Residents vote for change — but not too much

October 29, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

With 28 candidates duking it out for just eight places on Council, many residents sounded off on not knowing where to begin on deciding which Councillors deserved their vote on Monday.

For many, the best and most practical solution for the future would be for Aurora to adopt a ward system, which would divide Aurora into sections each represented individually by one or two Councillors.

Although the idea sparked debate, it ultimately fizzled at the polls.

When asked “Are you in favour of electing all Aurora councillors, other than the Mayor, by ward vote instead of general Town-wide vote,” Aurorans were clear in voting no.

It wasn’t a landslide in favour of the status quo, however, with the “No” side receiving just 6,660 votes over 5,512 who found themselves in the “Yes” camp.
Although Aurorans rejected this particular change, they did not reject change altogether. Aurorans want to have a smaller Council – and overwhelmingly so.

In answer to the question, “Are you in favour of reducing the number of Aurora councillors, other than the Mayor, from eight councillors to six councillors,” 8,060 voters said “Yes”, compared to 4,427 who voted “No.”

While neither question received the requisite number of votes to be binding for the newly-elected Council to implement by 2018, the second question is one to which the new Council will have to give serious consideration if Councillor Paul Pirri gets his way.

“I think it is in the best interests of the community, if you look at us from a representational point of view,” he said, noting he wants to bring a motion forward to reduce the size of Council after the December inauguration. “We do have more Councillors per capita than other municipalities and I think we can do a better job of being a little bit more efficient in that manner.”