While not a full throated endorsement Prince Edward County Council is striding down the road to a smaller number of folks hanging their hat at the horseshoe, it appears at least the cost and process of examining the size of County Council is back up for debate with the passing of Chris Braney’s successful motion March 14.

The resolution calls for the County’s CAO and clerk to prepare a report for council regarding the guiding principles, scope, timing and cost of a possible third-party review of council’s governance structure. The freshman councilor from Hillier deserves marks for bringing an exploratory motion to the council chamber in the early going of the term and it will undoubtedly serve as a conversation starter once the report is delivered at a future meeting. By and large, Prince Edward County is a community that still values its heritage and history. Loyalist pride and all that.

Supporters of a status quo compliment of councillors generally pluck at the heart strings of what once was and what is still trying to be. Growing up and scratching around Athol Township, the legacies of civic leaders like C.B. Fennell still hold water. Leon Quaiff kept the roads in tremendous shape. Bev Williams ran a tight ship at the Athol Town Hall. Civic pride and community organizations such as recreation committees are what built and still sustains much of what we hold dear when it comes to this spit of land in Lake Ontario.

But perhaps this corner is guilty of too much romanticizing and looking back at the pre-amalgamation landscape with rose coloured glasses and need to remember what cost you two bits back then requires a down payment today. Braney’s motion for a report is non-binding and on the face of it, doesn’t seem over taxing for staff.

A synopsis of the process that brought the current contingent to 13 members in time for the 2018 election, and a look at what some other communities have done in similar situations with an updated cost assesment would suffice. As former councillors John Thompson and Monica Alyea correctly noted at the meeting, this would be an endeavor with some heavy cost if Council voted to proceed with a full review. An expensive rabbit hole indeed.

Perhaps the sticker shock coupled with the timing of the previous process will be enough to push this matter down the road a few years. Maybe council landed on lucky number 13 on the resizing roulette wheel in 2017 for the right reasons and this current structure should be left to breathe for another term before a full-on third party governance review takes place.

But for beleaguered resident with one eye on their tax bills and the other on levels of service and condition of roads and wondering if there aren’t too many chefs in the kitchen at Shire Hall, Braney’s tire kicking motion doesn’t seem like all that bad an idea. Debate the merits of going down the resizing road once you know what the toll is.

LARGE IN STATURE Now with the topic of resizing on everyone’s mind, we hope you notice today’s Picton Gazette and find the type much easier to read. As the newspaper business ebbs and flows, cessation of the process at one printing plant has allowed us to find a more suitable option at another and the end result for you, dear reader, is a larger product that will be more easily read.

-Jason Parks