The municipal election in Sault Ste. Marie will be very different from previous years. There is one less ward this time around, which has many people voting in a new area for the first time.
Malcolm White is a clerk for the City of Sault Ste. Marie.
"We've dropped from a six-ward system to a five-ward system, and correspondingly, we've gone from 12 members of council to 10." said White.
When remapping the wards, the city made sure to try to keep historical boundaries in mind, but also had to be practical.
“So, the downtown area, we encapsulated in one ward, rather than splitting it. And also the development area, the north end of the city, that is entirely in Ward Three, when it use to be a dividing line down Great Northern Road." said White.
For the past eight years, Joe Krmpotich has been a Ward Six councillor, but is not running for re-election. He thinks the city made a mistake in getting rid of his ward and is worried about the new councillors.
"It could be a concern, because there’s so many people and so much area to cover. And you know, I mean councillors, some of them are retired, some are working full-time jobs and are contributing significantly back to the community. But I tell you, you have to watch with burn-out and things like that.” said Krmpotich.
White says he's presently surprised that no one has called to complain about the changes.
He credits that to people doing their research before coming in to vote.
This is the biggest ward change in Sault Ste. Marie since the municipal amalgamation of 1964/65 when the Townships of Koran and Tarentorus were both included in the City of Sault Ste. Marie boundary.
