Ward 3 City Council Vacancy Appointment or By-Election - Toronto

Due to the Vacancy in Ward 3 created by Doug Holyday being elected MPP in the recent Provincial By-Election, City Council debated how to fill in that vacancy on Monday August 26, 2013 in a special meeting.

City Council Vacancy Appointment or By-Election were the options...

City Clerk presentation on Options

City Clerk's Staff gave a presentation on the two options, By-Election and Appointment, to better inform City Council what their choices were.

Afterwards there was Q&A by members of Council, which raised a number of issues. For instance, the 1/3 rule of time remaining within a present term of Council to skip a By-Election and go for an appointment was determined when City Council terms were 3 years and not the current 4 years.

The cost of an appointment in the single digit thousands contrasted greatly with the full blown cost of a Ward By-Election into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Couple that with the overlap in filing financial reporting required for a By-Election campaign with the running and then reporting of the campaign finances in the Regular 2014 Municipal Election, a can of worms so to speak of electoral outcomes were discussed.

Mayor Rob Ford's motion for a By-Election failed

YES - 14 : Raymond Cho, Gary Crawford, Vincent Crisanti, Frank Di Giorgio, Doug Ford, Rob Ford, Norman Kelly, Mike Layton, Peter Milczyn, Cesar Palacio, John Parker (Chair), Gord Perks, David Shiner, Michael Thompson

NO - 19 : Paul Ainslie, Ana Bailão, Shelley Carroll, Josh Colle, Janet Davis, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Sarah Doucette, John Filion, Paula Fletcher, Chin Lee, Pam McConnell, Mary-Margaret McMahon, Joe Mihevc, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Ron Moeser, James Pasternak, Jaye Robinson, Karen Stintz, Kristyn Wong-Tam

Absent - 11 : Maria Augimeri, Michelle Berardinetti, Mike Del Grande, Mary Fragedakis, Mark Grimes, Gloria Lindsay Luby, Giorgio Mammoliti, Josh Matlow, Frances Nunziata, Anthony Perruzza, Adam Vaughan

Councillor De Baeremaeker's motion for Appointment passes

In the end, Toronto City Council voted 22 to 11 to fill in the Vacancy with a Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre Appointment.

YES - 22 : Paul Ainslie, Ana Bailão, Shelley Carroll, Josh Colle, Janet Davis, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Sarah Doucette, John Filion, Paula Fletcher, Norman Kelly, Mike Layton, Chin Lee, Pam McConnell, Mary-Margaret McMahon, Joe Mihevc, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Ron Moeser, James Pasternak, Gord Perks, Jaye Robinson, Karen Stintz, Kristyn Wong-Tam

NO - 11 : Raymond Cho, Gary Crawford, Vincent Crisanti, Frank Di Giorgio, Doug Ford, Rob Ford, Peter Milczyn, Cesar Palacio, John Parker (Chair), David Shiner, Michael Thompson

Absent - 11 : Maria Augimeri, Michelle Berardinetti, Mike Del Grande, Mary Fragedakis, Mark Grimes, Gloria Lindsay Luby, Giorgio Mammoliti, Josh Matlow, Frances Nunziata, Anthony Perruzza, Adam Vaughan

Mayor Rob Ford's Video of people wanting a By-Election

Mayor Rob Ford had a volunteer record and edit a short video of people who attended the Ward 3 Community Meeting on August 21 2013 to give feedback to the Mayor on whether they wanted a By-Election or an Appointment as the best way to fill in the vacancy in Ward 3.

Mayor Rob Ford

Mayor Rob Ford makes his best pitch for going with an By-Election to fill in the ward 3 vacancy. He then answers Questions from City Councillors on how he might be involved in the actual election. A number of Councillors didn't seem to like his answers, and later would vote the other way.

Photos

Councillor Peter Milczyn

Peter Milczyn

After City Council voted 22-11 in favour of Appointing an interim City Councillor to Ward 3, Etobicoke Councillor Peter Milczyn held a media scrum in the press gallery area of The Council Chamber. He would have preferred a By-Election.

Glenn De Baeremaeker

Scarborough Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker shares some comments in a media scrum after his motion for an Appointment to fill in the Ward 3 vacancy passed 22-11.

Doug Ford

Ward 2 Etobicoke Councillor Doug Ford seemed quite furious at the decision taken by City Council to go for an Appointment rather than a full-on Municipal By-Election.