October 5, 2011
Banks named new deputy
by Vance Gutzman
There's a new deputy in town.
Daniel Banks has been appointed as Deep River's deputy mayor, following
the recent resignation of Mary MacCafferty from that position.
Banks' appointment came during a special council meeting called last
week to deal with MacCafferty's departure from the council table.
The first order of business was to accept MacCafferty's resignation and
then formally declare the deputy mayor's seat to be vacant.
Once that was done, council faced two options for filling the deputy
mayor's chair.
Seeing as how there's a by-election coming up on November 28 already,
to fill the councillor seat left vacant when Chris Carroll signed on to
be the town's new treasurer, council could have added a second name and
position to the ballot - meaning the electorate would vote for a
councillor and a deputy mayor when they take to the polls.
Council also had the option of simply promoting a deputy mayor from
within the ranks of the existing council, and then just add another
name to the by-election ballots - meaning voters would elect two
councillors next month.
Council chose the latter option at last week's special meeting, but not
without some debate.
Councillor Banks pointed out that not all municipalities even have
elections for the deputy mayor's position (such as in Laurentian Hills,
where the deputy mayor is elected in a vote of his or her council
colleagues).
"There is a lot of precedent for doing this other ways," Banks said.
Councillor Terry Myers, meanwhile, said that while there could be an
argument to be made for sending voters to the polls to elect a new
deputy mayor, continuity on council should play a role in the matter,
seeing as council is nearly a full year into its term of office.
"I lean towards appointing someone from council," Myers said.
"I think it makes sense to appoint somebody who is already part of the
process.”
And while Councillor Ruth Syme was generally in favour of the idea of
appointing from within, she cautioned her council colleagues about how
doing so might be viewed in the eyes of others in the community.
"My only concern is optics," Syme said, noting that one of the other
two candidates who ran for deputy mayor in last fall's election might
not like the idea.
"We could be setting ourselves up for some criticism."
Councillor Ron Desrochers, in turn, said he had just the person in mind
for a council appointment to fill the job.
"I had a fireside chat with Daniel (Councillor Banks) and I asked him
if he would consent to being the deputy mayor," Desrochers said.
"He's what I call the people's choice."
What Desrochers meant by that is that Banks easily won the popular vote
in last fall's municipal elections.
A total of 1,376 voters cast their ballots in favour of the political
newcomer, who has since played a leading role at the council table.
"I was thinking along the same lines," Myers said.
"He was the voters' choice, and I know he'd be intelligent, diligent
and thorough in the position."
Syme echoed her colleague's sentiment.
"I think Daniel is the obvious choice," she said.
While everyone at the council table thought Banks was the obvious
choice, the councillor himself appeared reluctant to have the
nomination foisted upon him.
"I think we have to have a clear picture of what the deputy mayor's
role is," Banks told his council colleagues.
"My impression is it's not much more than what's expected of an
individual councillor."
Maybe so, Mayor David Thompson said, but the deputy mayor does play a
different role in some respects than councillors, in terms of
interaction with the mayor.
"Legislatively there isn't much difference," Thompson said.
"But you look to a deputy mayor as a sounding board, as somebody you
can confide in."
The mayor then went on to concur with the sentiment expressed about
Banks by his council colleagues.
"You have demonstrated a capacity for doing the research necessary to
come to the proper decisions," he told Banks.
"I don't want somebody who will always say yes. That would be useless."
With all the love in the air, Banks felt it prudent not to scorn his
ardent suitors.
"Seeing as how it's unanimous, how can I say no?" Banks said.
Banks' appointment as the town's new deputy mayor was made official
later in the week through passage of a formal bylaw.
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