HRM council votes to maintain its size

Members of Halifax's regional council voted Tuesday to keep the council's sizethe same.

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Boardhad asked the council to re-examine whether it needed all 23 councillors.

But although the council for the Halifax Regional Municipalityopted to maintain the status quo,the votewas not unanimous.

Bedford Coun. Tim Outhit had fought hard to reduce the number of councillors. In May, he quit as vice-chair of an eight-person committee charged with recommending reforms, saying he didn't see any political will to significantly reduce the size of council.

"Walking down Barrington Street the other day, somebody rolled down the window and yelled, 'Keep fighting for a smaller council.' Well, I'm apparently the only one who hears it," he said.

The debate on Tuesday began with a proposal from the reform committee to elect just 20 councillors in 2012. After some discussion, a motion was put forward to cut that number to 16, then 18, then 20. All those motions were defeated

Mayor Peter Kellyfinally reminded council that thereview boardwas going to need a number any number as a recommendation.

Council then voted to maintain the status quo. The decision on remaining with 23 councillors passed with a vote of 12 to 10.

Coun. Gloria McCluskey of Dartmouth said she hears the critics but pays little attention.

"I'm looking out for the residents on that side of the harbour. And I do not want to see any less representation over there," she said.

Kelly said the decision was not taken lightly.

"The motion to continue with the same number of representatives for the municipality came forward on the basis that councillors should and could continue to maintain the close working relationship that current numbers have allowed," he said.

The charter for the municipality requires a boundary review every eight years. The last major review took place in 2003, prior to the 2004 election, at which time council voted to remain with the status quo for the number ofdistricts and councillors.

Although council agreed Tuesday to maintain the number of councillors, it willnow begin redrafting district boundaries for the 2012 municipal elections to take into account population changes. Council mustcomplete the boundary review process by December for submission to the utility and review boardfor final review and approval.