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Council votes in favour of vacancy policy

THUNDER BAY -- City council is one step closer to having an official vacancy policy.
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(Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- City council is one step closer to having an official vacancy policy.

Council on Monday night voted in favour of the proposal that would see any openings in the first three years following a general election filled by a byelection, with openings in the fourth year up to the final 90 days filled by appointment. Any openings in the final 90 days before an election would remain vacant.

The motion passed by a 7-4 margin, with Coun. Joe Virdiramo, Larry Hebert, Frank Pullia voting against it.

The proposal was submitted by Coun. Iain Angus, who in 2011 also brought forward a similar idea.

He said he believes an official policy is required because it will provide clarity and assurance to members of council as well as the general public if ever there is an opening at the table that it will be filled in a fair way.

Having the policy would guarantee that the same decisions would be made in all cases, rather than be up to the discretion of individual circumstances.

The city has seen more than a dozen vacancies such 1970, all but one of which was filled by appointing the first runner-up.

The most recent vacancy came up in 2007 when elected candidate Andy Savela resigned his McKellar post a little more than a year into his term. Council ultimately appointed the first runner-up, Robert Tuchenhagen, to fill the opening.

Coun. Trevor Giertuga supported the policy and said appointing the first runner-up, especially when that person had a low vote share, can contradict the direction provided by the electorate.

“Do we want to appoint someone who had 15 per cent of the vote,” he asked.

Coun. Joe Virdiramo was one of the most vocal opponents to the policy, calling it unnecessary. He said the Municipal Act provides council with the flexibility to either appoint or hold a byelection, so it doesn’t make sense to take away an option.

Only a small number of Ontario municipalities -- Toronto, Burlington and Oakville -- have official policies.

He also questioned why the policy was being brought forward now, only months after the most recent vote. He wondered if it was being brought forward because a member of council might have other aspirations.

“I don’t see why we need this policy, unless there’s something I don’t know. I mean, I know there’s a federal election coming up,” Virdiramo said.

Two runner-ups in last October's vote, sixth-place at-large contender Tamara Johnson and second-place Current River candidate Andy Wolff, were among those in chambers to hear the debate.

Wolff said he would have preferred a deferral until more information was available on costs, allowing more time for public input. He was OK with some of what council approved. 

"I have no problem with byelections within the first three years (in the wards) provided there is hand-count audits of the machines.  However, if in the final year an appointment is made, it should be the runner up.  Having city council decide on this would bring up issues of conflict of interest, resentment from the public and former candidates."

Wolff added an at-large vacancy should always be filled by the runner-up while the mayor's position should be filled by the top finisher in the at-large race, with procedures to replace the at-large vacancy then going into effect. 

Rydholm questioned whether the costs of a byelection, which city clerk John Hannam estimated at about $50,000 for a ward race and $75,000 for an at-large contest, would be worth it amidst a difficult budget season.

“I know there are nights we’ll sit around this table and go round, round and round about $50,000, $20,000 or even $10,000,” she said.





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