Chatham-Kent’s council may have fewer voices after the next municipal election.
They met on Monday when they approved having recommendations brought back to decrease the number of members from 18 to either 13 or 15.
Councillors Lauren Anderson, Anthony Ceccacci, and Trevor Thompson voted against it, while Jamie McGrail and Carmen McGregor were absent.
Council also held a separate vote on having Strategy Corp include an option of keeping the number of Chatham-Kent council members status quo, with 18 members including the mayor, and that motion also passed with a vote of 12-4 with Mayor Darrin Canniff and Councillors Melissa Harrigan, Rhonda Jubenville, John Wright voting against it.
All of the options voted on Monday night were presented by StrategyCorp, which was hired to review the council’s current structure.
The consulting advisory firm compared council’s size to those representing similar-sized communities. Out of 26 councils, Chatham-Kent currently has the largest council.
Sabine Matheson with StrategyCorp explained lowering the numbers would be the best option, adding that the current system isn’t awful but should be tweaked.
Specifically, she mentioned the allocation of councillors per ward is something that should be changed. According to StrategyCorp, Chatham and North Kent are under-represented, while the other four areas are over-represented.
Matheson said any recommendations should include having at least one more councillor in Chatham, despite trying to shrink the overall size.
She also noted having six councillors allocated to a ward, the current case for Chatham, isn’t a common practice, adding that StrategyCorp's recommendation is for the municipality to should consider adding wards and having one councillor represent it.
The next report due back at CK Council from StrategyCorp will include recommendations that include potential options for changing the ward districts with different options based on the varying number of CK Council members.