By-election to be held for Ward 7 council seat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Sean Previl

A by-election is set to take place in Windsor this winter.

Members of Windsor City Council voted Sept. 9 by a vote of 9-1 in favour of holding a by-election. The by-election will be held to fill the empty seat for Ward 7 following Percy Hatfield’s resignation Aug. 13.

Ward 10 Coun. Al Maghnieh said when councilors decided to not appoint someone and reconsider a by-election, it caused residents of Ward 7 to voice their opinions.

“I think a lot of my colleagues came to the realization that by default they fell back to the by-election option and I think several residents agree with that notion,” said Maghnieh.

Paul Synnott, a host of local radio show Rose City Politics, said the by-election is the best choice because the people get to decide who represents them.

“Any process whether it be appointing a second place candidate or coming up with a process to appoint somebody city-wide, now you’re into a political process,” said Synnott. “At the end of the day [a by-election] real simple: it’s a ballot and you mark a name beside the candidate choice.”

Angelo Marignani, who finished second to Hatfield in the 2010 municipal election, said he had been planning for a by-election since Hatfield’s resignation but said he was surprised it took longer for council to come to this decision.

“I thought [a by-election] would be the natural choice,” said Marignani.

Marignani said a poll conducted by Rose City Politics showed city council appointing someone of their own choosing was the least popular option.

“They chose appointment by their doing and I think that resonated with the community,” said Marignani. “If you’re supposed to represent us, if you’re supposed to be our voice and you’re choosing the least popular thing we have to choose, you’re not really representing us. I think that’s why there was so much outrage in our community about that.”

Mayor Eddie Francis said the benefit of having this election so close to the 2014 general election is it will give people a chance to prepare for next year’s election.

“A lot of people that were giving thought to the general election will give thought to this election because it’s a good trial run for them in terms of getting their name out,” said Francis.

The by-election for Ward 7 will be held Dec. 9. Applications to file for election are available now at City Hall.