{"id":7287,"date":"2014-07-09T16:53:44","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T20:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=7287"},"modified":"2014-07-16T17:39:57","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T21:39:57","slug":"new-and-familiar-faces-consider-run-for-council-vacancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/new-and-familiar-faces-consider-run-for-council-vacancy\/","title":{"rendered":"New and familiar faces consider run for Council vacancy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Familiar faces are looking to fill the vacancy left on Council by MPP Chris Ballard. <\/p>\n

Former councillor Bob McRoberts confirms to The Auroran that he will be applying to fill the eighth Council seat for the remainder of the 2010-2014 term of office. Mr. McRoberts, who served as deputy mayor during the 2006-2010 Council term could also be joined in the running by Grace Marsh who served as councillor from 2006 \u2013 2008, before resigning mid-term to be replaced with incumbent Councillor John Gallo. <\/p>\n

Over the past two years, Mr. McRoberts has often been present in the Council chamber looking on as a spectator and says he has often found himself itching to throw in his \u201ctwo cents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI care about what happens in Aurora, having lived here almost all of my life,\u201d says Mr. McRoberts. \u201cI would like to be a part of the decision-making. I find the shortness of this interim position attractive. There have been a bunch of occasions this term when I have sat in the gallery wishing I was at the table to put in my two cents worth and, overall, I feel that I have had a chance to recharge my batteries since the last term and regain my sense of humour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. McRoberts did not seek re-election in 2010. In the meantime, he says it has been like \u201chitting the refresh button\u201d on the computer and he has regained a \u201cfresh outlook\u201d on the issues that are going on in Aurora today. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2010, I just felt at the time I needed a break,\u201d he says. \u201cI needed to step back and see what parts of my life I might be missing, given the time commitment and just other components of my life, [but] I care about what goes on. I have urges every so often of wanting to be a part of what they are talking about, but I don\u2019t feel I want to commit to four years worth of that. I am finding the short term of this position to be attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she has not, at press time, definitively decided whether or not to seek the vacant Council seat for the remainder of the term, Ms. Marsh says she is \u201cseriously considering\u201d it and views it as a way to give back to the community. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am thinking about it because I am not running for Council in the fall and I have made that decision,\u201d she says. \u201cThis would be a way to give back to the community I didn\u2019t finish serving the last time. It would be an opportunity for me to give back in a small repayment for not finishing my term the last time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am pretty up to speed on the issues, there is no learning curve for me, I have kept in touch with pretty much everything that is going on because [I serve on] the Committee of Adjustment, so I think I am a good candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back over her two years on Council, Ms. Marsh recalls it being \u201ca losing battle\u201d and a \u201ctoxic work environment,\u201d an issue clouded by what she describes as her \u201cconcern about a number of threats of lawsuits.\u201d That being said, she says she fully anticipates being asked by Councillors \u2013 and indeed the public \u2013 of why she wouldn\u2019t \u201cquit again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will simply say, \u2018I am standing before you today committing to finish this term,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t make the commitment if I didn\u2019t intend to finish it. My desire to serve the community has never lessened and that is probably the biggest thing for me. I have done it through other means like the Committee of Adjustment and the Rotary Club, but I still have that will to serve. I do feel like helping out this Council in the spot they are in is a way to give back and I think it is unselfish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spot is this: Whether they like it or not, Council is required by Provincial legislation to fill Mr. Ballard\u2019s seat within 60 days of it being declared vacant. That clock began counting down on June 24. <\/p>\n

Although Councillors were nearly unanimous in arguing what they felt was a lack of logic and common sense in having to fill the seat with only a handful of Council meetings left until the new Council is sworn in in December, legislation is the legislation and they opted to fill the vacancy at the July 29 Council meeting.<\/p>\n

There, those who have applied for the position will have three minutes to make their respective pitches to Mayor Dawe and the remaining seven Councillors, who will then each have the opportunity to ask two questions of the candidates, and deliberations over who will ultimately be appointed to the post will be done at the Council table in public view. <\/p>\n

Although Councillor Wendy Gaertner spoke in favour of simply moving down the line of non-elected candidates from the 2010 election to fill the seat, the process described was approved 7 \u2013 1 with Councillor Evelyn Buck voting against it. <\/p>\n

First-time Council candidate Svetla Topouzova also says she is putting her name forward for consideration on July 29. She says this is an \u201cexcellent opportunity\u201d for anyone looking to join Council. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very good opportunity for anyone who wants to serve as a Councillor, to step forward and make a presentation about what he or she believes will be their role as Councillor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Also sensing an opportunity is first-time candidate Harold Kim. While he is not necessarily of the view that someone in the running for the October election should be appointed for the interim position, if it is a possibility he wants to be in the thick of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I have much of a choice than to go ahead and present myself as a candidate for the position,\u201d he says. \u201cI think Council will vote for someone who is not going to be running. If the person came in and said they weren\u2019t going to be running, and then changed their mind, I think in the public\u2019s eye, their integrity will be challenged.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he says it is important for Council, and the public, to know he is a candidate, he wants to make his position clear on the appointment. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think I should be right there in the top from professional and practical experiences,\u201d he says. \u201cIf it does give you an advantage, then why not leverage that? It is my hope that someone who is not planning on running get that position, but I think it is important to know where I stand from an integrity perspective. <\/p>\n

The candidates in positions nine, 10, and eleven \u2013 former councillors Stephen Granger, Al Wilson and Evelina MacEachern, respectively \u2013 did not respond by press time to questions on whether they were interested in stepping up to fill the seat.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Familiar faces are looking to fill the vacancy left on Council by MPP Chris Ballard. <\/p>\n

Former councillor Bob McRoberts confirms to The Auroran that he will be applying to fill…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-1Tx","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 11:42:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}