Wrong Ward?

Trevor Giertuga says just because for the past year-and-a-half he hasn’t lived in the McIntyre Ward he was elected to serve doesn’t mean it’s been neglected at City Hall.

The third term city councillor, reacting to concerns from a potential ballot rival, said he has deep roots in the ward, is as familiar with its issues as anyone, and that his move to the Red River ward was only a temporary one resulting from changes in his personal life.

"During that time I’ve continued to serve the residents and hold ward meetings and do site visits, as I have over the last nine years," Giertuga said on Monday during an interview at his Cox Crescent home, which sports a for sale sign on the snow-covered front yard.

"But I have actually just recently bought a home back in the McIntyre Ward. It’s exactly where I want to be, two doors down from my parents … the same street I grew up on."

Trudy Tuchenhagen, a longtime school board trustee who has filed papers to run for city council in McIntyre Ward during next October’s municipal election, on Friday voiced concerns that if Giertuga no longer lives in the ward that it’s not being properly represented at the city council level.

"If that is in case the fact, then it’s a mockery of our system, because you are supposed to be living in the ward that you represent in order to be able to understand the needs of your residents," Tuchenhagen said.

In actual fact, the only residency requirement under the Municipal Act is that you must prove you are living in the ward on the day nominations close, which this year would be Sept. 10.

"If elected you have to maintain your residency in the city. You don’t have to stay in the ward," said city clerk John Hannam, when reached by phone on Monday.

The rules are slightly different for at-large candidates, he added.

"For at-large you have to live in the city on nomination day and you have to maintain residency in the city if elected."

Proving where you live is a matter of subjectivity, Hannam said, though usually your main residence is where your mail is sent. When questioned, the city refers to the criteria of what the Canada Revenue Agency deems to be a person’s home address.

Tuchenhagen’s concern could very well be a moot point.

Giertuga, first elected in 2000, has yet to decide whether or not he will re-offer in the McIntyre Ward, run at-large or withdraw from political life altogether. Those decisions will be discussed with his fiancé and two children, with an answer expected in mid-February.