Douro-Dummer had to make some decisions on Tuesday evening regarding the replacement of a council member.
The Dummer Ward Councillor seat was declared vacant as Councillor Adam Vervoort tendered his resignation from Council on May 30 of this year.
Vervoort appeared during the public comment period of the meeting and explained he had given up his seat to move back to Western Ontario for personal reasons and to be closer to family.
Vervoort gave his thanks to his fellow council members, staff and most importantly the community.
When a council seat becomes vacant it is up to council to choose the method in which that seat is filled.
Council must adhere to the following rules once a vacancy has been declared according to the report submitted by deputy CAO Martina Chait-Hartwig:
1. Within 60 days after the day a declaration of vacancy is made with respect to the vacancy, the municipality shall,
a. appoint a person to fill the vacancy orb. pass a by-law requiring a by-election be held to fill the vacancy.
According to the report there are basically four options council has to fill the vacant seat.T
he first option is the appointment process. In this scenario council can appoint the runner up from the previous municipal election, or they can appoint any other candidate in said election.
The second option is an appointment through a call for applications. In this instance the municipality reaches out to the community for perspective candidates to fill the seat.
Staff has created a timeline for such an instance. The process would begin on June 30 with search for applications and the closing date for applications would be July 31 at 2pm.
Option three is a direct appointment. This option would be available for any member of the public.
The perspective candidate would have to be nominated by a council member and would require a seconder. Once a candidate is chosen, council must vote.The final option is a by-election.
If this option is chosen the township must run the by-election in accordance with the municipal act.
Nomination day must be no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days after the seat has been declared vacant and voting day shall be no more than 45 days after nomination day.
A timeline has also been created for the by-election option which would see ballots dropped on October 16, 2025.
Staff recommended using telephone and internet voting if council chooses this option because it is a method that has been used in the past and if paper ballots were introduced during the by-election it would cost more and would take longer.
The report recommended that council choose one of the appointment options.
Deputy mayor Harold Nelson asked Chait-Hartwig if she had any idea what a by-election would cost.
Chait-Hartwig pointed to a by-election that took place in Port Hope and told council that they paid approximately $25,000 not including staff time and additional resources.
Councillor Ray Johnston moved that they use the first option and appoint someone from the municipal election of 2022.
Councillor Tom Watt agreed, but specified it should be the runner up in the Dummer Ward.
In this case it was Shelagh Landsmann who has served on council for a number of terms. Watt commented that Landsmann is already trained and experienced.
The question arose as to what avenue they would take if the runner up of the 2022 election was unwilling or unable to occupy the seat.
It was decided that Landsmann will be asked if she could fill the seat and if she declines a special meeting will be held to see if there were other candidates on the ballot that could fit the bill.
The notion passed.
