City moves ahead on ward boundary review

After another hour of city council debateover it, and tie votes in either direction, the city will keep studying Hamilton'sward boundaries.

Staff will hire a consultant this year to embark on a long-overdue task of deciding whether to redraw Hamilton's ward boundaries.But on Wednesday, city council couldn't decide whether to receive the plan or put it off so it stayed by default.

Council voted 8-8 to receive the plan a vote that was lost because it was a tie. Then it voted 8-8 to wait until it had 2016 census data in hand.

You need to wait until the population settles.- Coun. Brenda Johnson

In the absence of any other direction, the plan moves forward, said city solicitor Janice Atwood-Petkovski. Council gave staff direction in 2012 to review ward boundaries in early 2015, sothat's what staff isdoing.

"It's under direction from the last council that hasn't been changed or reversed," she said. "'Received' doesn't indicate anything other than thank you, we've acknowledged that that's here."

A ward boundary review is meant to address any inadequacies in representation. Some wards, such as Ward 14 in Flamborough, have fewer than 18,000 people, while Ward 7 on the Mountain has more than 60,000.Other areas of Hamilton, such as Waterdown and Binbrook, are seeing population surges.

• Fear of a public petition forces reluctant Hamilton to review ward boundaries

When Hamilton amalgamated in 2001, its transition boardruled that ward boundaries should be reviewed after10 years. In 2012, a citizen petition called for a review.

A review threatens to throw off the balance of power on council. Councillors often vote along urban and suburban lines, with eight representatives for the former city and seven in suburban areas such as Ancaster and Stoney Creek. Adding a ward would change that.

You can't run and hide and put your head in the sand.- Coun. Sam Merulla

The public can spark an Ontario Municipal Board ruling to force a review if it presents a petition with at least 500 electors. The 2012petition had700 names on it, but only 369 were on the voting list.

The city must hire a consultant by June to examine the process. By fall, the consultant will hold public meetings, with an aim to present a final report by June 2016. If changes are necessary, council would adopt a bylaw by July/August 2016.

Coun. Brenda Johnson of Ward 11 in Glanbrook wanted to wait to do a review.

Her ward is the fastest growing, she said. "It's the one that's going to be carved up at the end of the day, and I think you need to wait until the population settles."

Coun. Judi Partridge of Ward 15 in Flamborough agreed, calling the review premature given the population projections for Waterdown.

But Coun. Sam Merulla of Ward 4 accused councillors of wanting to kick the issue to the next term.

"You can't run and hide and put your head in the sand," he said. "That's called courage. That's called leadership."

Coun. Scott Duvall of Ward 7 encouraged people to support it, saying it's turning into an endless deferral.

"This is just a review," he said. "This is not saying anything's going to be changed."

The city has a budget of $270,000 for the review.

On Wednesday, city council also approved the 2015 operating budget, which is a 2.7-per cent increase over 2014. That amounts to a$99 annual increase for the average home assessed at $284,600.

Who voted against receiving the plan:

• Lloyd Ferguson (Ward 12),Terry Whitehead (8),Doug Conley (9),Maria Pearson (10),BrendaJohnson(11), Arlene VanderBeek(13), Robert Pasuta (14), JudiPartridge (15)

Who voted in favour:

• Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Scott Duvall (7),TomJackson (6), Chad Collins (5), Sam Merulla (4),Matthew Green (3), JasonFarr (2),AidanJohnson (1)

Tie votes are a loss.

Who voted to wait for 2016 census data:

• Ferguson,Whitehead,Conley, Pearson, BrendaJohnson, VanderBeek,Pasuta, Partridge

Opposed:

• Eisenberger,Duvall, Jackson, Collins, Merulla, Green, Farr,AidanJohnson