Who's there?

An analysis of events attended by municipal politicians shows some startling differences in the number of times each elected official turned up at a community event. It's no surprise that the mayors of Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo attend the most events on council but the number of events attended by different councillors can vary widely. The difference was most stark in Kitchener, where Councillor Berry Vrbanovic attended 114 community events last year, compared to just 6 attended by Councillor John Smola. Smola announced on Monday that he would be seeking a seat on regional council in the fall.

In Cambridge, Councillor Linda Whetham shows the most 2009 dates booked on her calendar with 132, while Councillor Rick Cowsill recorded 45 events attended but says the actual number was much higher.

In Waterloo, Councillor Jan d'Ailly attended 60 events in 2009 while Councillor Ian McLean attended 16.

Both Whetham and d'Ailly, who attended the most events as councillors in their respective cities, have entered the mayoral race in October.

Event attendance is not tracked for regional councillors although records show that Chair Ken Seiling attended more than 500 community events in 2009.

In providing the information, each municipality noted that tracking attendance is an inexact science that does not take into account events councillors attend without recording it in their calendars. There are also the issues of neighbourhood meetings and attendance at formal commitments such as boards that do not get captured in the data. And attendance can also be influenced by a councillor's role as deputy mayor or by personal circumstances that prevent them from attending scheduled events.

These theories are supported by Robert Williams, Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo, and an expert in municipal affairs. "The dilemma becomes who's keeping track of it and what counts for it. (For example) does merely turning up for five minutes amount to the same thing as being there for a couple of hours? There are also different types of meetings that might be counted," Williams explains.

Still, Williams believes the record does show a certain level of engagement, no matter how rudimentary. And he thinks that accounting can provide information for voters preparing to mark a ballot this October. "Is this someone who has made the time and effort to go hear what's going on, to participate in what may be happening in a particular ward or a particular community centre or whatever it might be."

For people seeking office, possibly for the first time, Williams says this type of information can also serve as an indicator of what comes with the office. "Yes there are committees, yes there are liaison roles. But this is the other part of it, essentially being out there, interacting with the community."

Events attended by members of council in 2009 were as follows:

KITCHENER

Mayor Carl Zehr - 329
Councillor Berry Vrbanovic - 114
Councillor Kelly Galloway - 101
Councillor Christina Weylie - 94
Councillor John Gazzola - 35
Councillor Geoff Lorentz - 29
Councillor John Smola - 6

CAMBRIDGE

Mayor Doug Craig - 221
Councillor Linda Whetham - 132
Councillor Pam Wolf - 109
Councillor Gary Price - approx. 100
Councillor Karl Kiefer - 93
Councillor Ben Tucci - 50
Councillor Rick Cowsill -  45

WATERLOO

Mayor Brenda Halloran - 220
Councillor Jan d'Ailly - 60
Councillor Diane Freeman - 53
Councillor Mark Whaley - 49
Councillor Scott Witmer -  46
Councillor Angela Vieth - 41
Councillor Karen Scian - 25
Councillor Ian McLean - 16