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WhItby Free Proe, Saturday, June 14, 1997, page 5 West ward rep to be appointed by July 14 Council still seeking applications to fill post By MIKE KOWALSKI Free Press Staff Writer Residents of Whitby's west ward will have a new representative on Town council just in time for council's summer recess. Council this week voted to fill the vacancy created by the departure of former councillor Judi Longfield at its July 14 meeting. Longfield won the new riding of Whitby-Ajax in last week's federal election and according to the On- tario Municipal Act, coun- cil must appoint someone to serve the remainder of her term. Persons interested in the position have until July 7 to submit · their applica- tions to the Town and one week later, council will choose Longfield's. replacement. OPEN MEETING The vote to replace Long- field must be done in an open meeting and this prospect clearly did not sit well with the seven re- maining members of council. In fact, north ward repre- sentative Don Mitchell sug- gested that council choose to ignore this requirement of the Municipal Act which he deemed a holdover from "1813." "What if we don't fill it?" asked Mitchell. "What if we said we didn't think it was appro- priate?" Town clerk Don McKay explained that if the va- cancy had occurred before March 31, council would have had the option of call- ing a byelection, but since that is not the case, it must appoint Longfield's successor. DATE IMPORTANT If the vacancy had oc- curred after Aug. 25, the first day to file nomination papers for the Nov. 10 mu- The advertising deadline for the summer issue of is JuIy 10. To advertise in Durham's only business-to- business newspaper, cal 668-6111 nicipal election, the seat could have been left va- cant, McKay said. Although he was not aware of the penalty for not appointing someone, "my advice to you (council) is to follow the provincial legis- lation," McKay added. After jokingly declaring that "the head of the mu- nicipality should go tojail," Mitchell said that no mat-' ter who councilappoints, it will be criticized. "It should be left to the voters," he said. "This (appointment) will ested in running (in No- undoubtedly influence the vember) and who dosen't "This (appointment) will undoubtedly influence the vote in the election." vote in the election." East ward councillor Dennis Fox agreed. "It could be detrimental to someone who is inter- get appointed," said Fox. "Even though I will do it begrudgingly, I think the provincial should look at this," he said. Mayor Tom Edwards concurred with his col- leagues and said that in or- der to avoid influencing the outcome of the November vote in the west ward, council should hope that someone who has no inten- tion of running will come forward. Ruth Melady, an advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, told the Free Press that she was not aware that the Municipal Act provided for any penal- ties if council had followed Mitchell's suggestion. Although Melady said the province "has exten- sive powers over munici- palities," she doubted that the matter would be given "high priority" by the gov- ernment and that it would likely act only upon the complaint of a citizen(s). The only requirements for the west ward seat are that the applicant be a Ca- nadian citizen, at least 18- years-old, a resident of Whitby or the owner or tenant of land in Whitby or the spouse of such an owner or tenant. .1 .GRADUATE PROGRAM0 1 3 .9 ±.;*VLU] '97 CAVALIER 2-i>ooR CoupE 'r97 CAVALIER 4-i)ooR SEDAN