HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRPS-09-118 - Renaming of Wards - 2010REPORT
REPORT TO:
Chair B. Vrbanovic and Members of the Finance & Corporate
Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING:
September 14, 2009
SUBMITTED BY:
R. Gosse, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk
PREPARED BY:
R. Gosse ext. 2801
WARD(S) INVOLVED:
n/a
DATE OF REPORT: September 3, 2009
REPORT NO.: CRPS-09-118
SUBJECT:
Renaming of Wards - 2010
RECOMMENDATION:
Direction is requested.
BACKGROUND:
In 2007, Council decided to obtain comments and opinions from the public regarding the future
size of Council. Comments were submitted via mail, drop-off and internet, compiled and
provided to Council to assist in their decision. This resulted in a change in the number of
Councillors from 6 to 10 effective for the municipal elections in 2010.
In 2008, a public process led by Dr. Williams was undertaken to develop 10 wards out of the
current 6 resulting in Council adopting by-law 2008-169 establishing the wards. In the by-law
each ward is identified by number rather than number and name as has been the practice since
1979.
REPORT:
History of Wards and Naming:
In 1976, 2 questions were placed on the ballot asking whether or not to establish a ward
system and if there is to be a ward system, how many wards. The results of the vote
were to establish a 10 ward system;
In May 1979 a staff report was considered by Council recommending the following
names for the 10 wards:
Ward Proposed Name
1 Centre
2 Rockway
3 Victoria Park
4 North
5 Stanley Park
6 Chicopee
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7 Fairview
8 South
9 Forest
10 West
Council deferred decision on the recommendation to allow the neighbourhood
associations to comment. On June 25, 1979 Council adopts the recommended names
without change;
On September 17, 1979 Council allows reconsideration of its decision regarding the
names and an amending motion to change Ward 2 and Ward 4 to Rockway-St. Mary’s
and Bridgeport-North respectively, was carried;
In 1996 a ward boundary review was undertaken in accordance with Council policy. A
public meeting to obtain comments on the proposed ward alignment and renaming of the
wards was held in August 1996 resulting in the proposed alignment being adopted and,
by various motions the following names were accepted:
Ward Proposed Name
1 Centre
2 Rockway-Victoria
3 Bridgeport-North
4 Grand River
5 Chicopee
6 Doon-Pioneer
7 Fairview
8 South
9 Forest
10 West
In 1999, the Province mandated a reduction in the size of Council from 10 to 6 resulting
in the ward boundaries being re-drawn.
In 2000, Council considered options developed by staff and adopted a new 6 ward
system. Two months later Council considered a staff report with suggested names for
the 6 wards and adopted the following:
Ward Proposed Name
1 Bridgeport-Centre
2 Chicopee-Grand River
3 Fairview-Gateway
4 South
5 Forest-Rockway
6 West-Victoria Park
It should be noted that the ward numbers in the charts above, do not align geographically for
example, ward number 6 has been used for three different geographic locations in the City and
as such, has had 3 completely different names.
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Naming Options
Option No. 1- Eliminate Names
Council do away with identifying wards by name and number, retaining only the numeric
identifier. Since wards were named in 1979, there have been 2 voluntary ward reviews (includes
2008) and the provincially mandated review; in all 3 cases changes in the ward names resulted.
It could be argued that ward names instil a sense of community however, without consistency
as has been the case over the past 30 years, confusion may result. Additionally, with the many
neighbourhood associations in the City there is arguably a closer identification by voters to the
neighbourhood rather than the ward name. In future as the City grows it is anticipated that the
wards will be once again re-aligned and/or split to accommodate an increased Council, this will
result in renaming of wards.
Option No. 2 – Renaming with Public Input
Council continue with identifying wards by name and number and staff be directed to solicit
public input on possible names for Council’s consideration. This option is very similar to the
initiative undertaken in 2007 when the future size of Council was being decided. Information and
communications will be provided to the public through various means such as the internet, Your
Kitchener, newspapers, etc., asking for their comments and opinions on what name they would
like to see for their ward. The comments/opinions will be compiled and presented to Council for
consideration; the ultimate decision will rest with Council.
Option No. 3 – Renaming using Pre 2000 Names
Council could simply decide on names for each of the 10 wards based on those used prior to
2000. For the most part, there has been some consistency in the names used for the wards and
continuing with those names and assigning them to the appropriate numbered ward may be less
confusing. However, there may be some names that should be changed such as Centre, North,
West and South as these are not similar to the other names and generally describe the ward by
geography, not by community. This option would entail Council basing its decision on the pre-
existing names without benefit of public input.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Should Council decide to proceed with Option No. 2, there will be some expenses relative to
advertising and printing. There is $1413. remaining in the Ward Review capital account that
would be used for these expenses. Should Council not choose this option, the capital account
will be closed and the funds transferred to the capital surplus account.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Troy Speck, General Manager of Corporate Services
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