caslin and Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn — quickly switched gears and instead ran for regional council positions within their respective communities. They both lost.
Goulbourne, on the other hand, let his name stand for an election process that never occurred.
“I couldn’t say with a straight face I want to be Welland’s regional councillor when really I want to be the regional chair of Niagara,” Goulbourne said Monday.
While that approach may be commendable, we cannot support a return to allowing outside candidates vie for the top job at Niagara Region.
For one thing, it would allow those chair candidates who lost during the just-completed election to submit their names for the post. That’s a possibility that must be resisted — voters within their own communities have already rejected them. Also, as we’ve argued before, the province’s controversial decision to scrap direct election of the chair was a blow to democratic principles. Appointing a non-elected chair would be a further slap in the face to Niagara voters.
Allowing the next chair to be chosen from beyond the incoming council’s membership could invite even more backroom deal-making than the current, imperfect process does.
Typically, people interested in the post begin lobbying other councillors-elect shortly after the election, promising support for projects or offering the chairpersonship or membership on committees and boards.
A better way forward would be for the incoming council to make the process as open as possible, including speeches and votes, as some, such as Laura Ip, have been suggesting. The time for deal-making is past.