Ballard win leaves vacancy to fill on Aurora Council

June 13, 2014 · 0 Comments

(Chris and Audrey Ballard are celebrated with a blast of silly string and confetti at the Newmarket Legion on Thursday night. Auroran photo by Brock Weir)

By Brock Weir

As Chris Ballard prepares to head to Queen’s Park this month, he leaves behind a vacancy on Aurora Council.

According to the Municipal Act, Council now has 60 days to appoint someone to fill Ballard’s seat. His seat must be formally declared vacant at the next meeting of Council and contenders for the appointment must be a Canadian Citizen, 18 years of age or older, and a resident of the community.

At this time, it has not been determined if a Special Council meeting will be held to discuss the matter, or if it will be put on the backburner for the next meeting of Council scheduled for June 24.

“In the event of a vacancy, the Town Clerk will likely provide some recommendations for Council’s consideration, but it is purely at Council’s discretion who they wish to appoint,” said Michael Kemp, Aurora’s Manager of Corporate Communications.

According to Mr. Kemp, Council cannot place restrictions on the potential appointee, such as a stipulation such an appointee must not subsequently put their name forward as a candidate in the October 27 municipal election.

Some Councillors have said, however, that an appointee with no aspirations in that regard would be the preferred option.

Aurora Council last had to fill a vacancy in 2008 following the resignation of councillor Grace Marsh. After a contentious debate, the Council of the day ultimately opted to appoint runner-up John Gallo to the position. Gallo came in ninth for eight available Council seats.

If this Council looks in that direction, finishing in the ninth position after the 2010 Municipal Election was now-former councillor Stephen Granger.