Essex Council tells province it opposes expansion of Strong Mayor Powers

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative

Last week, the Town of Essex received a letter from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, noting the province intends to expand its Strong Mayor Powers to the municipality.

If it goes through, it will take effect May 1, 2025.  

Essex Council gathered on Monday evening to take part in a special meeting on the matter, where it passed Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy’s resolution to oppose the expansion of the Strong Mayor Powers and ask the expansion not include Essex. 

That allows the resolution to be presented to the province through its online portal before the April 16 deadline.

The resolution adds Essex Council believes the province is undermining the local governance model and municipal independence by attempting to advance its priorities and download its responsibilities to municipalities through the proposed Strong Mayor Powers.

“Strong Mayor Powers erode the democratic process and fundamentally alter the historical model of local governance, which has existed for almost two centuries,” it reads.

At the April 22 meeting, a similar Notice of Motion will be presented to Council, which will have a little more context.

Since receiving the information about the possible expansion, the Clerk’s Department for the Town has been conducting some research in regards to what that means for the municipality and what the Mayor and Council needs to do as a result of that possible extension, Joe Malandruccolo, Director of Legal and Legislative Services/Clerk, explained.

He provided what he called a brief presentation to introduce the legislation to Council, and plans to provide a more in-depth analysis on what this will mean for Essex at the April 22 Council meeting, if the powers are extended.

Malandruccolo noted the province has not created new rules as it pertains to Strong Mayor Powers from September of 2022, it could now apply to Essex.

In describing Strong Mayor Powers, Malandruccolo noted the Mayor can delegate some of the powers, some can be forfeited, while others the Mayor has to accept.

The powers the Mayor cannot reject or delegate include the requirement to bring Council matters that advance provincial priorities, requiring Council to consider and vote on by-laws that advance the province’s priorities that are passed with a one-third vote, and veto – within two-days of passing – by-laws that interfere with the priorities of the province, which Council can override with a two-third vote.

Those provincial priorities include building 1.5M new residential units by December 31, 2031, and constructing and maintaining infrastructure to support housing, including transit, roads, utilities, and servicing.

If there are any by-laws or matters involving those priorities, the Mayor has to deal with them, Malandruccolo said.

Powers the Mayor can delegate include the appointment or dismissal of the CAO, hire or dismiss division heads – with some exceptions, determine the organizational structure, establish prescribed committees and assign their functions, and appoint chairpersons and vice chairpersons of prescribed Council committees.

Duties the Mayor can forfeit include preparing the budget and duties around the budget.

Next steps include meeting with Mayor Bondy on how she intends to deal with those duties. The outcome will also be presented April 22.

Through this legislation, Mayoral powers are shared via a webpage, Malandruccolo noted. So, the Town is building a draft website if the powers are extended to the Mayor.

He added the Ministry has a portal where the public can submit opinions on the extension of the powers.

Members of Essex Council asked specifics of certain scenarios that could come up if the Strong Mayor Powers are extended to Essex. CAO Doug Sweet said in discussion continuing the following week, it gives time for staff to look into those questions and provide Council with a response.

In answering Councillor Joe Garon’s question that even if Essex opposed the extension of the powers, it still cannot stand in the way of the province, Malandruccolo believed that was the way he understood it.

“I think this opens the door for corruption,” Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley said. “I think it erodes democracy 100%, and no duty to let Council know when they are being used. I don’t like this, not one bit.”

He did not like that one-third of Council could jam a housing development down a community’s throat without any say.

“I’m glad our Mayor is coming out against it. We only have our word, and she has given us her word she is not going to use it, so I appreciate she has done that. I would hope anybody running for mayor would do the same.”

Garon applauded the Mayor in the stance of declining the powers.

“The second that I found out about the Province granting Strong Mayor Powers to another 169 municipalities, I was taken aback. I had no idea,” Bondy said.

She was quick to state this was not something she believed any municipality should have, let alone small municipalities.

Since the beginning of her term as Mayor, Bondy said she has worked to share information with the balance of Council as much as she can.

“It would never be a goal of mine to blindside Council with anything,” Bondy said.

Bondy saw this as an “erosion of democracy on a grand scale, and eventually this will become the norm if we allow it.”