Next step in possible elected chair
by Blake Wolfe/The Scugog Standard

The next step in the ongoing elect-vs.-appoint debate regarding the Regional Chair of Durham will likely come in February, when a bylaw to make the position an elected one is presented to Regional Council.
_At last week’s council meeting, Regional Clerk Pat Madill said that a draft version of the bylaw is scheduled to come before councillors at their February meeting, to be followed by a statutory public meeting. The bylaw is then expected to be presented for a vote at council’s April meeting, alongside Durham’s 2012 budget, she said.
_The council vote is only one step in the process, however. In order for the chair to become an elected position, a so-called ‘tripe majority’ is required, consisting of a majority vote by Regional Council and supported by a majority of Durham’s eight lower-tier municipalities, representing more than 50 per cent of the Region’s population.
_In response to a question by Scugog Chuck Mercier, one of the North Durham politicians opposing the prospect of an elected Regional Chair, Ms. Madill said that the draft bylaw will not deal with the financial implications or procedure surrounding the change.
_The current movement on the bylaw follows the recent announcement from Municipal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne approving Durham to proceed with the steps toward making the change, in response to a December 2010 request from Regional Council. Chair Roger Anderson, who has held the seat since 1997, was re-appointed to the position in late 2010 by an overwhelming majority of Regional councillors. In response to a referendum question included on the ballot, a majority of Durham voters in the October 2010 municipal election opted to make the chair an elected position.