Meaford Council (Image from Meaford YouTube)
Meaford is calling for nominees to fill a vacant seat on council.
Council approved taking applications to fill the seat during a meeting on Monday and comes after council declared the seat vacant earlier this month following Steven Bartley resigning from the role as his family plans to move to Chatsworth, outside the boundaries of Meaford.
Council was presented three options to fill Bartley’s seat, including appointing following calling for nominees, appointing a candidate who ran in the previous election, and holding a by-election.
The first option will have municipal staff review submitted applications for council to consider in an open session, allowing each candidate an opportunity to read a statement regarding their interest and qualifications to fill the seat.
Council will then vote on the candidate to sit in for the rest of the term of council. The next scheduled election is set for October 2026.
Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney says she feels this is the more transparent and democratic option to fill the seat.
“I think we always talk about public engagement and we want our public to be aware and to be involved in the aspects of council that are appropriate for them and to me, it may be just 10 months, but it is 10 months and a lot is going to happen in that time frame, we are going to see a lot of important reports come to us and we have got budget to deal with and I think it behoves us to fill that seat through this process by allowing people to come in and apply,” says Keaveney.
Mayor Ross Kentner adds this method also presents an opportunity for those who ran in the previous election to try again.
“I think it is critically important that we do not in any way leave the impression that this is a closed club that isn’t open to every citizen of Meaford. It’s really important that we show that people should be thinking about the next election, it’s just around the corner,” says Kentner.