Former Huntsville Councillor Bob Stone will return to the council table as the newly minted Huntsville Ward Councillor following a nail-biter of an appointment process at a special council meeting on Feb. 11, 2020.
Eleven candidates applied for the position. Four of them—Ken Inglis, Peggy Peterson, Helena Renwick, and Bob Stone—ran unsuccessfully in Huntsville’s 2018 municipal election.
The other candidates were Charles Cooper, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Lake of Bays in 2018, Cory Clarke, the son of former Huntsville Mayor Len Clarke, David Caplan, Kathleen de Vries May, Mallary Duncan, Doug Howell, and Jamie Jordan.
Each candidate was allotted 10 minutes at the meeting to introduce themselves and field questions from council members before councillors were asked to simultaneously write their choice on a card and hold it up for all to see.
Councillor Tim Withey, an insurance broker, declared a conflict and recused himself from voting for a candidate. With Councillor Withey not voting and a council vacancy, a candidate needed four votes in their favour to be successful.
It took just two rounds to declare a winner. On the first round, Bob Stone and Helena Renwick were tied with Mayor Karin Terziano and councillors Dione Schumacher and Jason FitzGerald voting for Renwick and councillors Brian Thompson, Dan Armour and Nancy Alcock voting for Stone. Councillor Jonathan Wiebe, who would later break the tie, voted for David Caplan on the first round.
On the second round, Councillor Wiebe broke the tie and voted for Stone along with Alcock, Thomspon, and Armour, thereby giving Stone the four votes he needed to be declared the winner.
Following the meeting, Stone described the process as horribly nerve-wracking. “It really was and Helena did a wonderful job with her speech and her answers to her questions and I very much feel badly for her. She said she’s going to meet me at the next election and kick my ass so I say bring it on, but it’s all good. I’m excited to be back. Last term truly was a passion. When somebody gave me a call, I couldn’t wait to get to their door to see how I could help, and I just can’t wait,” he said.
The position became vacant when former Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison ran federally in last October’s election and succeeded in becoming Member of Parliament for Parry Sound-Muskoka. Council proceeded to appoint Deputy Mayor and Huntsville Ward Councillor Karin Terziano as Mayor, which meant her Huntsville Ward seat became vacant.
At their January meeting, council voted unanimously to fill Terziano’s former ward by appointment.
Watch Bob Stone being sworn in as Huntsville Ward Councillor below.
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Waldi Frankiewicz says
No one is in a hurry to congratulate the newly elected counsellor ???. The examination board has had a lot of hard and exhausting work . It’s hard to find the right candidate. I have been waiting for this moment with impatience and anxiety in my heart.The question of whether our beloved examination board consisting of our respected counselors will be able to find the right candidate was constantly being asked. When I read this touching news in Doppler Huntsville, I realized that the worst is over. The citizens of Huntsville can sleep peacefully from now on. Their fate is in good hands.
Randy Spencer says
Bob congrats to you, as a former business owner on Main Street & in your ward I can say yes when I called you you did reply and showed up to help with the problem. Not the same could be said for the District who dragged their feet for 9 months. Welcome back, Helena would have been a great choice as well so thank you to all who showed interest in being involved with the process.
Susan Vtech says
Democarcy and politics in action.
We can all sleep better for the next three years.