CORNWALL, Ontario – One member of Cornwall City Council has said that there needs to be less faces around the table.
Councillor Mark MacDonald made a motion during the meeting on June 12 that Administration should author a report on how many councillors the City of Cornwall is required by law to have. The motion was seconded by Councillor Bernadette Clement.
“If the government only says we need three councillors then why would we have 10,” he said.
When asked what the goal was of this report, Councillor MacDonald said that he felt the number of Councillors in the City of Cornwall reduced efficiency and slowed City business.
“I think there should only be six,” MacDonald told Seaway News. “It is about being an effective council. The more people on council the harder it is to get things through.”
Councillor MacDonald pointed to the Port of Cornwall which he has been pushing to be developed for awhile.
He pointed to the City of Niagra Falls as an example. Niagra Falls has eight councillors for a population of 88, 000 whereas Cornwall has 10 councillors for a population of around 46, 000.
Some Councillors on Monday night expressed concerns about the number of committees that councillors are committed to attending.
Councillor Denis Carr however said that committee attendace was already low.
“This has to be the year with the worst attendance at committees by council members,” he said. “Committee work is just as important as being on TV,” he asserted.
Councillor Mark MacDonald told Seaway News that he felt some of the committees councillor’s sat on were not necessary.
“Probably half of the committees we have we aren’t really even mandated to have,” he said, using the Canada Day committee as an example.
At time of publishing Seaway News had not yet heard from the Clerk’s office on the current number of committees of council.
Councillor MacDonald expects the report on his motion to comeback soon and hopes that any changes to municipal representation in Cornwall could be made before the next election.
