Halifax Mayor?

[Canadian_Bacon]

Hey everyone.

I was just thinking about why Halifax needs a mayor. I know what a mayor does, and why they are needed in cities etc. My question was more since Halifax isn't really a city, why does it have a mayor.

Usually mayors are for incorporated areas like towns, cities etc. But since Halifax isn't a city, it's now part of a larger municipality. Why is their still a mayor for an unincorporated urban area.

The council does most of the running of the city (at least that's what I'm guessing.) So is the mayor more for public relations?

Sorry if this has been asked before. I was just wondering about the mayor of Halifax (I know it's Peter Kelly )

[Phalanx]

I don't think we can call what Halifax has right now a mayor...

[cormiermax]

I still cant see the benefits for Halifax from being apart of a municipality, we would be much better off cutting HRM into two, the City of Halifax and a rural county.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Canadian_Bacon

Hey everyone.

I was just thinking about why Halifax needs a mayor. I know what a mayor does, and why they are needed in cities etc. My question was more since Halifax isn't really a city, why does it have a mayor.

Usually mayors are for incorporated areas like towns, cities etc. But since Halifax isn't a city, it's now part of a larger municipality. Why is their still a mayor for an unincorporated urban area.

The council does most of the running of the city (at least that's what I'm guessing.) So is the mayor more for public relations?

Sorry if this has been asked before. I was just wondering about the mayor of Halifax (I know it's Peter Kelly )

Peter Kelly is the mayor of the "HRM"... he is the mayor for halifax, dartmouth, bedford (which he was formally the mayor of before amalgamation), etc. So there's the short answer... there is no mayor of specifically "Halifax" as part of the HRM, the name is just now synonomous with with HRM in mass media and common speech.

And if you are just stating that a "regional municipality" isn't a city it doesn't negate the need for a top ranking leader in its management and heirarchial stucture. There is going to be some supreme level in every format of government.

I think the HRM needs a mayor, but I don't know how much of an impact they can really have given the size of the council.

[hfx_chris]

While some may question the role of a mayor, I think it makes sense. At the end of the day, somebody has to act as the Chair during council sessions, and it does make sense to have a single person as the "representative" of the municipality, both internally and externally. I see the role of a mayor as also a leader, the one who sets the tone for council, despite the fact that, at the end of the day - it's really just one more vote.

[Canadian_Bacon]

Thanks for the comments.

worldlyhaligonian - That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I was just wondering myself what he does, and his role. I was just thinking were Halifax wasn't a 'city' why it had a mayor. But it makes sense to have him as the top official in council meetings etc.

I wondered because I just never hear the mayor doing much. Everytime I see him, or hear about him he is talking about issues, and I didn't think he really had much to do with how the Halifax area was run. I thought it was the council that ran the Halifax area, and he was more for PR. But I guess he does have a say in affairs in the area on the council etc.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Canadian_Bacon

Why is their still a mayor for an unincorporated urban area.

It is not unincorporated. It is an area with its own fully-functional municipal government that takes on all of the roles that a city does. Basically, HRM is a city but it is called a regional municipality for political reasons - the idea was to give the impression that there was an amalgamation rather than absorption into the old City of Halifax.

And yes, as others have stated, the official role of the mayor in the HRM is to lead discussions and so on. It is designed to be a "weak mayor" system where council as a whole has most of the decision-making power. In some cities, particularly in the US, mayors are given a lot more executive power (although I really have no clue what is or isn't in their power specifically). Peter Kelly can't just do things like allocate funding or change bylaws, he has to get permission of council first.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Canadian_Bacon

Thanks for the comments.

worldlyhaligonian - That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I was just wondering myself what he does, and his role. I was just thinking were Halifax wasn't a 'city' why it had a mayor. But it makes sense to have him as the top official in council meetings etc.

I wondered because I just never hear the mayor doing much. Everytime I see him, or hear about him he is talking about issues, and I didn't think he really had much to do with how the Halifax area was run. I thought it was the council that ran the Halifax area, and he was more for PR. But I guess he does have a say in affairs in the area on the council etc.

Lol, well those are some accurate points... however he has decent attendance to his duties for meetings.

I think we need somebody with serious experience in both the public and private sectors.