Now that the City of Hamilton will have the option of ranked ballots for the next municipal election in 2018, we should seriously consider restructuring our present ward boundaries to reflect the federal and provincial ridings that are in place for Hamilton.
We would have the five “wards” that correspond with those riding boundaries and a mayor would be elected at large. Nobody could hijack the agenda as a tie is always a loss.
This system would give long-suffering local taxpayers a huge property tax savings like we did when we amalgamated, eliminating more than 30 politicians at about $100,000 each.
It would be a strong mayor system, unlike the present dysfunctional tribalism, where individual wards have an agenda, especially downtown. The great urban-rural divide would be gone, and we would finally be one great city with a bright future.
Mark-Alan Whittle
Hamilton Mountain
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