Fahy: ‘Business Vote An Essential Component’

Madam President, I am pleased today to speak to proposed Municipalities Reform.

Madam President, not withstanding that the Municipalities Act 1923 has been amended some thirty seven times since assent, the Corporations of Hamilton and St. George have essentially been chartered for decades under the existing structure while our Island has experienced significant and profound political, social, cultural, economic and infrastructure development.

As a result of the Municipalities Reform Act 2011, all adult citizens who live in one of Bermuda’s two municipalities are eligible to vote and all Adult citizens, whether or not they live within a municipality are eligible to run for municipal offices. These were welcome amendments represented a significant step forward for Bermuda.

Madam President, you will appreciate however that Bermuda is a small island and models applied in other jurisdictions generally must be modified when considering the nuances associated with Bermuda given its size.

Therefore, the introduction of the business vote, to complement the vote by the residents, is an essential component of establishing an electoral structure that is right for Bermuda. In most jurisdictions, the determination with respect to who can vote is based on the demographics of the locale.

Research, based on practices of other jurisdictions, suggests that this can include residents of the municipality, or property owners or tenants. You will recall that historically in Bermuda, property owners could vote in municipal elections.

As we go forward however Madam President, the government hopes to introduce a business vote on a rate payer basis as opposed to the property vote. That is, each rate payer would get one vote. This means that big business owners and small business owners would have the same right on an equal basis regardless of revenues, property ownership or any criteria that classifies them by size and or buying power.

Each rate payer, regardless of the number of outlets in the municipality would have the opportunity to select one person from within their organization to vote in the municipal election. What’s more Madam President, the person selected to cast the vote on behalf of the organization must be registered to vote and their name must appear on the parliamentary register. This essentially means that the voter must be Bermudian.

Madam President, it’s clear that municipal government is an aide to central government both in Bermuda and elsewhere. Generally, local governments, another term used for municipalities, act within powers delegated to them by legislation or directives of the central government.
With this in mind, the proposed amendments to the Municipalities Act 1923 will further define the working relationship and overall governance structure of the municipalities providing the Government with an opportunity to engage in the decision making process.

For instance, it is proposed that general provisions for Mayors, Alderman and Common Councillors will be modified to provide for Mayors and Councillors only.

Also proposed, the Minister, subject to Cabinet approval, shall have statutory responsibility for final approval of any resolution related to the development of municipal areas wherein such development exceeds One Million Dollars ($1M); and also the Minister, again, subject to Cabinet approval, shall have statutory responsibility for final approval of any resolution related to the purchase, holding, etc. of real and personal property, compulsory acquisition of land, municipal rates, and borrowing.

And, the Minister shall have statutory responsibility for final approval of any resolution with respect to any matter deemed of national interest. Of course Madam President, the term national interest will need to be clearly defined.

Madam President, interested members of the public provided robust feedback during two Town Hall Meetings held on Friday, 17th May in Hamilton and Monday, 20th May in St. George. Much of the feedback centered around the proposed rate payer vote, the governance structure and the Corporations’ ability to be self sustaining.

The Corporations were also invited to provide official feedback to the Ministry as a part of the policy development consultation process. The Corporation of St. George requested an extension until 10 June for the delivery of their response and I am pleased to confirm that responses have now been received.

The policy development team is actively assessing the feedback and looking at means by which the Corporation of Hamilton’s Code of Conduct can be incorporated into the legislation; evaluating borrowing limit cap removal for the Corporations; as well as evaluating the reinstatement of wharfage to address operational issues.

Madam President, it is anticipated that the policy development process will conclude within the next few weeks as we endeavour to ensure that a Bill is entered into the legislature during the current legislative session.

Thank you Madam President.

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