OMB to rule on ward size

Mon, October 10, 2005

A citizens' group seeks to overturn council's refusal to accept more, smaller wards.

By APRIL KEMICK, Free Press Reporter



One day before a hearing starts to determine the future of London's electoral ward boundaries, both sides are confident the Ontario Municipal Board will rule in their favour.

After city council voted in June to maintain the current seven-ward, 14-councillor system, citizens' group Imagine London appealed to the OMB to overturn the decision.

Imagine London, backed by the Urban League of London, believes a 14-ward system identifying specific communities would provide more effective representation.

Tomorrow at city hall, the OMB will begin hearing from both sides to determine how London's wards will be divided.

"Just using big streets or natural borders (as boundary lines) may seem to make sense, but it violates communities of interest," said Sam Trosow, who will represent Imagine London at the hearing. "We're looking for a much more intimate, small-scale system."

Trosow said the current seven wards -- each governed by two city councillors -- don't accurately reflect communities within the city.

Old South, for example, is divided between wards 5 and 6, when it's an obvious community unto itself, he said.

Another example, he said, is Ward 2, which encompasses rural, suburban and student interests. Each of those groups would be better represented in a smaller ward geared toward it, he said.

"Effective representation requires that the wards reflect more precisely communities of interest," he said. "We think we have a very good case."

Trosow said smaller wards, each led by just one councillor -- with 25,000 constituents instead of the current 50,000 -- would help people know their city councillors better and enhance voter turnout.

But proponents of the current system say there's nothing wrong with keeping the wards intact.

"The system we have at the moment works," said Controller Russ Monteith, who voted to maintain the seven-ward system.

Monteith added he hasn't received a single complaint from the public about the current ward system.

While he said the boundaries should be reassessed some time in the next 10 years when city growth warrants it, he also said the OMB should respect city council's decision to maintain the status quo.

"We've made a political decision and they'll be hard-pressed to come up with a criteria that says the political decision is wrong," Monteith said. "For the OMB to say, 'We know better than the elected body' would be a big step."

But Ward 3 Councillor Fred Tranquilli, who has pushed for change, said council didn't sufficiently debate the issue of ward boundaries before making their decision.

"The council chose to make no changes (to the ward boundaries) without any serious communication," he said.

"The fact that (the OMB) is giving some consideration to the issue is more than we can say for council."

The OMB hearing starts tomorrow at 11 a.m. at city hall.