Joey’s Notepad: Richmond Hill’s Karen Cilevitz Should Be the Poster for Electoral Reform – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 26, 2022
Ward 5 Richmond Hill Councillor Karen Cilevitz has a list of Integrity Commissioner adverse findings against her, she’s a bully towards citizens, and she was criminally charged with fraud. She was convicted of fraud under $5,000 in a plea deal which saw more serious charges dropped.
She was re-elected last month due to vote splitting.
Yes, one of Ontario’s worst municipal councillors is back with only 23.34% of the vote in a ten-person race.
When people talk about the merits of ranked ballots in municipal elections, they should use Karen Cilevitz as the example of the terrible outcomes which can occur in our first-past-the-post system.
Ontario municipalities were allowed to adopt ranked balloting during the 2018 election. Only 1 of Ontario’s 444 municipalities did.
London’s ranked ballot election was successful.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford banned ranked balloting in 2019.
The 2014-18 London City Council was exceptional. 11 of the 15 members were rookies. They were elected on anti-corruption platforms to replace a scandal-plagued Council.
Thus, for them, ranked ballots were a solution to the problem of entrenchment at the municipal level.
Richmond Hill is one of Ontario’s most dysfunctional municipal councils. The current councillors there will never adopt ranked ballots.