Sarnia City Hall (BlackburnNews.com photo by Melanie Irwin)Sarnia City Hall (BlackburnNews.com photo by Melanie Irwin)
Sarnia

City Of Sarnia To Create Deputy Mayor Position

The process of implementing a deputy mayor for the City of Sarnia is underway, after council passed a motion to create the position Monday night.

The city councillor with the highest number of votes in the 2014 election will become the city's first interim deputy mayor, followed by the councillor who gained the second highest number of votes at the polls.

Sarnia Council has decided to fill the position in one year intervals until the next municipal election in 2018.

City Councillor and Lambton County Warden Bev MacDougall believes the corporation has come to the point where the position is necessary.

"As the current sitting Warden, and it's true that I have also been the Deputy Warden, this position is a name only position and it functions when the actual duly elected position of mayor is absent," says MacDougall.

She says a lot has changed in her 13 years on council, adding until the last couple of months they rotated through people to chair a meeting very infrequently.

"That has become somewhat short notice, chaotic, not functional and the corporation, to do its business, deserves better than that."

Staff have been asked to report back on the next steps, as advised by Acting City Manager Andre Morin.

"We need to know what authority that deputy mayor role has. Are they only (required) when the mayor is absent or are they (working) in conjunction with the mayor? We need to define those aspects," says Morin.

Morin told council several parts of the city's procedural bylaw will need to be modified with the position being implemented.

"What I believe you need, is a report back from staff that outlines some of those proposed amendments and I believe that's where council can then decide whether they agree with those, and they can tweak them, so that you can move forward with the creation of that deputy mayor role."

Anne-Marie Gillis was the top elected official in 2014 with 8,951 votes followed by Bev MacDougall with 8,812 votes.

The integrity commissioner recommended in his report on Mayor Mike Bradley that a deputy mayor should be considered.

The city currently has a rotating system for the position of Acting Mayor, when the mayor is absent.

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