Richmond County Municipal Council is considering switching from a Warden, to a Mayor as the Chair of Council.
At last night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, the municipal CAO presented the impacts of the change to council.
Councillors mostly agreed that some kind of community consultation, though not required, should happen.
However, Councillors couldn’t come to an agreement on what kind of consultation would be best.
District 1 Councillor James Goyetche, said the public has been asked about this before.
“There was a question, Mayor vs Warden. I think the public at that time, were in favour of a Mayor-at-Large. They wanted to be the ones to elect the person to represent Richmond County, on council, which is a Mayor.”
But other Councillors said they wanted more community consultation, but broadly rejected a plebiscite, citing the cost of hold such a plebiscite.
Changing to a Mayor would add another seat to the municipal council and cost about $40 000 a year.
The matter is up for further discussion, but the choice must be made before January, 2020, and would be binding on all future councils.
