A11
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: June 14, 1996
Dept. File No. 130-3
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: City Clerk
SUBJECT: Election Systems and Municipal Government
RECOMMENDATIONS
A. THAT Council receive the attached report, Election Systems and
Municipal Government(*) for information.
B. THAT Council approve the printing and distribution of the
report to interested groups and individuals, at an estimated
cost of $8,000. Source of funds to be Contingency Reserve.
C. THAT the City Clerk, in consultation with the Director of
Legal Services, report back on the proposed wording of the
referendum question for the November 1996 election, regarding
wards or an at-large system.
CITY MANAGERS COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of A, B and C.
COUNCIL POLICY
There is no Council Policy directly applicable to this matter.
Section 138 of the Vancouver Charter provides:
(1) Unless a by-law under subsection (2) applies, every member of
Council must be elected from the City at large.
(2) The Council may, by by-law, provide that all or some of
Councillors be elected on a neighbourhood constituency basis.
(3) A by-law under subsection (2) must establish the areas that are
to be neighbourhood constituencies and provide for an orderly
transition to election on this basis.
(4) A by-law under subsection (2) must be approved by the Lieutenant
Governor in Council before it is adopted.
(*) Limited Distribution (on file in City Clerk's Office)
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to provide Council the information it
requested on the history of governance in Vancouver and current
at-large/ward experiences in other North American cities, and to
recommend the report be provided as a source of factual background
information for citizens in support of the upcoming referendum
discussions.
BACKGROUND
In a memorandum to Council dated November 7, 1995, Mayor Owen noted that
in his Inaugural Address of December 1993, he announced there would be a
referendum on a ward system as part of the next municipal election. At
that time he also asked the City Manager and the City Clerk to report to
Council on the composition of a wards review committee, including the
terms of reference, budget and procedure to establish boundaries and the
process for public participation.
Based on discussions with the City Manager and the City Clerk, the Mayor
recommended the review of the ward boundaries be deferred until the
results of the 1996 referendum are known and the data from the 1996
Census is available. Further, should the 1996 referendum result in a
decision to change the present system to a different one, the system
would not be implemented until the following election in November 1999.
In response to the Mayor's memo, City Council, during its meeting held
November 14, 1995, resolved that a referendum regarding wards or an
at-large system, be held at the time of the November 1996 election.
Council further resolved that if the results of the 1996 referendum
indicate more than 60% of the voters favour a ward system, the current
Council recommend that the 1997 Council establish a wards boundary
review committee utilizing data from the 1996 Census.
Council also directed staff to report back with factual information on
the history of governance in Vancouver and current at-large/ward
experiences in other North American Cities.
A motion that the 1996 referendum be based on the question of either a
full ward or an at-large system, not a partial ward system, was
deferred.
DISCUSSION
The Office of the City Clerk has now completed its research into the
history of governance of the City of Vancouver and current at-large/ward
experiences in other North American cities. The research included a
survey which obtained responses from 39 other cities in Canada and the
United States.
This information has now been collected and assembled into Volumes I and
II of the attached report, Election Systems and Municipal Government.
The report has been designed both for the use of Council and for wider
circulation among citizens in order to provide a solid basis for public
discussion.
Volume I of the report is divided into five chapters:
1. Vancouver Government Structure Since 1886 provides a brief history
of municipal government in Vancouver as it relates to wards and
at-large systems.
2. How Vancouver is Governed Today describes how Vancouver is
currently governed.
3. City Government: Some Basics describes the tasks and powers of
municipal government, how it differs from the provincial and
federal levels, and discusses what people expect from local
government. The chapter also discusses why city government
structure matters, looking at a number of important questions
currently being discussed in many North American cities. They
include: ensuring equitable representation; the "fit" of city
council structure with other functions (school board, parks, etc.);
voter participation levels; accountability of representatives;
ability of government to cope with growth and other forms of
change; and cost and efficiency of government.
4. Systems for Electing City Government describes the ways that major
cities of North America are organized. These include: the at-large
system; the ward or district system; and mixed systems with some
combination of at-large and ward voting.
5. Results of the Survey reports the findings of the survey of major
North American cities conducted by the Office of the City Clerk.
The information includes: system used; how ward boundaries are
determined and revised, the age and origin of the current systems,
how mayors are elected, population and voter turnout data, and
comments and insights of the respondents regarding their municipal
system.
Each chapter contains references to books or documents which readers may
wish to consult for further information. Many of these materials will
be placed on reserve at the Vancouver Public Library in the months
before the referendum.
At the end of this volume are the detailed results of the survey and a
complete bibliography of resources used in this report.
Volume II of this report contains documents providing background
information, both from Vancouver and from a number of cities which
generously supplied material as part of their participation in the
survey.
Distribution of Report to Interested Parties.
It is recommended this document be printed and made available to
interested parties as a source of factual background information. The
availability of the report will be advertised in Community newspapers
and made available through the office of the City Clerk and branches of
the Vancouver Public Library.
Costs of advertising, printing and distribution of the report are
estimated to be $8,000. If approved, source of funding would be
Contingency Reserve.
Report Back to Council
The City Clerk, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services,
will report back to Council in the Fall in order to finalize the wording
of the referendum question. Members of the public will also be provided
the opportunity to appear before Council to speak to this issue at that
time.
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