Edgar appointed by city to regional council seat
St. Catharines city council was unanimous Monday night in appointing Kelly Edgar to fill a vacant seat on regional council.
That vacancy was created last Thursday when St. Catharines regional Coun. Jim Bradley was elected Niagara Region chair.
Edgar was in city council chambers Monday night and was given a round of applause after the vote.
“Now let’s hope that the next step goes just as smoothly,” he Tweeted afterwards.
Regional council still has to give its official nod to the appointment, but its own policy says it will approve a municipality’s decision on filling a vacancy as long as it complies with the Municipal Act.
Grantham Coun. Bill Phillips, who moved the staff recommendation that Edgar be appointed, asked that Edgar’s name be forwarded to the Region on Tuesday. He said that way Edgar can take part in the selection process for regional committees this Thursday.
Edgar placed seventh out of 23 candidates vying for six St. Catharines regional councillor positions in October’s municipal election.
He served on regional council during its last term after similar circumstances. In 2014, he placed seventh and got bumped up when St. Catharines regional councillor Alan Caslin was chosen as chair.
That appointment was not as quick though, because city council first tried to appoint a pilot dual duty councillor to Caslin’s vacancy. When council was told by the province that it couldn’t create an unelected position, city council appointed Edgar.
St. Catharines is now following a vacancy policy that recommends the seventh place finisher be appointed if the individual received 70 per cent of the sixth place finisher’s votes. Edgar surpassed that by winning 86 per cent of the votes that sixth place finisher Tim Rigby had.
Edgar will join St. Catharines regional Couns. George Darte, Sandie Bellows, Laura Ip, Brian Heit and Rigby.
Bradley, an MPP for four decades, was the top vote getter for a St. Catharines regional councillor position with almost 6,500 more votes than the second-place finisher. He was elected by his fellow regional councillors last Thursday during their inauguration meeting.