Voters electing a York Region Chair is just a façade

A lot of people were critical of Tony Van Bynen for voting against a motion in support of MPP Chris Ballard's private member's bill on electing the York Region Council Chair.

Personally, I think the criticism would be best directed at MPP Chris Ballard who, despite putting his name on the bill, has done literally zero to promote it locally. As more time passes, Newmarket residents have come to realize how lazy our MPP is.

As far as I am concerned, I see the election of the York Region Chair more as a negative turn of events as opposed to a positive one for York Region.

Here's why.

Other than the existing Chair, Wayne Emerson, the most credible challengers for York Region Chair would be any of the existing York Region mayors. These people are experienced with the administrative duties required to be the Regional Chair. Few others would have the requisite credentials to do the job.

But in considering whether they would want the Chair job, these politicians know that mayors are "big fishes" in their respective circles. The position of Regional Chair doesn't have the same cachet as a being mayor does. There is very little prestige to being Regional Chair. You have to remember that ego is a big driver for anyone wanting to enter politics.

A mayor has a mandate to govern the town and drive an agenda. A Regional Chair does not have the same credibility. The Regional Chair will still have to wheel and deal with nine separate municipalities in order to get anything accomplished. As such, it's almost impossible to promise anything during an election campaign.  

Looking at Durham Region for an example, it cost Roger Anderson over $82,000 to win the Durham Regional Chair position in 2014. Durham is about half the size of York Region, so a fair estimate would be that the York Chair race will cost a candidate approximately $170,000. The majority of Roger Anderson's donors were connected to home developers.

It's a lot of money to spend on a position that doesn't have much power or prestige. It's highly unlikely that one of the sitting mayors in York Region would want the job, when the job they have already is better in every possible way.

If there is an election in 2018, I predict that Wayne Emerson, with the endorsement of the sitting York Council behind him, will run and easily win. It won't happen because he's the best man for the job, because he's not. He'll win because nobody of any substance will challenge him.

The York Region mayors' endorsements will carry tremendous weight with voters who otherwise don't know anything that can distinguish the various candidates. It goes without saying that Metroland Media/York Media Group newspapers won't help educate the public.

The election of a Regional Chair is simply a facade - making voters believe that they are electing their candidate while in reality, the Chair remains in the hands of the sitting mayors.