Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
One of the pieces needed for the 2018 municipal elections has fallen into place for Cobourg, with the approval of its compliance audit committee for the 2018 ballot at the July council meeting.
Five members were approved to create a joint committee for the Town of Cobourg and Northumberland County partner municipalities.
The Municipal Elections Act 1998 requires all municipalities to appoint a compliance audit committee, according to the report from municipal clerk Brent Larmer.
“A qualified elector who believes on reasonable grounds that a candidate has contravened a provision of the MEA relating to election campaign finances may apply to the compliance audit connittee for a compliance audit of the candidate’s finances,” it said.
“In both the 2010 and 2014 elections, the municipalities within Northumberland County worked collaboratively to form a joint election compliance audit committee,” he added. This not only provides a larger pool of qualified applicants but also offers the potential for efficiencies for the committee.
Members chosen are solicitor James Hunt, certified financial risk manager Bill Graham, financial-services worker Lynn Patry, solicitor Tom Tardoff and retired municipal clerk Lorraine Brace.
“I believe three of those members are coming back in essence for a second term, and two were new candidates who were duly accepted on the basis of their past skills and abilities,” Deputy Mayor John Henderson pointed out.