If municipal councillors in the county were graded on their attendance at meetings most would receive excellent marks, but a couple would be lagging behind the rest of the class.
The Wellington Advertiser has surveyed all seven lower tier municipalities in Wellington County and, as expected, most councillors had good attendance records at regularly scheduled council meetings in 2008.
Of 39 councillors in seven municipalities, 17 had perfect attendance (44%), up from 11 councillors in 2007. Nineteen councillors (49%) missed between one and three meetings and just three councillors (7%) missed four or more meetings.
Councillors Roger Knapp and John Matusinec were the most regular absentees during 2008.
Knapp, of Guelph-Eramosa, missed 10 of 22 regular council meetings (45%) – more than any other councillor in the county. This is the second year in row Knapp led the county in non-attendance at council meetings. He attributed most of his absences in 2008 to the economy.
“We were busy as heck this year,” said Knapp, who owns a paving company. “We had to open up in other provinces just to sustain ourselves.”
He added, “I didn’t expect the economy to be this bad … many things have happened since I got elected that I could not have foreseen.”
Knapp stressed that if residents call or have a problem, they remain his first priority. He said he does not need the money he receives from the township, and recently donated his council pay to the local Rotary Club to help pay for tree plantings.
As for the future, Knapp said 2009 “could be worse” for his business. And he reiterated on Monday he will not be seeking re-election in 2010.
Wellington North’s John Matusinec is next on the list, having missed eight of 28 regular meetings (29%) last year.
He did not return a call from the Advertiser.
Three other councillors throughout the county missed 13 to 17% of regular meetings, and the rest were all below 10%.
Guelph-Eramosa
Mayor Chris White and councillors Doug Breen and Reta Moyer had no absences in 2008. Councillor John Scott missed two meetings and Knapp 10.
In total, Guelph-Eramosa council had 12 combined absences in 22 meetings, giving the township the worst mark in the county for the second year in a row – although in 2008 that is largely the result of Knapp’s absences.
Minto
Minto council had the second highest rate of absenteeism last year, with 11 total absences in 23 meetings.
Councillors Tammy Reiner, although not a councillor for the entire year, had perfect attendance. Mayor David Anderson, Wayne Martin, and Deputy-Mayor Judy Dirksen missed one meeting each, while councillors Rick Hembly and Barbara Burrows missed two each, and councillor David Turton missed four.
Wellington North
Over 28 regular council meetings last year, Wellington North council had 12 absences.
But after Matusinec, who had eight absences, the next closest are Mayor Mike Broomhead and councillors Bob Mason, who had just two absences each. Councillors Dan Yake and Ross Chaulk had perfect attendance.
Mapleton
Over 22 regular meetings Mapleton councillors had six combined absences.
Councillor Mike Downey had none; Mayor John Green and councillors Jim Curry and Dennis Craven had one absence each; and Bruce Whale had three.
Puslinch
Puslinch council also had six combined absences, although it held 24 regular council meetings in the 2008 calendar year.
Councillors Matthew Bulmer and Don McKay had perfect attendance, councillor Dick Visser missed one meeting, councillor Susan Fielding missed two, and Mayor Brad Whitcombe missed three (all due to his attendance at meetings of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities).
Erin
During 23 regular meetings last year, Erin council had just three absences. Councillor John Brennan and Mayor Rod Finnie had perfect attendance, while councillors Barb Tocher, Ken Chapman, and Josie Wintersinger each missed one meeting.
Centre Wellington
The township had just one absence in 14 regular council meetings in 2008.
It should be noted that this is by far the lowest number of regular meetings in the county, as the Advertiser attendance figures do not include committee of the whole meetings, of which there were 10 last year in Centre Wellington.
However, council also had very good attendance at those meetings.
Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj and councillors Ron Hallman, Walt Visser, Kirk McElwain, Shawn Watters, and Fred Morris all had perfect attendance at regular council meetings. Councillor Robert Foster missed one meeting.
