UARB decision on CBRM council size closely watched in HRM
Posted Jul 19, 2011 05:10:21 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s just a matter of weeks until we find out if Halifax regional council will have a new look next year – a smaller look.
On Monday, the Utility and Review Board decided to cut four seats from cape breton’s regional council, and a similar review of Halifax REgional Council is underway.
Cape Breton Regional Council had submitted a request to the UARB to maintain the council at 16 seats, but the board backed a consultant’s report that recommended the reduction.
A prominent critic of HRM’s elected representatives says that bodes well for a similar decision regarding Halifax later this summer.
“I’m encouraged that they did look at the evidence that was available, and there was evidence presented in teh case of HRM as well, that would support a significantly smaller council,” said pollster Don Mills.
A consultant commissioned by HRM has recommended cutting council by three seats – to 20 – and some councillors say they’d like to see the council shrunk even further.
“The main reason why I’ve supported this from day one is to just knock down some of these artifical borders that used to exist prior to amalgamation,” said Coun. Tim Outhit (Bedford), who believes council could function more efficiently with 16 members.
“I don’t believe for a moment that 23 people sitting around saying the same thing, which we get in debate time after time after time, is what the residents are looking for,” he said.
Mayor Peter Kelly, who also supports a smaller council, says he’s not sure fewer members will mean less chaos.
“To say it’ll be less acrimonious is probably not true, depending on who’s around that table,” he said.
Coun. Jackie Barkhouse (Woodside-Eastern Passage) says she’s hoping the UARB supports the official request from council to maintain the current number of seats.
“If we think that we now have a problem, we are going to have a huge problem,” she said. “And I’ll tell you, the peninsula will suffer tremendously if this happens.”
