Kingston's 'strong mayor' flexes new powers by giving some of them away

Bryan Paterson's first act as a "strong mayor" was to give some of his new powers away.

Kingston's top elected official announced Wednesday that he's returning some of the enhanced authorities granted to him by the province on July 1 to his council colleagues and the city's chief administrative officer.

"What I'm trying to do is send a signal to council and to staff that … we're doing good work together," he said. "I have no desire to disrupt that."

The city is one of 26 large or fast-growing municipalities in Ontario where the mayor was handed more tools in order to help get shovels in the ground to build more homes, according to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark.

The legislation fuelled controversy, including in Ottawa, where Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has said he's not interested in using the powers.

Paterson didn't immediately rule out flexing those new powers when they were first announced.

At the time, councillors, including Kingscourt-Rideau Coun. Brandon Tozzo, said the added abilities weren't necessary in Kingston.

"On principle, it's undemocratic. Voters have spoken. And minority rule flies against our democratic institutions," Tozzo tweeted at the time.

On Wednesday, the councillor said he's "encouraged" by Paterson's move to give some of them back.

That includes granting the CAO the ability to determine the city's organizational structure, along with hiring or firing any division head — a right that would have been limited to the mayor.

The mayor has also announced councillors, not him alone, will be able to appoint or dismiss the CAO, set up or dissolve committees, appoint their chairs and assign their functions.

Paterson said he's not able to delegate away his veto power or ability to control the budget. The mayor also noted he could rescind the authorities he'd returned to council and staff.

"If I needed to take one of those powers back, for the good of the community, I would consider doing it. I just don't see that imminently," he said.

"Let's get housing built. Let's address the issues and the challenges in our community and let's do it as a team."

The mayor said anytime he does exercise his new powers, his decision will be posted in writing on Open Data Kingston within 24 hours.