Where in the world is Debbie Amaroso?

Every living former member of City Council is being sought out for advice on how many city councillors we need and what neighbourhoods they should represent.

Besides Mayor Deb, how many living former members of Sault Ste. Marie City Council are there? We're about to find out.

If your name is Debbie Amaroso or Jason Collins or Ozzie Grandinetti or Duane Jones or Frank Manzo, you're going to get a phone call soon from Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Shoemaker.

A City Hall committee is planning to track down former Mayor Amaroso and every other living former member of Sault Ste. Marie City Council, seeking advice on how many councillors we really need and how they should be divvied up geographically.

The decision was made last night at a meeting of the City Council Review Committee, created in June to make recommendations on an optimal number of city councillors for the Sault, the best geographic division for the recommended council, and positive and negative consequences of changing from the status quo.

Shoemaker, Ward 2 Councillors Susan Myers and Sandra Hollingsworth, Ward 5's Marchy Bruni and Mayor Christian Provenzano agreed to hold three town hall meetings: one at the civic centre, the others in the East and West ends.

The public will also be allowed to speak out on the issue using an online survey on the city's website.

Councillor Bruni will poll current councillors for their views on the issue, while Councillor Shoemaker volunteered to try to track down all surviving former city councillors.

No one is sure how many phone calls Shoemaker will have to make.

He figures there are about a hundred former members of council around.

Other members of the committee suggested there might be considerably more.

"I'll contact as many as I can," Shoemaker said.

If the committee decides the Sault can get by with fewer councillors, the door could be opened to re-drafting the city's ward boundaries with accompanying opportunities for electoral gerrymandering.

The following information about the Sault in comparison to other comparable Ontario municipalities was presented to the committee last night:

Barrie has 10 councillors representing a population of 135,711 in 10 wards. Each councillor represents 13,571 constituents.
Cornwall has 10 councllors at large representing a population of 46,340. Each councillor represents 4,634 constituents.
Guelph has 8 councillors representing a population of 121,688 in 4 wards. Each councillor represents 15,211 constituents.
Kawartha Lakes has 16 councillors representing a population of 110,182 in 16 wards. Each councillor represents 6,886 constituents.
Kingston has 12 councillors representing a population of 117,210 in 12 wards. Each councillor represents 9,768 constituents.
London has 14 councillors representing a population of 366,150 in 14 wards. Each councillor represents 26,154 constituents.
North Bay has 10 councillors at large representing a population of 53,651. Each councillor represents 5,365 constituents.
Orillia has 8 councillors representing a population of 30,586 in 4 wards. Each councillor represents 3,823 constituents.
Peterborough has 10 councillors representing a population of 78,698 in 5 wards. Each councillor represents 7,870 constituents.
Sarnia has 8 councillors representing a population of 106,293 in 4 wards. Each councillor represents 13,287 constituents.
Sault Ste. Marie has 12 councillors representing a population of 75,141 in 6 wards. Each councillor represents 6,262 constituents.
Sudbury has 12 councillors representing a population of 169,274 in 12 wards. Each councillor represents 13,356 constituents.
Thunder Bay has 12 councillors representing a population of 109,140 in 7 wards. Seven councillors represent wards. Five are chosen at large. Each councillor represents 9.095 constituents.
Timmins has 8 councillors representing a population of 46,135 in 5 wards. Each councillor represents 5,757 constituents.
Windsor has 10 councillors representing a population of 210,890 in 10 wards. Each councillor represents 21,089 constituents.