Who will be next regional chair?
Niagara Region councillors to decide Nov. 24 who will lead them through next term
Immediately after an election, the most interesting matter pertaining to Niagara Region council is who will be picked to fill the regional chair’s seat.
Councillors will decide with a vote at the first official meeting of the new council, which is scheduled for Nov. 24.
If the past is prologue, the secretballot procedure is almost guaranteed to get the rumour mill churning as councillors and their supporters jockey for support and, ultimately, votes.
“No one has contacted me, but as we get closer, I’m sure there’ll be people campaigning for the chair’s position who will be reaching out for support,” said Thorold Mayor Terry Ugulini. “There’s no question it is a hugely important role. Any leader, whether the chair or the mayor, has to provide leadership.
“You have to be a good communicator and work effectively with your fellow councillors and, in the end, whatever decision council reaches, you have to proceed and make sure that the agenda moves forward.”
Jim Bradley, a former longtime Liberal MPP from St. Catharines, was the first-ballot pick as chair in 2018. Early in this campaign, Bradley indicated he wanted the job again if he was returned to office.
With that out of the way, Bradley reiterated the point Tuesday.
“It is my intention to allow my name to stand again for regional chair,” he said. “I’ve been pleased to work with a very good council this past term, and I am certainly looking forward to working with them again in the term ahead.
“Even if additional powers are given to the position of regional chair, I would very much respect the council’s decisions. I believe very strongly that the will of council should be supreme. That’s my practice and my style and I’m very respectful of that.
Lincoln Coun. Rob Foster is another name that comes up regularly for the chair.
“Yes, I have interest in the position, but the current council has one more meeting Thursday,” Foster said. “It is an opportunity to thank those members that have been on council the previous four years who won’t be back. We also have to finish off the tail end of the work with this particular council.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to be getting into too many discussions at this point.”
Niagara Falls Coun. Bob Gale is another name in the rumour mill. The Standard was unable to reach Gale by deadline.
However, Gale was asked on election night if he was interested in the chair position. He responded that he “never says never” — before adding he was still in campaign mode and hadn’t made any decisions.
Gary Zalepa is a former regional councillor for Niagaraon-the-Lake who defeated Betty Disero in the race for lord mayor in the recent election. He said he has his hands full with his new responsibilities.
“I am looking forward to seeing who is potentially putting their name forward, but we have a council meeting Thursday night, and I think it is important to get that done before anyone starts talking about becoming regional chair.”
The regional chair holds dual roles as head of council and chief executive officer for the Region. The chair presides over council meetings, and acts as the Region’s representative at official functions and when dealing with other municipalities and provincial and federal governments. The chair’s annual salary is about $135,000.
The Municipal Act allows councillors to select anyone qualified, but the tradition is that they pick from among themselves. The chosen chair then vacates the council seat for one at the head of the council chamber, and that person’s municipality selects a replacement.
Halton, Durham and Waterloo regions have similar twotiered local governments. Residents in those regions vote directly for the their regional chair. Niagara was set to join the other regions in 2018 but Premier Doug Ford nixed that decision mid-campaign.
At the beginning of the recent term, St. Catharines Coun. Laura Ip helped author a motion that would have the chair elected by an open ballot of councillors to add some transparency and accountability to the process. She said she plans to do the same again.
“I think we should at least have an open ballot,” Ip said. “We still don’t know who voted for Alan Caslin in 2014 because it was a secret ballot.
“There is still a lot of talk about how the public needs to have a say in who is the regional chair. They vote on their mayor, regional councillors, city councillors and school board trustees.
“They should at the very least know who their councillors are voting for as regional chair.”