Council fills Ward 44 seat
Former parks general manager won support from councillors from diverse political leanings
A former senior city bureaucrat who had been managing files in the vacant Ward 44 has been appointed to that seat by a wide margin.
Council chose Jim Hart, a local resident who was the general manager for the parks, recreation and forestry division before his retirement, to represent the Scarborough East area for the rest of the term at a special meeting Wednesday. He won with 67 per cent of the votes. The seat became vacant after the death of longtime-councillor Ron Moeser in April.
After the vote, Hart said he was “overwhelmed” by the support from council, which included Mayor John Tory and all but two members of his executive, as well as several left-leaning councillors.
“What I’m happy to see is the vote was widespread across council, members of council from every stripe voted for me, so that was really significant and I really appreciate that,” Hart said. “I can’t wait to get down here, back to the place I love to work.”
Hart volunteered to help Moeser after he was diagnosed with cancer last year and had represented Ward 44 at public meetings and on planning issues in his absence.
During his speech to council, Hart also noted he had the endorsement of Moeser’s widow, Heather, who submitted a letter to council to that effect. She also attended Wednesay’s council meeting.
Hart told reporters the first order of business was a public meeting concerning the Port Union waterfront trail on Wednesday evening, which he planned to attend.
He prevailed over 46 other candidates to win the seat, including David Soknacki, a former city councillor and mayoral candidate, who was considered to be competing with Hart for the job.
Soknacki received nine votes, or 22 per cent of the vote.
Both Hart and Soknacki had promised to be stewards for the ward and to refrain from running in the 2018 general election.