Council votes for elected chair
Durham Region council voted 24-2 Wednesday in favour of holding direct elections for the region’s chair, after a debate that pitted some rural councillors against those from urban areas.
The final decision is now in the hands of the region’s eight municipalities. If five of the lower-tier councils approve it, and they represent the majority of Durham’s population, the change will achieve the “triple majority” necessary to become official.
Two of Durham’s 28 councillors were absent Wednesday, while two from the northern part of the region voted against the motion.
Currently, the chair — a seat held for more than 14 years by Roger Anderson — is voted into the job by members of regional council, who are themselves elected by their municipalities. Anderson, who earned $185,038 last year, leads a council that considers regionwide issues such as police and transit.
Citizens in Halton and Waterloo directly elect their chair, while those in York, Peel and Niagara do not.
In a 2010 referendum, Durham residents voted overwhelmingly to have an elected chair. But since then, representatives from the three sparsely populated rural communities in Durham’s north — Brock, Uxbridge and Scugog — have said they oppose the idea.
Some — including Brock Mayor Terry Clayton and Uxbridge Councillor Jack Ballinger, who both voted against the motion — have said that while the change looks good on paper, it would diminish the north’s clout on council because their communities are so vote-poor. The chairperson would be accountable to the entire Durham electorate, which is concentrated in the southern part of the region, rather than to regional councillors.
Council members from the urban communities, particularly Ajax Mayor Steve Parish, have largely supported the change, calling it a simple matter of democracy.
Parish has identified Whitby as the possible swing vote. Mayor Pat Perkins, who was absent from Wednesday’s vote for medical reasons, has said she would vote for direct election, but with reservations.