Collingwood council will likely be looking for people interested in sitting in the empty chair at the council table soon, depending on the outcome of one more vote happening in two weeks.
And they’d like input from residents before they decide who will get former Councillor Brandon Houston's seat.
The vote on Feb. 10 went in favour of opening up the seat to anyone interested through a formal application process with council appointing the new member from the pool of applicants. The decision, however, won't be final until another vote is taken in two weeks.
But the vote wasn’t unanimous on Monday, with some councillors wanting to choose different paths toward Houston’s successor being named.
Options presented by town staff to fill the vacancy during Monday’s meeting included:
- Appointment by council from a pool of applicants
- Appointment of someone who ran in the 2022 election.
- Appointment a member of a previous council
- Appointment of any other qualified individual who consents
- Call a by-election, which staff estimated would cost between $50,000 and $100,000 and would see the seat filled by June or July
“Although a by-election might be the purest option, it will take a lot of time before we would see someone in the seat,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin as reasons why she wasn’t interested in exploring that avenue.
Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer spoke in favour of the second option, which would see council appoint someone to the seat from the eligible candidates not voted in during the last municipal election.
In 2022, the five candidates who ran for a council seat but were not elected were Ian Chadwick, Steve Johns, Steve Berman, Cam Ecclestone and George Dickinson. Unsuccessful candidates for mayor were Mariane McLeod and Norm Sandberg, and for deputy mayor were Bob Madigan and Jordan Fleming (Fleming dropped out of the race).
“I think it’s of the utmost importance to follow a transparent process, and in my opinion, that includes a fulsome discussion of the 2022 election results,” said Fryer. “The 2022 vote gave us some guidance.”
Doherty spoke in favour of the first option, specifically as a lot has changed in politics since 2022.
“We’re looking at a different kind of political environment right now and I think that it behooves us to reach out and survey as wide a proportion of our residents to have qualified individuals come forward whether they have run for municipal council before or not,” she said.
Hamlin said she was in favour of the first option because anyone not elected in 2022 could also still apply under this option.
“It allows us to have a more fulsome list to find someone to join us on this council,” said Hamlin.
Council found themselves in a similar situation almost exactly three years ago, when then-councillor, Tina Comi, tendered her resignation from her council seat on Jan. 21, 2022, with council declaring her seat vacant on Jan. 24, 2022.
Under the municipal act, when a council declares a council seat vacant, municipalities must fill the vacancy within 60 days either through an appointment or by-election, depending on the circumstances.
In 2022, council appointed former Collingwood mayor Chris Carrier, who was one of the 14 people who applied for the vacant council seat.
During Monday’s meeting Fryer noted that he sat through the appointment process in 2022 as a potential candidate, but was not ultimately chosen for the seat then.
“I would have preferred to see the second-option step (appointment from eligible candidates from the 2022 election) at least taken to know council had a discussion about what the voter wanted,” he said.
During Monday’s meeting, four councillors out of six voted in favour of the appointment via application process option, with Coun. Chris Potts and Fryer opposed.
Coun. Rob Ring and Coun. Christopher Baines were absent, which proved to be a sticking point when Coun. Deb Doherty asked council to vote on locking-in the decision without a second vote in two weeks.
“We’ve been without an occupant in that seat for four months,” said Doherty. “This is more about the potential for more diversity on our council. Let’s endeavour to get it done more quickly.”
Councillors voted 3-3 to defeat Doherty's suggestion, with Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer, Coun. Chris Potts and Coun. Kathy Jeffery opposed.
“We have two councillors who unfortunately couldn’t attend today. I think their votes of support or non-support are important,” said Fryer.
“The public has heard our discussion and initial recommendation and now they have time to come and speak to us over the next two weeks on what we decided,” said Jeffery. “I think it’s important to get that public input.”
A decision on the process will come before councillors at their next regular meeting on Feb. 24. Contact information for councillors can be found here.