Article content continued

“It shows a diversity of opinion,” he said. “That’s the way democracy should be.”

Coun. Jared Zaifman emerged as one of the greatest collaborators, agreeing with 10 of his council colleagues at least 70 per cent of the time, and second only to Mayor Matt Brown in the percentage of votes that went his way.

Brown saw success in 91.6 per cent of non-unanimous council votes, a respectable rate that shows consensus-building, Ross said, though not as high as Edmonton mayor Don Iveson when Ross crunched that council’s voting numbers a few years ago.

Zaifman was right behind Brown with 89.1 per cent.

“One of the biggest components for myself as a councillor was really about relationship building,” he said. “It’s always been a goal for me that if I can work well with others on a number of issues, there’s the possibility that I can get a lot more done that way.”

Zaifman is more of a quality over quantity speaker at council, often quiet but occasionally giving a passionate statement.

The data paints Turner as something of an outsider, voting against the pack about 30 per cent of the time. His votes also didn’t show any strong relationships with other councillors, siding with each of the other 14 members of council only 55 to 65 per cent of the time on non-unanimous votes.

Despite describing himself as something of a consensus builder, Turner took the numbers in stride.

“That’s the great thing about big data, it’s pulled out things that you wouldn’t necessarily look to find. It challenges your assumptions,” he said. “It leads me to do a little bit of self-reflection.”

Brown and Coun. Maureen Cassidy voted with one another the most, on 88.4 per cent of the votes Ross analyzed.

Helmer and Coun. Phil Squire were at loggerheads more than half the time.

Squire, often considered the lone wolf on council, voted with the majority on non-unanimous council votes 72.5 per cent of the time.

Eleven current councillors are running for re-election in the Oct. 22 municipal election.

Ross said, personally, he likes to see ward representatives that will stand up for the people who elected them.

“Seeing that a lot of councillors aren’t afraid to break ranks or stand up for, hopefully, their ward – even if no one else agrees with them – is actually an encouraging sign, I’d say.”

mstacey@postmedia.com

twitter.com/MeganatLFPress

BY THE NUMBERS: Council voting patterns in non-unanimous votes this term. Go to www.mikerobe007.ca/2018/09/london-city-council.html for the full analysis.

91.6%: Mayor Matt Brown is on the winning side of non-unanimous votes more than anyone else on council.

89.1%: Jared Zaifman has the second highest vote success rate.

88.4%: Brown and Maureen Cassidy agree more than any other members of council.

72.5%: Phil Squire voted with the majority less than three-quarters of the time.

55.6%: Anna Hopkins and Jesse Helmer voted with each other about half the time.

48.7%: Squire and Helmer voted with each other less than half the time.