HUNTSVILLE, ON-The Huntsville council decided how they are going to appoint a new mayor.
On November 26th, Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano and other councilors decided that they were going to appoint a current council member to be their new mayor.
While the popular vote was to appoint a current member, councilors like Tim Withey advocated another option of holding an election which would have added $107,500 to the 2020 operating budget saying that a “closed group shouldn’t make a decision like this.”
With each councillor making valid points for which option they think would be best, the council decided between appointing a current council member, appointing a candidate who ran in the 2018 municipal election, accept applications from someone qualified to hold the position or to hold another election.
Most of the councilors wanted to appoint someone from the current members including Councilor Nancy Alcock who said she believes that they have a fine selection of members to choose from.
Other members referenced their constituents that they have spoken to, most advocating that a councilor be appointed to the position.
In an interview with the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom, Terziano said that council is allowed to choose between having an election and appointment when deciding a new mayor between terms. “As the chair of the meeting I wasn’t allowed to really offer pros and cons of any of the paths we could take, but I was in favour of appointing a current member of council.”
Councilors will be reconvening on December 17th with their decision on who they will appoint.