CORNWALL, Ontario – SDG County Council approved amendments October 18 to its procedural bylaw and recreated the deputy warden position at the council table.
The changes were discussed at last month’s committee of the whole meeting. Warden Allan Armstrong said then it was council’s job to clean up the process.
Issues in the warden selection process and the rotating deputy warden position were highlighted after the removal of Frank Prevost as warden in June 2021.
The rotating deputy warden position is gone, with the most recent past-warden now taking the role of deputy warden. In the event the warden cannot chair a meeting, the deputy warden will assume that job.
If the most recent deputy warden is no longer a member of council, then the council will elect a deputy warden.
The inaugural council meeting for a term is also moved up as the province changed when new terms of council take affect. Before, new councils took office on or about December 1, now that is November 15.
What is not gone is the process of using a name drawn from a hat to settle warden election ties. SDG council opted instead to pass a non-binding resolution stating that the “best practice” is for the sitting warden to not vote in the warden election.
This article was originally written for, and appeared in The Morrisburg Leader.
