Should Sudbury councillors live in their wards?

There are some candidates in this municipal election who won't be able to vote for themselves.

And in some Greater Sudbury wards, would-be councillors are being asked for their address as well as their opinions on city issues.

• Take our poll: Do you think councillors need to live in the ward they represent?

Michael Cullen wants to be the next city councillor for Ward 8.

But he lives in Ward 10, and has for nearly two decades.

However, Cullen said he feels more connected to Ward 8 and the New Sudbury neighbourhood where he grew up.

"When I go to houses, I say, ‘I know your son or I knew your daughter, or we used to party in your house.’ There's more connection, absolutely, for me."

Cullen said a few voters have asked him if he lives in the ward, which isn't a requirement to be councillor.

Terry Kett gets asked that as well.

He previously represented the Lively area, then ran in Minnow Lake Ward 11 in the last election.

At the time, he didn't live there, but promised during the campaign that he would move. He did so a few years ago.

But Kett doesn't believe councillors should have to live in their wards, even though he is happy he made the move.

"I know that since I moved in the ward, I feel more comfortable. I feel more effective, more part of the community."

Kett said the tricky part has been getting the word out about his move—something he is making sure to mention when he knocks on doors in this election.

'It shocked us'

But some candidates in this election are trying to make an issue of where their opponents live.

Fern Bidal says he couldn't believe it when one of his opponents mentioned in a recent debate that he doesn't live in Ward 6.

"It shocked us, because I didn't know where this character lived."

Rene Lapierre says he lives in Ward 5, about a kilometre from the border with Ward 6, which is somewhere around the border between Val Caron and Hanmer.

But he doesn't think it will keep him from being a good city councillor.

"When people ask me, I'm honest about it and I don't lie and I tell them flat out and they seem to be satisfied with my answer that I'm a resident of Valley East."

But Fern Bidal thinks councillors should have to live or own property in their ward.

If elected, he said he'll table a motion that would see the city change its election rules.

"Yes, I would because people want that. People want someone from their ward."

How much of an issue this is for voters won't be known until election day.

But in the last term, at least two Sudbury city councillors represented wards in which they didn't live.