Hamilton council votes to leave Donna Skelly's old Ward 7 council seat vacant

Hamilton city council is asking the province to let Donna Skelly's Ward 7 council seat remain vacant until the municipal election this fall.

Councillors voted 11-2 Wednesday to write to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. The letter will ask for permission to let Tom Jackson and Terry Whitehead, councillors for Wards 6 and 8, cover Skelly's former central Mountain ward until a newly elected council starts in December.

Two councillors wanted to have a public process to appoint someone to fill the seat. But others said the time period isn't long enough to make it worth it.

Provincial legislation dictates the seat be filled within 60 days, hence why the city needs permission.

Even Matthew Green, Ward 3 councillor, wanted a public process, and called the decision not to have one "gutless" in June. But this option is his second choice.

"I still support that method, and I'll be supporting that method here tonight," he said. But he prefers the seat staying vacant to appointing "someone who served the area 20 years ago."

Municipalities have found various ways to handle council seats left vacant by this month's provincial election. Those range from a council vote in Toronto to leaving the seat vacant, which St. Catharines city council also did. 

Skelly was elected to served Hamilton's most populous ward in a 2016 byelection. She won an election this year to be the PC MPP for the new ward of Flamborough-Glanbrook.

The municipal election is Oct. 22.