Niagara-on-the-Lake Local received the following letter to the editor regarding concerns about Council locally.
Dear Editor,
Whenever you think Council can’t go any lower in terms of transparency and respecting the wishes of citizens, they seem to find a way to do so. The most recent case in point is the closed door meeting to appoint Andrew Niven as a town Councilor to replace the recently resigned Nick Ruller.
Traditionally, but not by law, when a Councilor resigns, the position goes to the candidate who finished runner-up in the previous election. In 2022 that would be Alan Bisback. Alan was on council from 2018 to 2022 as well as campaigning in 2022. He is a known entity, previously elected by the citizens of NOTL, with his views and positions having been in the public record for years.
What does the public know about Andrew Niven?
In his working life Andrew is the Director of Marketing at Konzelmann Estate Winery as well as Chair of the NOTL Chamber of Commerce. Both are demanding positions whose mandate is to drive more tourism and business to his winery and Niagara on the Lake in general. He has a vested interest in seeing more hotels built in town as well as other commercial enterprises that attract tourists. I have no doubt Andrew is a good person and good at his job but does that make him good at representing the interests of NOTL voters?
A Google search for Andrew Niven to read his bio and learn about his views on issues reveals almost nothing. What are his views on heritage, development, the environment, jobs, housing, the hospital site, and the Rand Estate among others?
In 2018 both Niven and Bisback ran for Council. Electors chose Bisback over Niven. So why is current Council going against the wishes of voters? Could it be that the pro-development politicians on council got together and decided they needed another of their own and selected Andrew Niven on that basis?
Nick Ruller was a swing vote who voted his conscience and as such was not guaranteed to support development projects. With Andrew Niven’s working mandate to support development and tourism it is hard to imagine him voting against anything opposed to that. We can only hope I am wrong and Niven represents the interests of all NOTL citizens, not just the interest of business.
Warm regards,
Stewart Hall
NOTL
