February 11, 2020, is going to be an interesting night. On that evening, Huntsville Council will have the daunting task of appointing one of eleven candidates vying for the position of Huntsville Ward Councillor.
Four of the candidates—Ken Inglis, Peggy Peterson, Helena Renwick, and Bob Stone—are back after running unsuccessfully in Huntsville’s 2018 municipal election.
Charles Cooper, who ran for mayor of Lake of Bays in 2018 but did not get in, has also thrown his hat in the ring. Cory Clarke, son of former Huntsville Mayor Len Clarke, has also put his name forward. He is joined by David Caplan, Kathleen de Vries, Mallary Duncan, Doug Howell, and Jamie Jordan.
Each candidate will be given 10 minutes to introduce themselves and make their pitch as to why they should be the one to fill the council vacancy. They will also field up to three questions from council members.
Councillors will be required to write the name of the candidate they’re voting for on a card and hold it up while municipal staff makes note of their selection. Through a process of elimination, the candidate who makes it to the last round with the most votes will be declared as the new Huntsville Ward Councillor.
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, and eleven candidates applied but just one of them will be successful on Tuesday evening. The special Huntsville Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. The meeting will not be televised, according to the agenda on the municipality’s website.
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Hi, Ralph ~
Just as information … the reason the meeting wasn’t televised is because it took place at the same time as the weekly Rotary Bingo, which is pre-scheduled. But there will be a story on Cogeco News tomorrow, so I’m sure there was a reporter there..
What ever happened to the secret ballot? I, for one, see absolutely no benefit in having my vote(s) revealed to all and sundry. With a large portion of Council’s tenure yet to be completed; the successful candidate may already feel alienated from some of his colleagues (hardly a consensus-building exercise). And the 10 unsuccessful candidates may harbour bad feelings against a few Councillors.
There are already cliques in Council: Let’s not produce another one.
Ralph, why are you trying to undermine the authority of the fathers of our town?. They know better than we do what’s good for us. Let’s trust them limitlessly and everything will be fine and maybe even better than fine. Power is a huge burden that our councillors have to bear for several years to make the people of Huntsville live better. Let us thank fate for granting us his grace by sending us such providential people.
Of course it will not be televised.
There would be too many witnesses. Lol.