Directly-elected warden issue crops up at council

Though on the backburner for a few years, the idea of a full-time elected Wellington County warden was raised again recently by Centre Wellington councillor Fred Morris during council discussions on May 25.

During Centre Wellington Mayor Kelly Linton’s update regarding county council, Morris asked “will be any discussion ... or is there any appetite for discussion in regards to a full-time elected warden?”

Linton anticipated that is probably not something that will be talked about at the first meeting.

“But I can image governance as a principal and as a practice is something which might come up in future meetings.”

For now, he anticipated the group would stick to common challenges being faced and not get so deep into the political aspects right off the bat.

“We have to kind of wade into this.”

Morris explained his reason behind the question was that there had been a ‘push’ a few years back at the county level to investigate the possibility of a full-time elected warden.

“It just sort of dissipated and disappeared,” Morris said.

He suggested, “We are quickly coming to a point of political maturity where that sort of venue should be discussed sooner than later.”

Linton responded, “I agree a discussion on that is definitely needed.”