On Friday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m., Whitewater Region Township council will be known as a lame duck.
This friendly term is due to the fact that less than three-quarters of council will be returning following the Oct. 27 municipal election. This can be guaranteed, because Deputy-Mayor Izett McBride is not seeking re-election and Mayor Jim Labow and Councillor Joey Trimm are both seeking the mayor’s chair, as is a third person so far. This means there are less than six members of council who could be returning.
In the municipal act, it’s officially known as Restricted Acts After Nomination Day, noted Christine FitzSimons, chief administrative officer for the township. During Wednesday’s council meeting, a bylaw was passed giving her the authority to hire and fire as required and to approve spending of more than $50,000.
“My hope is I will not have to use this bylaw,” Ms. FitzSimons said. “This is just a safeguard.”
Following the meeting, she explained, “It’s a protective period so that decisions can’t be made by a group who is not returning in the majority. This means they can’t make huge changes to hire and fire and spend a lot of money that the next group will then be stuck with.”
However, she said, it’s a technicality, since the municipal budget has already been approved. And, even though she has this authority, Ms. FitzSimons will make the current council aware of a decision she must make that it would previously have made.
“I don’t see the necessity of that happening, because the budget for 2014 was set and passed long before this,” she added. “It’s just a safeguard, a technical hiccup.”
Although the municipal election is Oct. 27, the lame duck term will remain until the new council sits, which is on Wednesday, Dec. 3, she said.
