The threat of a meeting investigation has prompted Wellington County officials to release vote tallies from last month’s warden and committee chairman elections and to commit to procedural changes in the future.
On Jan. 7, after repeated requests for the election information were denied by county officials, Wellington Advertiser staff contacted closed meeting investigator Norm Gamble, asking him to investigate whether the county’s actions – hosting the Dec. 14 votes behind closed doors and then withholding the final tallies – were allowed under the Municipal Act.
Gamble, who was hired as the county’s closed meeting investigator in 2008, said an investigation could determine whether the legality of closing the vote fell under the Municipal Act or the county’s procedural bylaw.
Just three days later, on Jan. 10, Gamble informed the Advertiser the county would release the vote tallies and asked whether the complainant was willing to have the investigation withdrawn.
While the procedures followed during the Dec. 14 meeting appear to violate both the Municipal Act and the county’s own procedural bylaw, the Advertiser decided not to proceed with the formal investigation, given that the information was handed over and the county vowed it won’t happen again.
Warden Chris White, who was re-elected to his second two-year term at last month’s meeting, said staff and council will review county protocol to ensure the situation is not repeated.
“What I want to do is go through our procedural bylaw and make sure we write it down,” said White. “We’re going to take a look at a couple of things.”
Gamble would not divulge specifics brought up in discussions with county staff prior to the results being released. He said he will be sending recommendations to the clerk that also will not be made public.
Gamble said the county’s procedural bylaw does not allow for a closed meeting for elections.
“[In the] procedural bylaw I didn’t find anything that allowed them to go in closed session,” said Gamble.
The investigator is confident the county will make changes.
“I believe them when they say they are going to make a number of changes. I think they saw the light to make some changes,” he said. “Your request prompted them to take a good, hard look.”
What happened
Immediately following the Dec. 14 vote, the Advertiser requested the results from White, who said the figures could be provided by clerk Donna Bryce, who in turn denied the request.
“Because the votes were conducted in closed session, those results aren’t made public,” Bryce wrote in an email after repeated requests by the Advertiser.
White said on Jan. 10 the decision to initially not release the vote numbers was based on what has been done “historically.” He also noted it was done because of concern councillors could be embarrassed by the results.
Section 233 (5) of the Municipal Act explicitly states that, “The head of council may be appointed by secret ballot,” but there is no such provision for committee chairman elections.
Furthermore, there is no legitimate reason that either type of election should not take place during an open session of council.
An Advertiser survey of several other upper-tier municipalities in the area showed Wellington County was the only one holding its warden and committee elections behind closed doors.
In Perth, Grey and Dufferin Counties, for example, voting for the warden is completed by secret ballot at the inaugural meeting in December – but during an open public meeting of council.
The votes are then tallied in private by the clerk, and the new warden announced. Typically, the ballots are destroyed.
In Grey and Dufferin, following the warden’s election, committee chairman elections are held in open session, with every vote made public. In Perth County, committee chairs are elected at the first meeting of the respective committees, which are open to the public.
Wellington County council’s procedures on Dec. 14 seemed to violate even its own existing procedural bylaw, which states, “The clerk shall announce the results of the secret ballot [for warden] following the opening of the first meeting of the term, and the duly appointed warden shall assume the chair.”
The bylaw then describes the procedures the newly-elected warden must follow for the election of committee chairs.
However, when county council returned from its closed session on Dec. 14 (a closed session is nowhere mentioned in the procedural bylaw), officials announced the winners of both the warden and committee elections right away.
The results
White garnered nine of 16 votes for warden, beating out challengers Shawn Watters (five votes), Don McKay (one) and Gord Tosh (one).
In the closest vote of the day, councillor Lynda White’s bid for re-election as chair of the police services board, was defeated by eventual winner Ray Tout. Lou Maieron also came forward as an early candidate but withdrew his candidacy. The ballot resulted in an 8-8 tie between Tout and White, and Tout’s name was drawn out of a hat as the winner.
It took two ballots to elect Lou Maieron as chairman of the planning committee. In the first vote Maieron received seven votes while Watters picked up six and Bruce Whale three. Whale, having the least amount of votes, was dropped off the second ballot, which saw Maieron take nine votes to Watters’ seven.
Other councillors elected as committee chairpersons were:
– Joanne Ross-Zuj, roads (acclaimed);
– John Green, finance (acclaimed after Watters withdrew);
– Gord Tosh, social services (acclaimed);
– Don McKay, solid waste (acclaimed);
– George Bridge, economic development (acclaimed); and
– Mark MacKenzie, information, heritage and seniors (acclaimed after Watters withdrew).
(With files from Chris Daponte)
