By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The issue of ward boundaries is again coming before Chatham-Kent council.
At a recent meeting, North Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville announced she will bring a motion forward May 27 that would kickstart a review of municipal boundaries prior to the next municipal election.
Jubenville said she hasn’t given up on pushing the issue forward even though a similar motion in late April failed in an 8-8 vote.
The motion, made on April 29, included the possibility of reducing the size of council, whereas the new motion would look at ward boundaries only.
“We want to strictly focus on ward boundaries and I hope this will be favourable to council,” Jubenville told The Chatham Voice.
According to the councillor, the issue needs to be looked at again because Chatham-Kent has changed dramatically since the original boundaries were drawn at the time of amalgamation in 1998, and “rural and urban voices” need to be represented equally.”
Based on the current wording, if approved, the review would be paid for out of strategic reserves.
Even though the April motion failed, the process saw administration recommend council approve the hiring of Strategy Corp to undertake the process at a cost of $68,000.
Currently, Chatham-Kent has six wards with 17 councillors, plus a mayor. With the appointment of Morena McDonald as the new councillor in East Kent, council will now have nine female councillors and eight male councillors, as well as Mayor Darrin Canniff.
