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Council leaves mayor’s seat vacant

The decision to leave the mayor's seat vacated by Bill Mauro unfilled until the next term of council begins on Nov. 15 will save the City of Thunder Bay around $15,000.
Thunder Bay City Council chambers
Thunder Bay's city council, seen at a May meeting, has opted to leave the mayor's seat vacant after the departure of Bill Mauro. (File photo)

THUNDER BAY – The seat of Thunder Bay’s mayor will remain vacant after the early departure of Bill Mauro, following a unanimous vote of city council on Tuesday.

Mauro vacated the position as of Tuesday, after announcing in August he would step down before the end of his term to take on an as-yet-undisclosed “new opportunity.”

He had announced earlier in the summer he would not seek a second term in the upcoming municipal election.

While council had the option to appoint a mayor to serve out the remaining weeks in Mauro’s term, councillors and city staff agreed that would make little sense during a meeting held Tuesday to decide how to proceed.

The candidate elected as mayor on Oct. 24 will begin their term on Nov. 15.

In the interim, city manager Norm Gale told councillors the city would get by just fine using its existing acting mayor system.

“Due to the timeline of the resignation, it is our recommendation that city council declare and leave the mayor’s seat vacant,” he said. “This is permissible by the Municipal Act, and it is our advice.”

Leaving the seat vacant will save the city around $15,000, Gale noted, while also avoiding time-consuming staff work to orient a new mayor for only a few weeks.

Coun. Rebecca Johnson called Tuesday’s vote not to appoint a replacement an easy decision, suggesting appointing a mayor at this point would be impractical.

“I’m fully in favour of the recommendation, because it’s the only one we can really do,” she said.

The city’s acting mayor bylaw already provides for councillors to rotate through the necessary mayoral duties when the mayor is not available, Gale said.

That includes ceremonial duties like attending events on behalf of the city, and sometimes providing signing authority – but only for decisions duly made by council, Gale emphasized.

“This does not make the acting mayors for October or November ‘the mayor’ of Thunder Bay,” he said. “That is not the case.”

Gale also stressed that city policies are in place to prohibit councillors who serve as acting mayor during the campaign period leading up to Oct. 24 from using the position to their advantage.

Coun. Brian Hamilton is scheduled to serve as acting mayor in October, while Coun. Albert Aiello is set to fill the role in November.



Ian Kaufman

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