City council should simply appoint someone to fill Doug Holyday’s seat on council rather than holding a costly byelection with less than a year until Toronotnians go to the polls, say two long-time city councillors.
Ward 21 St Paul’s councillor Joe Mihevc and Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth councillor Paula Fletcher made the comments to CP24 Friday morning in the wake of former Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday claiming victory in a hotly-contested provincial byelection in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
Holyday, who had represented Etobicoke Centre on council since 2000, defeated fellow city councillor and Liberal candidate Peter Milczyn by about 1,500 votes in the race, which was one of five byelections held in the province Thursday.
“Clearly the timing calls for an appointment and definitely not a byelection,” Mihevc said. “The byelection could not take place until the new year when we would already be starting the process for the general election in October 2014, so one would be running into the other and there would be a $200,000 cost that really is avoidable. The best thing at this point is to have a selection process where everyone can apply.”
“The most responsible thing to do at this juncture would be an appointment,” Fletcher added. “By the time we get around to it we will already be in an election year and it would be very confusing and very expensive. I think the public would say ‘Why are you spending $200,000 when the person will just be there eight months?’”
According to the City of Toronto act, council must declare Holyday’s seat vacant during its next meeting in October.
At that point, council would then be required to appoint a temporary caretaker to the position within 60 days or declare a byelection in the ward, an outcome Mayor Rob Ford has publically lobbied in favour of.
“Let’s move on. Let’s get a byelection happening in Etobicoke Centre and have who the people want down in city hall representing them,” Ford told CP24 at Holyday’s victory party Thursday night.
If council does elect to appoint a caretaker to Holyday’s seat it is not immediately clear who would be considered, though former mayoral candidate Sara Thomson did publically throw her hat into the ring in the lead up to Thursday’s byelection.
Speaking with CP24, Mihevc said he would want any potential candidate to agree not to run for re-election in the ward in 2014.
“I would cast my vote for someone who maybe has some political experience but who has no plan to run in the election,” Mihevc said. “If it is the first three years of council you have an election but if it is the last year of council you are looking for someone to represent the good citizens of Etobicoke in a caretaker role rather than a driver role.”
