Threaded Voices: Charting a Democratic Path for Kitchener's Ward 10 Vacancy

My Delegation to Kitchener City Council, Finance & Corporate Services Committee, on January 8th 2023

I made a(nother) delegation to one of our local councils - Kitchener City Council this time, suggesting an innovative way to fill a vacancy. I’m grateful that the councillors were engaged, asking questions of all three delegations. I’m not sure I’ve seen that kind of engagement before.

In the end, the Council chose what could be described as the expedient & cheap option. It feels like the deck was stacked to give that result - by the time Council was discussing options, there wasn’t time left for anything but a straight-up appointment. I’m not sure where responsibility for that lies, whether it’s with a council that has been sitting on this decision for a month, or with a provincial government that enacted legislation that can only really go one way. Whatever. It’s not the best solution, but it’s far from a bad solution. Congratulations to Councillor-elect (?) Stephanie Stretch.

My comments are on YouTube at this link and in the text below. Scott Albrecht and Brooklin Wallis were brilliant in their delegations before and after me. There are a lot of really great voices in this community.

Good afternoon councillors, staff, and what I can only imagine is a vast online audience of concerned fellow citizens. My name is Simon Guthrie and I’m here to speak to the pressing matter of filling the Ward 10 vacancy, a task as crucial as finding the last puzzle piece in a 1000-piece skyline of Kitchener – challenging but essential in building the complete picture. While I don’t reside in Ward 10, my family church is here and I hope that many who live in other wards recognize the downtown core as central to any picture of Kitchener. By my count, we are on day 26 of the vacancy and we are faced with legislated guidance on how and when it can be filled. I have five minutes, so…

Let’s first look at our neighbours' approaches, all in 2023. Cambridge City Council and two local school boards faced vacancies created by resignation, or the passing of the incumbent. The school boards both chose appointments over byelections, weighing cost and democratic engagement. The public board invited applications, and trustees chose from amongst them in a process that was created transparently but that included some opaque aspects. The Catholic board considered only those who had been candidates in the last general election and chose a runner-up from a different constituency than the one that was vacant. Cambridge City Council faced a decision on how to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Ward 1 Councillor Donna Reid. They chose a by-election, and in the end, the voters chose the person who had been runner-up in the 2022 Council election. 

These cases highlight diverse approaches to a common challenge, underscoring that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

Now, let’s pivot to our predicament. A byelection, while democratic, comes with hefty costs and typically low turnout. A low-turnout election could easily lead to questions about the winner's legitimacy. 

Conversely, council appointments could be perceived as biased, akin to choosing your favourite niece or nephew – it's tricky and might not sit well with everyone. Additionally, in a process that considers runner-up candidates (of which I note, I am one), I’m concerned about a precedent. Should a bad actor realize that they can replace an “undesirable” (to them) incumbent with a runner-up that is more palatable, they might be encouraged to wage a campaign of harassment or bullying designed to lead to that incumbent’s resignation. Directly appointing a runner-up might inadvertently promote a culture of hostility against elected officials, potentially encouraging resignations to pave the way for preferred candidates. While I haven’t seen much indication of this at the City Council, I’ve seen a lot of vitriol directed towards certain members of our local school boards, both online and in delegations. Our councillors will know what arrives in their inbox much better than I do.

This brings me to a hybrid proposal, that relies on robust civic engagement but fills the vacancy through appointment. Create a citizen’s advisory group, often called a citizen’s assembly. This group, comprising diverse, randomly selected Kitchener residents, would deliberate on a process and eventually on the candidates. Think of it as jury duty for civic engagement – a cross-section of our community coming together to make an informed decision. Kitchener City Council would commit to appointing the candidate recommended by the assembly. This approach balances cost-effectiveness, democratic integrity, and impartiality, ensuring that the new councillor is chosen and empowered by collective wisdom rather than fiscal constraints or political manoeuvring.. It would give us all, staff, elected officials and citizens a chance to see the instrument of citizen's assemblies in action in a new and innovative application.

In closing, thank you for your time and attention. I'm aware that filling this vacancy is like threading a needle while riding the ION – it requires precision, balance, and a steady hand. I'm hopeful that my proposal offers a path forward that respects our democratic values and the diverse voices of Kitchener. I welcome any questions or thoughts you might have. Together, let’s ensure that Ward 10’s representation is not just filled, but fulfilled with the spirit of our community.

The image accompanying this article was generated with the assistance of DALL-E.