The Paris Independent
10
February 10, 2024
EDITORIAL Brant County Council full of diverse representation To the Editor:
*The youngest elected Councillor in the Province *The first openly gay Mayor in the Province *A Council with an average age that was reduced by 7 years at the last election.
Diversity on our Council In a letter to the editor last week the writer commented on lack of diversity on Council (“mainly white males”). I would like to offer a contrary view to the writer. We have a pretty diverse Council - At the last election we had 22 we have: people (out of a possible 30,000 eligible to stand) who stood for *3 Councillors in their 1st term, 3 election - 5 were female, 2 of in their 2nd, 1 in their 3rd, 1 in Asian descent, an average age of their 4th and 2 with 5+ terms about 55 within a range from 27*Councillors who work or have 75. Ward 4’s incumbents were worked in project engineering, unopposed and were acclaimed (2 business planning, farming, IT, white males as it happens). And marketing, contracting, funeral the voter turnout was only 30%. services, building inspection, The 11 members of today’s transportation, small businesses, Council offered themselves for pharmaceuticals, carpentry and office, were elected by residents HR. and committed to 4 years of public *4 Councillors active in the service. If residents want a more farming community diverse Council, then more diverse *1 Councillor has lived in 5 candidates must come forward. countries, 3 continents, 2 However, ultimately, it is the provinces voter's choice and diversity *2 Councillors have lived almost doesn’t come just from gender and their whole life in Paris colour. *The percentage of female Councillors doubled at the last In response to the second letter election titled:
“Taxpayers should be extremely uncomfortable with a process that allows an elected official to trigger a new vote on a motion they previously lost” County Council follows a longstanding Procedural By Law (By Law 10-18). I suggest interested readers go to clauses 43-52. Clause 46 states “Any member shall give notice of motion to reconsideration of a matter at any Council meeting following the meeting when the matter was considered”. Our procedural by law is based on Robert’s Rules of Order, the foremost guide to parliamentary procedure, and is, more or less, the same in all municipalities. This is the 2nd motion to reconsider to come before Council in my 5+ years on Council. The procedural by law is periodically reviewed and updated by Council. Uncomfortable with this By Law? Lobby Council - or run for Council and work for change from within (see my earlier comments). Continued on page 11
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR All letters must be signed by the writer and are subject to editing for length and clarity. The opinions expressed in the letter are those of the writer, and not necessarily those of the Paris Independent. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, or completeness of this information. If you have an opinion to share, email your letters to stories@theparisindependent.com
