Board of Control (municipal government)
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In municipal government, a Board of Control is an executive body that usually deals with financial and administrative matters. The idea is that a small body of four or five people is better able to make certain decisions than a large, unwieldy city council. Boards of Control were introduced in many
city councils
.
Boards of Control typically consist of the
ward basis. The Boards were criticized as undemocratic. Boards of Control tended to be less representative of the diverse opinions and communities, with majority views among the population being overrepresented. As well, since they were elected by a larger electorate running for a seat on the Board of Control would be prohibitively expensive for many municipal politicians, resulting in wealthier politicians being more likely to run for the body. Lastly, Boards of Control tended to meet in closed sessions (in camera
) as opposed to open sessions in the manner of city councils, making them less accountable to the public.
Because of these problems, many municipalities abolished Boards of Control in the years following
Etobicoke. The City of London, Ontario
was one of the few remaining municipalities in North America to retain a Board of Control. It was abolished after the 2010 municipal elections.