Photo: Town of Perth
At a special Perth council meeting on Monday, the sole item on the agenda was the Ontario government’s proposal to bestow strong mayoral powers to 169 additional municipalities in the province, including Perth.
The move would give mayors the power to override/veto Council decisions, unilaterally prepare and propose the budget, hire and fire senior staff, reorganize the structure of the municipality, and make decisions related to roads, water, sewer, infrastructure without the input of Council.
Councillor Gary Waterfield was clear in his opposition to the idea.
Councillor David Bird thought it was just another example of Queen’s Park removing authority from elected councils to promote development and that it was ultimately unfair to voters.
At the end, council voted unanimously to inform the Province that Perth be removed from the list of municipalities with strong mayoral power.
Story by Brian Turner