Council will hear rules for appointing an acting mayor
Administrator | Nov 29, 2017 | Comments 8
Mayor Robert Quaiff
At Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, council will hear a staff report on municipal act rules and options available surrounding the appointment of an acting mayor for Prince Edward County and rates of pay for 2018.
Mayor Robert Quaiff accepted the nomination as the Bay of Quinte Liberal Party candidate for the June 7 provincial election. He will carry out his duties as mayor until the writ drops for the 28-day campaign period – expected in early May.
Quaiff will then take leave of office until June 2018. If he wins the provincial seat, he becomes disqualfied from holding office as mayor.
The County’s procedure bylaw states the mayor may assign or delegate any of the duties of the office to any councillor. If he does not assign or delegate, the municipality will do so.
The Municipal Election Act states no by-elections are allowed after March 31 in an election year. Appointments may include a current member of council, the next in line from a previous election, a previous member of council or staff may be directed to advertise for interested parties.
If council fills the mayor’s chair with a current member of council, that person’s seat becomes vacant. A person filling the newly-vacant councillor’s seat will be chosen from the next in line from the previous election for the ward seat, or a previous member of council, or staff may be directed to advertise for interested parties.
A report recommending council remuneration amounts for 2018 will also be presented, showing an almost 1.5 per cent cost if living increase, though the mileage rate will remain at 2013 levels at 50 cents per kilometre.
The report of Corporate Services and Finance recommends approval of the mayor’s pay at $39,116; councillors at $19,558; committee chairs at $1,630 and committee meeting chair honorariums at $132.
The 2016 rates were $38,539 for the mayor; $19,269 for councillors, $1,606 for committee chairs and $130 for committee meetings.
Filed Under: Local News
Ask a past Mayor? That is not acceptable. Just let Council decide who is best to lead whether they run for the position in October or not. Then a new Councilor needs to be appointed replacing the Acting Mayor.
Smart move Mr.Quaiff. No-win situation for you to choose the Acting Mayor.
Is there not already a “roster” of “Acting Mayor” in place?
One person from Council who each month fills in for the Mayor when needed. If you used that list,(assuming there is one) no one Councillor would have an advantage over others if they then decided to run for Mayor later. hmmmmm…..
While I in no way hold the Mayor responsible for Council’s decision re: size of Council, because he did stay true to his word. However, the decision making ability shown by the rest of Council resulted in an OMB Hearing – another example of a flawed government, which cost the taxpayers a lot of money. My point is, is that Council has proven they are incapable of making unselfish internal political decisions, that benefits this community. I hope they will consider asking a past Mayor or current councillor who will commit to not running in the upcoming election. Considering there will be two fewer council positions -it should make it easier to find one not running in the 2018 election-appoint one of them. To give this appointment to a councillor planning to run for Mayor is unfair to both the community and to any potential challengers. It will be interesting to see how Council deals with this and to see if they will ask for public input. Our current Mayor has the responsibility to ensure that a proper process takes place – he has to take a “hands-on” role.
Everyone , I have informed Council that they will make the decision on who would be appointed as Acting Mayor , it is an important decision , whoever they chose , will certainly involve more than signing chegues and bylaws , they will be the voice and Mayor of this amazing Municipality .
The Mayor has stated that he wants to select someone who is not running for Mayor in the next upcoming election. But he also said that if unsuccessful provincially he may choose to run for Mayor again. This in its self puts him in conflict in making the appointment himself. This is a situation created by his own doing. It makes the most sense for Council to be led by the Councillor of their choice. In the Intelligencer article the Mayor makes it sound like the Acting Mayor would have very little to do other than sign a few cheques. That’s malarky . The Acting Mayor could face a multitude of challenges and decisions from new policy to emergencies.
What council and the Mayor need to remember is that this community comes first over anyone’s personal ambitions. Whoever is appointed needs to commit to NOT running for Mayor in the upcoming election – to do otherwise places far too much power in the hands of the Mayor and gives the appointee a huge advantage over any potential challenger(s). Bottom line is that the next Mayor and councillor should be voted on by the people, without a lot of backroom nonsense taking place before the next election.
http://www.intelligencer.ca/2017/12/22/replacing-quaiff-a-query
Why is the Mayor so opposed to Council determining the Acting Mayor? That would remove any issue and put in place a person that continues the term to election time if needed without interruption.