Monday, July 6, 2009

Kingston An Example
Kingston's city council meets next on Tuesday, July 14. That's an important date for anyone interested in municipal electoral reform.
Kingston is currently governed by a mayor and 12 councillors, each representing a ward. Same as Ottawa -- except that we have more councillors.
A proposal coming to next week's council meeting in Kingston would see -- if approved -- elimination of the ward system, a reduction in the number of councillors and a great saving to the taxpayers in terms of councillors'salaries and expenses. Councillors would be elected at large. The advantage -- they would, when making decisions, have to look at the effect of said decisions on the city as a whole -- rather than on their own little ward bailliwick. Again, another opportunity to reduce taxpayer costs by eliminating the endless public consultation, second-guessing and decision-reversing which seems to paralyse Ottawa's council when a major project is contemplated and ends up costing the ratepayer considerably more when the project finally gets off the group. That's how Ottawans' tax dollars are wasted.
Kingston taxpayers are fortunate to have elected a group of civic-minded folk who are not afraid to look at alternative methods of governance. Electoral reform doesn't scare them
We're not so lucky in Ottawa where a seat on council is seen as a job for life. Where the report of the Mayor's Task Force on Governance was given short shrift by the poobahs at city hall -- that same city hall where staff cheered when they heard the news that the Mayor's trial was going to continue. Where no one at city hall wants to talk about limiting council terms and where only one councillor, Steve Desroches, has limited himself to only two terms of office -- recognizing the need for new blood. Where no one at city hall wants to think about electoral reform, let alone talk about it.
Given that city council orders public consultation on just about everything else requiring a decision, why can't we have public consultation on electoral reform ? What are they afraid of ?
It's disgraceful that electoral reform is left in the hands of those who stand to benefit from the status quo -- current council members. It's also unfortunate that the provincial Municipal Affairs Minister, Jim Watson, is also disinclined to act -- preferring to leave matters in the hands of those same current council members who benefit from the status quo. Could this be because he's got his own personal electoral reform plan -- i.e. seeking re-election as mayor in 2010 ? Shame !
Kingston's city council is avante garde in other matters too. Imagine this: they have set up a citizens' committee to review council remuneration. It's relatively new, having only started its important work this year. The committee's purpose is to review future compensation for the mayor and councillors. It's an eight-member committee, one each from the business, health care, non-profit, education and organized labor communities, two representatives from the community at large plus a former council member who was elected after November 2000 when amalgamation occurred.
What's good about this ? It will ensure that compensation for the mayor and councillors remains in line with salaries/wages/benefits paid elsewhere in the community. And the public has a say.
Municipal electoral reform mavens will be watching Kingston's city council deliberations with great interest next Tuesday.
Taxpayer Revolt Coming ?
There's increasing evidence that Ottawa property taxpayers are getting restless. Blogs, such as The Pitchfork, taxpayer groups such as Eye on Ottawa and Ottawa Taxpayer Advocacy Group are examples of how today's angry, overburdened property ratepayers are using technology to get their message out and to connect with others holding similar views. The fact this is happening now -- a good year and some before the next municipal election -- should give sitting council members cause for alarm. After all, it was technological savvy that got Barrack Obama elected. And our technological savvy, including use of Facebook, Twitter etc. is what's going to change the face of Ottawa's council.
The Ottawa Taxpayers Advocacy Group web site can be accessed at www.OTTAWATAXPAYER.COM and it's a site well worth taking a look at. The organization is planning a bus advertising campaign in the fall. Good way to get the message out to lots and lots of people.
One of the questions the group asks is this: how is it that the city of Winnipeg has delivered zero budgets for 12 consecutive years while Ottawa has been unable to do this even once in recent years despite the fact Ottawa triple dips from properties (market value assessment, population growth, tax rate increase), user fees (bus fares, hydro, water, development charges, community centre, library fees) and government transfers(federal, provincial and NCC spending). Mayoral candidate and councillor Alex Cullen says it's because Ottawa has to carry provincial programs (social housing, welfare etc.) downloaded on municipalities by the Mike Harris Tories. Misleading.
According to the Ottawa Taxpayers Advocacy Group, the funds Ottawa gets from the feds, the province and through NCC spending more than compensates for the downloading costs. And they cite an example: in 2008, Ottawa received non-property tax revenues in excess of $1 billion; in the same year, Winnipeg received non-property tax revenues of less than $500 million. If non-property tax revenues are divided by population, Ottawa is getting 240% more non-property tax revenue than Winnipeg. How is it then, that Winnipeg manages to put together budgets without increasing taxes ? Inquiring minds want to know.
Summer posts usually on Mondays. Friday postings resume in September.