Mitic returns to city hall, casts vote
A day after admitting his struggles with depression and alcohol addiction have interfered with his work as a city councillor in recent months, Jody Mitic wheeled into council chambers Wednesday morning to cast a vote on the 2018 budget.
The Innes councillor arrived just in time for rollcall and was greeted warmly by several colleagues, including Marianne Wilkinson and fellow east-enders Stephen Blais and Bob Monette.
An Afghan war veteran who lost both of his legs below the knees in 2007 when he stepped on a landmine, Mitic later won a council seat in 2014. He was appointed sports commissioner by Mayor Jim Watson.
In a radio interview Tuesday, an emotional Mitic said it’s been a rough year, and disclosed the problems he’s having with his legs, which have forced him to remove his prosthetics and use a wheelchair.
“I’m used to putting myself out there, but I feel like I’ve failed my duty as a councillor in this particular couple of months by not being forward,” Mitic said in the radio interview.
During the council meeting, he spoke in favour of a motion to add 10 accessible portable toilets at 10 public parks, at a cost of $6,000. In the past, Mitic said, he’s had to leave a city park and go home to use a washroom due to the lack of accessible facilities. Mayor Jim Watson told reporters he was “impressed” with Mitic’s openness in the radio interview. “I think he was very brutally honest and raw in that interview on CFRA. I admire his courage. It takes a lot to, first of all be a public figure but secondly to go through some real challenges that he’s going through. I spoke with him and asked if there’s anything I can to do help him along his journey of recovery,” Watson said. After the budget was approved, council took a short recess.
Mitic, flanked by several councillors and assistants, did not speak to reporters on his way out of council chambers and did not return to the meeting after the break.