New mayor and council take power tomorrow
Posted Nov 5, 2012 06:21:55 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Members of the newly elected Halifax Regional Council will be taking over the reins at city hall Tuesday.
Following a year where scandals and transparency issues led to voter discontent with the previous council, a local blogger is urging residents to hold the new government to account.
“I think we hit the refresh button with the new mayor and the new council. It couldn’t have come at a better time,” Brenden Sommerhalder told Maritime Morning Sunday. “I think it’s time for the community to regroup, figure out what’s important to us and let our elected officials know what those things are.”
In the years leading up to the 2012 municipal election, city hall was marred by the cash for concerts scandal, the St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School court battle, and numerous closed-door meetings.
Discontent in the political system is being blamed, in part, for low voter turnout in the Oct. 20 election, with just 37 per cent of eligible voters casting ballots, on par with the historical low of 2008.
The author of HalifaxLoveHate.com said it’s up to those people who are politically engaged to get their friends and family motivated in an effort to hold the new council’s feet to the fire.
“If they weren’t motivated to come out to vote in the first place, they are very unlikely to hold council to account for what they said they were going to do,” he said.
Sommerhalder points out there will be a lot of closed-door meetings in the next year as well, as many labour agreements come before council.
“I think we need to look at the topics which are going in-camera,” said Sommerhalder. “Once in-camera notes are taken into the public, which they do eventually, we have to look to see if it was appropriate for that (issue) to go in-camera. So, it’s going to take a little bit of sifting.”
Mike Savage was elected as Halifax’s first new mayor in 12 years after Peter Kelly decided not to reoffer. There are only three new faces on council, but much attrition after an electoral boundary review shrunk council from 23 districts to 16.
District 3 result to be challenged
The new council will be sworn in tomorrow without Coun. Bill Karsten. District 3 is still undecided after an unexpected challenge to the close result.
While Jackie Barkhouse had declined a recount, conceding to Bill Karsten, Metro Halifax reports former MLA Don Chard and his lawyer Ron Pink will apply to challenge the result.
Their application will fail to meet the usual 10-day deadline. A judge will hear arguments in the matter Nov. 19.
