Fonds - City of Kitchener - Mayor's and Council fonds

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City of Kitchener - Mayor's and Council fonds

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  • Multiple media

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  • 1854-2012 (Creation)
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    City of Kitchener Corporate Archives

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50 cm textual records
30 cm photographs
60 cm videos
5 artifacts

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The first elected official of the incorporated village of Berlin was Dr. John Scott. He was elected warden in 1854. The other officials that year were G. W. Bowman, G. Jantz, and H. Stroh and E. Zeigler. Mayor in 1870 at the time of Berlin becoming a town was Hugo Kranz. In 1912 when Berlin became a city, the mayor was W. H. Schmalz. At the time of the name change from Berlin to Kitchener in 1916 the mayor was J. E. Hett.

In the early years the council numbers were as high as 16 members including a mayor, deputy reeves and a warden. The numbers decreased over the years and in the 1940’s there were only 9 members including the mayor. By the mid 1950’s the number increased to 10 members of council plus the mayor. The number of councilors stayed the same until 2000 when the number decreased to 6 plus the mayor. During 2006, talks have taking place to increase the number of councilors, and in the 2010 election the number of councilors increased back to 10.

Elections took place in early December of year each. During the 1956 election, voters were asked to vote on the extending the term to two years. In a narrow defeat by 84 votes, it was rejected. During the 1960 election, voters were asked, “Are you in favor of extending the right to vote at municipal elections for members of council to all persons of the full age of twenty-one years who are British subjects and who have resided in the municipality for at least one year in accordance with municipal franchise extension act of 1958?” This was passed by 7,264 votes. In 1962, residents were asked again to vote on extending the term to two years. This time, by 6,406 votes, it was passed. Two year terms continued until 1971. There was another municipal election in October 1972 and then the two year terms continued until 1982. Three year terms began in 1982 and continued until 2006 when 4 year terms began.

In 1974, talk of the city implementing the ward system surfaced. On the ballots during 1974 election, two questions were asked ‘Are you in favour of the election of Aldermen by wards rather than by a general election?’ and ‘Are you in favour of a candidate for the office of Alderman being allowed to stand for election only in the ward in which he resides or in which he is qualified to vote in the event that a ward system of elections is adopted?’ Electorates voted yes on both of these questions. So the process of deciding new ward boundaries began. In 1977, a new Votomatic election system was looked to use in the next election. It was recommended to adopt this system at the time the new ward system was being implemented since all polling stations were being altered to reflect the new ward boundaries. The first ward based election took place in 1978 with the new non-paper based ballot system.

The first televised council meeting in the new council chambers took place on September 27, 1993.  The City of Kitchener continues to have the council meetings televised on a regular basis.

Members of Council with 20 or more years of service:

Dominic Cardillo – 1963-1982; 1983-1994 (M)
Geoff Lorentz – 1989- 2010
C. Siebert – 1932; 1937-38; 1940-45; 1947-56; 1961
John Smola – 1984- 2010
Henry Sturm – 1924-26; 1928; 1930-32, 1933-34 (M); 1936-42; 1944-53
Christina Weylie – 1984-2010
Carl Zehr – 1986-94; 1997- current (M)
Jim Zeigler – 1981-2002

The fonds consists of books, background information, newspaper articles, mementoes, videos and photographs

1: Correspondence – 1926 – 2012. 50cm

    This series consists of the correspondence and background information of the city council.

An index is available in Appendix A

  1. Photographs/Negatives – 1980 – 2000. 30cm

     This series consists of photo albums and photographs of mayors and council members and events.

    An index is available in Appendix B

  2. Videos – 1973-2005. 60cm.

    This series consist of videos of council meetings.

An index is available in Appendix C.

  1. Artifacts – 20cm.

    This series consist of pins, coins, coat of arms and a poster.

An index is available in Appendix D.

Appendix A
Series 1: Correspondence

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Guest Books 1939-1985 1-1 10910
Newspaper section on D. Cardillo 1994 2-1 10908
A Loving Look – Book 1984 2-2 10908
Miscellaneous correspondence 1984-1999 3-1 12002
Newspaper articles 1990-2005 4-1 11142
Spanish Magazine article on Mayor 2005 4-2 11142
Background Information 1854-1988 5-1 11143
Dominic Cardillo 25th Anniversary 1988 6-1 10942
Election Information 1988 6-2 10942
Invitation/programs 1999-2010 7-1 10913
Council Chamber Motion form 8-1 10906
Chain of Office 1985-1986 9-1 10171
Newspaper Articles 1950’s-1990’s 10-1 10158
Ward/Realignment Information 1926-1996 11-1 12855
General Information 1971-1975 12-1 11095
List of Kitchener Council Members 1854-2012 13-1 Excel spreadsheet
List of Kitchener Council – Years of Service 1854-2012 14-1 Word Document
Coat of Arms and Crest 1925 15-1 10141
List of Mementos 1991-1994 16-1 10927
Dominic Cardillo 16-2 10927
List of Mayor & Council 1854-2006 18-2 10929
Information 1988 32-1 10942
List of Historical Files n.d. 34-2 11723
Mayor’s remarks – Laurier 2006 37-1 11249
Dominic Cardillo 1930-1994 39-1 13305
Memento 2003 42-1 10843
City of Kitchener Meeting Schedule 2009-2012 43-1 11898
Posters re: Council 2007 44-1 11281
Crest & Seal 1916 46-1 10911
Articles Council members 2009 47-1 12418
Cheque 2008 48-1 14384

Appendix B
Series 2: Photographs/Negatives

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Photographs 1990’s 17-1 10919
Photographs – Mayor/Council events 1980’s-1990’s 17-2 10919
Mayor/Council Photographs 1981-2006 18-1 10929
Photographs 1980-1997 19-1 10921
Council Chamber n.d. 20-1 10927
Photographs 1980-2000 21-1 13711
Photographs n.d. 22-1 11176
Photographs 1995-1997 23-1 10948
Photographs 1980’s – 1990’s 24-1 10140
Photographs 1980’s 25-1 11146
Photographs 1983-1994 31-1 10948
Photographs 1998 34-1 11723
Negatives n.d. 35-1 10935
Photographs 1986 36-1 10905
Photos Chain of Office 2011 38-1 11898
Dominic Cardillo 1930-1994 39-2 13305
Negatives of Councillors 2003 41-1 12296
Council negatives 45-1 13592

Appendix C
Series 3: Videos

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Council Meetings 1990-2003 26-1 11177
Council Meetings 1973-2005 27-1 14534
Council Meetings 2006-2008 40-1 12990

Appendix D
Series 4: Artifacts

Title Date Volume/Item Box
Silver Spoons 1995 4-3 11142
Pins/coins 1990’s 27-2 14534
Corporate Seal n.d. 28-1 10138
Corporate Seal n.d. 29-1 11182
Poster n.d. 30-1 11201
Nickels 1937-1944 33-1 10945

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      The City of Kitchener follows the provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) regarding the privacy of personal information; therefore, some records might not be accessible.

      Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

      Members of the public and staff may request reproductions (e.g., photocopies, reprints of photographs, digitized images) from the City of Kitchener Corporate Archives for personal use and are charged the applicable cost of the reproduction plus any delivery, shipping and handling costs.

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