{"id":25353,"date":"2019-12-05T18:07:49","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T23:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=25353"},"modified":"2019-12-13T18:50:55","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T23:50:55","slug":"ward-options-presented-ahead-of-wednesday-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/ward-options-presented-ahead-of-wednesday-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Ward options presented ahead of Wednesday meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora is set to begin the next phase of the possible\nimplementation of a \u201cward\u201d system of governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this week, the Town released the preliminary\nfindings of a consultant\u2019s report, the next step in moving the Town away from\nits current \u201cat-large\u201d system of governance where a Mayor and Council of six\nmembers represent the whole Town towards a \u201cward\u201d system where specific\nneighbourhoods would be represented by a single member of Council plus the\nMayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings were prepared by Beate Bowron Etcetera,\nHemson Consulting Ltd., and The Davidson Group, who have spent the last few\nmonths holding public information sessions eliciting feedback on the possible\nswitch from members of the community, as well as compiling results from online\npolls and questionnaires, and the resulting report outlines four possible ways\nAurora can be divided up into wards, with models including options with three,\nfour, five and six wards respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny ward system that is established in a municipality\nmust achieve \u2018effective representation,\u2019\u201d said the consultants in their report.\n\u201cThis is an inclusive term used to assess how well residents are represented in\nour form of government, which we call \u2018representative democracy.\u2019 At a general\nlevel, it means that one person\u2019s vote should be of similar weight to another\nperson\u2019s vote. When applied to wards, it suggests that wards have similar\npopulations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In weighing the options, consultants considered natural\nand physical boundaries in Aurora, including major arterial roads and the\nrailway tracks, communities of interest, including Aurora\u2019s so-called Stable\nNeighbourhoods, and voter parity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional factors included the capacity of a single\nmember to represent areas of varying size, the sizes and shapes of possible\nwards themselves, and future population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPopulation growth has to be taken into consideration, if\na ward system is to last for multiple elections,\u201d they said. \u201cAny new ward\nsystem should last Aurora for three elections \u2013 2022, 2026, and 2030 \u2013 and\npossibly a fourth, 2034. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDesigning a ward structure requires balancing the many\ncomponents of effective representation. While all of the components have to be\ntaken into consideration, they are not all equal. Voter parity is pivotal and\nis a key determinant of effective representation. Respecting communities of\ninterest is another high priority, along with well-defined, coherent ward\nboundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four options that will be before members of the\npublic at the December 11 public meeting, and again at a session this January,\nproved challenging due to \u201cthe Town\u2019s geography, varying densities and\ndistribution of populations, the different street patterns in the older and\nnewer parts of Town and those in areas where future growth will occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next week\u2019s public meeting will take place December 11 from 7 \u2013 9 p.m. in the Town Hall\u2019s Skylight Gallery. A further session will be held at the Aurora Cultural Centre from 7 \u2013 9 p.m. on January 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

OPTION #1 \u2013 THREE WARDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first model, Ward 1 would be roughly bordered by\nthe town\u2019s northern boundary, Highway 404 in the east, Wellington Street East\nin the South, and the rail line in the west. Ward 2 would be bordered by\nWellington in the north, the 404 on the east, Bloomington Road in the south and\nroughly Bathurst Street in the east, with a section of the Downtown Core\nallocated to Ward 3. The proposed southern boundary for Ward 3 runs from\nBathurst in the west, heading east along Wellington to Murray Drive, dipping\nsouth to Kennedy Street and across to Yonge and down to just south of Allaura\nBoulevard before meeting its eastern boundary, which runs along the train\ntracks to the Newmarket border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this mode, Ward 1 would have an estimated population\nof 25,520 in 2026, while the populations in Wards 2 and 3 would be 21,260 and\n20,780 respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the Three Ward option, there would have to be more than one Councillor per ward to meet the Municipal Act requirement of a minimum Council size of five members, including the Mayor. Electing two Councillors per ward would be the most direct way of implementing Option 1. The result would be a Council of seven members. A Deputy Mayor would have to be elected by Council or appointed by the Mayor. Another approach would be to reduce Council size to five members. In this configuration, there would be one Councillor per ward, plus a Mayor and a Deputy Mayor at-large.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

OPTION #2 \u2013 FOUR WARDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this model, the first proposed ward would be bordered\nby Newmarket in the north, Bayview in the east, Vandorf Sideroad\/Industrial\nParkway South in the south, and Yonge Street in the west. Ward 2 would be bordered\nby Newmarket in the north, the 404 in the east, Wellington Street in the south,\nand Bayview in the west. Ward 3\u2019s borders would include Newmarket in the north,\nYonge Street in the east, roughly the Golf Links Drive community in the south,\nstretching to Bathurst, the ward\u2019s western edge. Ward Four would be bordered by\nthe Golf Links Drive community, Vandorf and Wellington Street to the north, and\nby the 404, Bloomington and Bathurst on the remaining four sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would result in an average ward population of 17,000\nin 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis option would lead to a Council of five members, four ward Councillors, plus the Mayor. A Deputy Mayor could be elected by Council or appointed by the Mayor. If a slightly larger Council was desirable, a Deputy Mayor could be elected at-large for a Council of six members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

OPTION #3 \u2013 FIVE WARDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This option, says consultants, keeps communities together\nwhile using major roads as ward boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 1 would be bordered by Marsh Creek in the north,\nLeslie Street to the east, Wellington Street to the South, and Bayview Avenue\nto the north. Ward 2 would be bordered by Newmarket in the north, the 404 in\nthe east, Wellington in the south, and Marsh Creek in the west. Ward 3 would\nrun across the Newmarket border from Bathurst in the west to Yonge Street in\nthe east, running south to Kennedy Street West. Ward 4 would run from Yonge in\nthe west, across the northern Newmarket border to Bayview, running south to\nWellington Street. Ward 5\u2019s boundaries would be the railway in the east, and\nsouth, Bathurst in the west, and Kennedy Street West to Yonge in the north,\nwith the southeast quadrant of Yonge and Wellington falling in this area as\nwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This option would leave each ward with an average population of 13,600 in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

OPTION #4 \u2013 SIX WARDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This option would leave the Council at six members plus\nthe Mayor, but results in a more complex boundary configuration. Ward 1 would\nrun along the Newmarket border eastward to the railway, which would be its\neastern border. The ward boundary would include the east side of Yonge Street\nup to Orchard Heights Boulevard and running westward to Bathurst. Ward 2 is\nbordered by Orchard Heights, Yonge Street, Kennedy Street West and Bathurst.\nWard 3 uses Kennedy as the northern boundary, while the eastern edge is found\nalong Yonge Street to the railway tracks, which is its southern boundary to\nBathurst. Ward 4\u2019s western edge is the railway tracks running north to\nWellington Street, east to the 404 and south to Bloomington. Ward 5 is edged by\nWellington Street in the south, the railway in the west, St. John\u2019s Sideroad in\nthe north, and roughly Mavrinac Boulevard in the west. Mavrinac is largely the\nwestern edge of Ward 6, which uses Newmarket as the northern border, the 404 as\nthe eastern border, and Wellington as the southern edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The map results in an average ward population of 11,330 in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora is set to begin the next phase of the possible implementation of a \u201cward\u201d system of governance. Earlier this week, the Town released the preliminary findings of a consultant\u2019s report, the next step in moving the Town away from its current \u201cat-large\u201d system of governance where a Mayor and Council of six members represent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6AV","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 05:16:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}