A Ward 3 by-election will be held on Nov. 4 to replace Councillor Terry Bell, who vacated his seat by missing successive council meetings. Photo Credit: Township of West Lincoln.
West Lincoln Town Council has voted to hold a by-election to fill a vacancy created by the departure of Ward 3 representative Terry Bell, who has been battling health challenges.
Bell officially vacated his seat on May 28 because of repeated absences.
Council is expected to adopt a by-law at an Aug. 12 meeting that sets the rules for the by-election. The nomination period is expected to open on Aug. 13, the day after council votes on the rules for the contest. Nominations are expected to close on Sept. 20, with election day expected to be Nov. 4.
When a vacancy is created mid-term, council has the option of holding a by-election or appointing someone to fill the seat until the next municipal election, scheduled for 2026. Council chose to hold an election, given that half of the term remains.
A report presented to council by Justin Paylove, Acting Director of Legislative Services/Clerk, noted that the seat became vacant because Bell had missed three successive months of council meetings without being authorized to do so by a resolution of council.
Council considered the matter and opted in favour of an election on its July 15 meeting.
Councillor Jason Trombetta (Ward 1) was the first to speak after Paylove presented the options, which included a by-election, appointing the third-place candidate from the 2022 election, or holding an open appointment application process.
Trombetta spoke in favour of a by-election.
Other councillors joined Trombetta with the same perspective.
“We still have two years left in this term,” echoed Councillor Shelley Bradaric (Ward 2), who herself was appointed to council to fill a vacancy in 2020 before winning her own mandate in 2022. “A by-election would be the way I would support as well.”
Councillor William Reilly (Ward 3), attending the meeting virtually, suggested that either an appointment or a by-election would be a suitable option. However, he too ultimately supported a by-election.
“We owe it to the people” to have a by-election, said Reilly.
Reilly noted that in the past appointments have been made when a runner-up in the previous election had a vote tally close to the two successful candidates.
In the case of the Ward 3 vacancy, no candidate came close to receiving the number of votes either of the two successful candidates received, suggesting an appointed new member would not have a mandate from voters.
West Lincoln has three wards, with the top two candidates in each ward winning a mandate to join council when general elections are held.
Other councillors agreed with the comments made by Bradaric and Reilly.
Mayor Cheryl Ganann also spoke out in support of a by-election.
Ganann noted that she supported a by-election particularly because more than half of Council’s current term remains.
“For me, that’s a factor, how much of the term is left,” said Ganann.
Only Councillor Mike Rehner (Ward 1) voted against holding a by-election. All of council’s other five members voted in favour.
The by-election is expected to cost West Lincoln taxpayers $30,000.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
