We understand some members of the community are calling for an election to be held to fill the two vacancies around the council table.
We cannot state strongly enough that the last thing this municipality needs at this time is an election.
An election would be a costly and divisive exercise that would accomplish very little except to further delay cleaning up the chaos in our municipal administration.
The logistics of holding an election for one council seat and the Mayor's seat would be a nightmare.
Suppose an election is called and one or more current members of council decide to run for the mayor's chair. Then what do we do? Hold further elections to replace the individuals that ran in the first unnecessary election?
The Municipality of Meaford needs a cohesive council in place now. We don't have time for an election. We don't have the money (remember that deficit that could hit $1.7 million?) for an election.
In our opinion, here is what should happen.
Deputy Mayor Francis Richardson should be appointed to the mayor's chair. We believe there is a community expectation when the deputy mayor is elected that he or she will become the mayor in the event of a Mayoral vacancy.
The four remaining councillors can decide amongst themselves who will be the next deputy mayor and second county council representative.
That would leave open two council seats. We feel council should appoint Gerald Shortt and Harley Greenfield to those positions if they are interested.
Former Mayor Shortt finished sixth in the last election in the race for the five council seats in November 2006. Former Deputy Mayor Greenfield finished second in the spirited election for deputy mayor in November 2006.
Both individuals have a wealth of experience in both the pre- and post-amalgamation worlds and at the county level. Both have served the community well in the past and would do so again in the future if given the opportunity.
Once the new council is in place it needs to sit down with Integrity Commissioner Dianne Charlton and sort out this Public Inquiry mess.
If an election is the last thing the municipality needs, then the second last thing on that list should be a Public Inquiry.
Nobody is even sure how such an Inquiry would work. Nobody knows who would conduct it.
Nobody knows who would pay for it. Nobody knows if lawyers will be required. The whole idea is a complete mystery.
Those are the reasons this Public Inquiry fiasco needs to be put behind us.
Council needs to make an honest effort to find out what information Charlton has been denied and then provide her with that information. Provided the information is not about legal issues or sensitive property sale/purchase matters we see no reason why she shouldn't have access to it.
The thought that the Municipality of Meaford can afford a Public Inquiry is ludicrous. We don't need a Public Inquiry. We need a council that will respect the Code of Conduct it put in place and the Integrity Commissioner it appointed to watch over that Code of Conduct.
The municipality has a very big hole to dig itself out of. It's time to get seven councillors pulling in the same direction and get on with the job. Costly and unnecessary distractions such as elections and Inquiries are not needed at this time.
