COUNCIL CLIQUE? SECOND SEAT BY APPOINTMENT

HUNTSVILLE What price democracy?

Applicants can apply to fill Huntsville Mayor Karen Terziano’s town ward council seat in February.

Voters suffered another hit here Monday, as councillors elected alone to fill a second vacant seat within five weeks by themselves, rather through public election.

At their January 27 council meeting, council chose to fill new Mayor Karen Terziano’s vacant Huntsville ward council seat by “appointment.”

A town release said it was done “as per council’s vacancy policy.”

The town clerk is today seeking applications to fill the vacancy through a form found online at huntsville.ca, or which is available at the town hall.

The applicants will be considered at a council meeting February 11 at 6 p.m. at town hall.

Terziano’s ward council seat was declared vacant December 17, 2019 at their last regular council meeting. That’s when Terziano, then deputy mayor, was appointed by her fellow councillors as Huntsville’s mayor.

Previous discussions had cited the cost of an election mid-term in a four-year mandate.

This after former mayor Scott Aitchison stepped down following his Parry Sound-Muskoka federal election win for the Conservatives in the fall.

(Aitchison recently announced he will be supporting Peter McKay in the upcoming party election