Wellington North to hold byelection for Ward 3 seat

A byelection will be held to fill the vacancy in Ward 3, Wellington North council decided on Monday night.

The draft date for the byelection is Nov. 16, with early voting on Nov 7.

The seat was left open when Ward 3 councillor Mark Goetz resigned at the June 22 council meeting.

Council could have filled the seat by appointment or through a byelection, but it unanimously decided on the latter at the July 13 meeting.

“I think it’s the only fair way to do it. I don’t think we can democratically appoint anyone,” said councillor Steve McCabe. “I don’t think appointment serves the interest of Ward 3.”

While the recommendations prepared by CAO Michael Givens and clerk Karren Wallace mentioned  voter fatigue may be a factor in voter turnout  – with the provincial, municipal and federal elections happening in the span of a year and a half – councillors felt it was in the best interests of Ward 3 to hold a byelection.

“It’s open and transparent and if it was in my ward where I live, I would want the right to be able to vote for who I want to represent me and the rest of the municipality,” said councillor Sherry Burke.

Councillors also brought up the issue of timing. There is more than  three years left on the term.

“I’ll echo both the comments including the time, the amount of time that’s left on the term I think plays a role too,” said councillor Dan Yake.

Mayor Andy Lennox stated he looked into how other municipalities handled similar situations and most had policies for holding byelections depending on the time frame.

“For me, timing is definitely an issue. If we were nine months, six months, or maybe even a year from an election, I would be much more amenable to an appointment, but I think, given the time frame involved, I think a byelection is the appropriate way to go,” said Lennox.

Wellington North staff anticipate the byelection would cost approximately $7,500, not including staff time.

In order to run in the election, a candidate must be a resident, owner, or tenant or the spouse of a resident, owner or tenant in Wellington North. However they do not have to be a resident of Ward 3.

Nominations will be open for filing Aug. 11 and remain open until Oct. 2.

There are approximately 1,200 eligible voters in Ward 3 and election results from 2014 show that 415 votes were cast for the three candidates that ran in the ward.

 

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