OMB hears ward wars

Wed, October 12, 2005

A bleak picture of London's system was painted yesterday by a citizen's group.

By JONATHAN SHER, Free Press City Hall Reporter



London's ward system neglects the poor, splits communities, lowers voter turnout, protects incumbents and leaves councillors struggling to represent too many people, a citizens' group told the Ontario Municipal Board yesterday.

Two city councillors, London's Urban League and two failed candidates painted a bleak picture of a system they say fails to serve the needs of residents. Pie-shaped electoral wards stretch from downtown to the city's periphery, each representing disparate neighbourhoods, from farmers to the poor to suburbanites with two-car garages.

London's poor are split among so many wards they form a minority in each, their voices often unheard by council members who focus on groups more likely to vote, said Gil Warren, a labour and poverty activist who has lost four ward races for council.

"Councillors may say they represent everyone but they know only those in (non-poor areas) will turn out to vote," Warren said.

The neglect depresses turnout further, said Sam Trosow, who represented the group that brought the challenge, Imagine London.

London's system has a mayor and four controllers elected citywide and pairs of councillors in seven wards.

The status quo was kept by council even though voters in 2003 supported ballot initiatives to scrap the city's board of control and reduce the number of council members.

While voters supported the initiative, turnout was so low the result was not binding.

That led to the challenge by Imagine London, which collected 997 signatures to a petition that was rejected and filed without debate by city council. The group has called for one councillor each in 14 smaller wards designed to preserve communities.

"There's a moral obligation for the city to pay some attention to it," Urban League President George Sinclair told Douglas Gates, the OMB member deciding the issue.

Gates ruled previously only the city could scrap its board of control but left open to a hearing this week whether to change the number of wards.

The wards are unwieldy and combine ill-matched communities, councillors Joni Baechler and Judy Bryant said.

"It's quite overwhelming. You're spread very thin," Bryant said.

The wards suffer the opposite problem as well, severing between two wards communities like Old South, Hamilton Road and the student area around UWO, said Trosow.

"We want wards that don't cut across groups with common interests," he said.

The wards, with about 50,000 people each, are so big it makes the cost of campaigning prohibitive, making it more difficult for challengers looking to knock off incumbents, said Stephen Turner, who lost as a Ward 2 candidate in 2003.

"It's a barrier to entry," Turner said.

The hearing continues today.

PUBLIC HEARING

- When: 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. tonight.

- Where: City hall

- Why: To let Londoners tell an Ontario Municipal Board member what they think of the city's seven-ward system and a proposal to change it.