If Nisan relocates to his new Ward 2 home 43% of Council would live in the one ward

You don’t have a home until you leave it and then, when you have left it, you never can go back.”
James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

By Pepper Parr

April 26th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

Part 2 of a two part feature.

Last June, Roderick (Rory) Steiner Nisan, together with his partner, purchased a home in Ward 2; one long block from the Lakeshore and close to the downtown. It’s a quiet little neighbourhood and the house would struggle to be even “unassuming”.

So, why is this noteworthy and why should we care? Well, we should care for exactly the same reasons and in exactly the same measure that we care about open, honest and honourable behaviour on the part of our elected representatives.

Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan attending a Council meeting

At the time of purchase, June 2022, was Mr. Nisan aware that his house acquisition might be contentious? Almost certainly since, as previously reported, during the 2018 campaign his non-Ward 3 residency was an issue. So, in 2022, at the beginning of his next campaign, it’s safe to assume that every Ward 3 voter (his family perhaps excepted) believed that this architect of the Brant Hills splashpad was a Ward 3 resident and, if re-elected, would continue to be so through the next term of Council. This is the impression that he gave and, we assume, wished to give.

There is a pattern here. The purchase of the little house on a quiet Ward 2 street in 2022 has echoes of Rory’s 2018 past. There are a whole spectrum of questions that the purchase raises – who knew at City Hall and why, who didn’t know and why, why buy in a different ward if he intended to continue living in Ward 3, why not disclose if he saw no problem with the purchase?

There may have been no legal obligation to disclose but there certainly was an ethical one. If Nisan’s intent was to eventually relocate during his 2022-2026 term (noteworthy that permits were issued and renovations seem to have been completed), his constituents had the right to know; to have a ‘heads up’ so that they could go to the polls completely informed. It would have been the ‘transparent’ and honourable thing to do.

If Nisan’s intent was otherwise, then why not divulge? Are we to believe that the residents of Ward 3 are his priority, or do his priorities now lie elsewhere?

We believe that every individual is entitled to keep their private affairs as closed or as open as they wish. However, we also believe that public officials have a competing obligation to disclose things that are in the public interest to know or are necessary for citizens to make knowledgeable decisions concerning their rights. Where does this house purchase stand on that particular spectrum? Well, we think very much on the high side because it goes to character, trust and fundamental honesty.

Mr. Nisan has something of a history of campaign issues. He was investigated for inappropriate fund-raising activities during the 2018 contest and was censured accordingly. In 2018, he conducted door to door visits around the Ward 3 neighbourhoods prior to the actual campaign period, introducing himself and passing out his business card but not, in an official and illegal manner, “campaigning”. In the eyes of many, he overstated his credentials and work experience as a diplomat. In the 2022 campaign, incumbent Nisan seemed to have had his fair share of possible electoral bylaw issues, as did almost every candidate. It is the “silly season” and tempers run hot. However, he seems to attract a rather unusual degree of vitriol from his opponents with claims of ‘just not playing fair’. Leopard and spots sort of thing.

We have obviously made certain assumptions and these may, if faulty, prove to alter the narrative. Nisan’s purchase of a property in Ward 2 at the beginning of the 2022 campaign may be perfectly reasonable and without the least amount of campaign intrigue if:

He bought the property as an investment with no intent to relocate but planning to personally live somewhere in Ward 3. Currently, he has vacated his rented housing and he and his family are reportedly living in the Ward with his mother.

That he did not actually buy the house but has a doppëlganger with the same name, Roderick Steiner Nisan, and his partner and co-purchaser also has a doppëlganger etc., etc.

These scenarios aside, if and when Mr. Nisan relocates to his new Ward 2 home, there is a definite impact on the actual composition of the City’s Council. At that time, there would be 3 of 7 members (43% of Council) living within blocks of each other and with no ‘in situ’ representative in Ward 3 (unless Councillor Nisan resigns and forces a costly by-election). Arguably, we had the same situation in 2018 with Councillor Stolte in Ward 4 but to her credit she resolved the situation; Councillor Nisan would be creating it and it would be a ‘sticky mess’ by any measure.

2022 – 2026 City Council being sworn in. Councillor Stolte has to take part virtually – a Covid19 victim.

You see, the Achilles Heel of the Burlington Council is its extremely small size; seven elected members including the Mayor who bear both local and regional portfolios (not to mention the new Deputy Mayor assignments). It is a very small pond and even the smallest ripples can have an impact. Indeed, the Burlington Council has the highest per capita representation of any Tier Two or Independent Municipality. It urgently needs a critical review but political inertia and self-interest have dominated to date.

It’s somewhat complicated to change the roles and composition of a Municipal Council and, for the existing Council, two pay cheques for the same 16 hour day are far better than one.

Marianne Meed Ward wearing the Chain of Office for the first time. The campaign to get to this point started back in 2006 when she first ran for office in ward 1

What does all this likely mean? It seems to give credence to the growing speculation that Councillor Nisan plans to compete for Mayor in 2026 (some would say with the current Mayor’s concurrence and help) or, failing that, challenge for the Ward 2 chair. He has said privately that he wants to be Mayor but would never run against Meed Ward; one of the most astute and cunning politicians in the province and his mentor. Wise man.

So, where to Marianne Meed Ward, the Red Queen, in 2026? This may be the most interesting question (and concern) of all.