Essex council appoints deputy mayor Richard Meloche to mayor

Essex council has appointed deputy mayor Richard Meloche to fill the town's mayoral seat that was vacated earlier this month by Larry Snively. 

During a special meeting Monday, councillors voted for Meloche to take over the role until the next general election takes place, which is in nine months.

All councillors voted against holding a byelection for the position and everyone, except for Coun. Sherry Bondy, believed the candidate should come from within council. 

Meloche will take over the position from Larry Snively, who resigned this month after pleading guilty to "procuring" ineligible voters to cast ballots during the Ontario town's October 2018 municipal election.

Snively was fined $10,000 plus applicable costs, and has 180 days to pay.

Snively won the 2018 mayoral race by 117 votes, with 2,261 ballots cast in his favour, according to the official results. Runner-up Ron Rogers, among four mayoral candidates, secured 2,144 votes.

On Jan. 17, Snively's seat was officially declared empty by council. 

Rogers had written to council members asking for their consideration to fill the vacancy, should they decide on appointing an interim mayor. Rogers said he does not intend to run for mayor in the fall election.

Bondy told council she thought Rogers should fill the vacancy, and she was the only councillor who opposed appointing Meloche as mayor. 

"There's nothing earth shattering that's been happening in county [council] and both our budgets are passed, so what we need frankly is somebody to chair our meeting in the most unbiased manner," she said. 

"Our past experiences have got us into the mess that we're in, our experiences of not speaking up when we needed to speak up so council has one chance again to do right ... and going to our runner-up ... is how I believe it should go." 

But the other councillors thought otherwise. They said they wanted someone who knows the projects the town has been working and could easily transition into the role. 

"Moving forward I think it keeps more continuity," Coun. Morley Bowman told council. 

"The continuity is really important as we deal with the various business people on the outside that are investing in our community and to keep that continuity is very necessary." 

Coun. Joe Garon nominated Bondy to fill the position of mayor and that was seconded by Coun. Kim Verbeek, but Bondy declined it. 

"I would graciously decline a well-played political theatre, but I will wait 273 days, so thank you," said Bondy, who intends to run for mayor.

Meloche said earlier this month he also intends to run for mayor in the upcoming general election, but when asked Monday by Bondy, Meloche said he was not ready to say whether he would run.

Following Meloche's appointment, the deputy mayor's seat was declared empty. 

On Jan. 31, council will reconvene to determine who will fill the deputy mayor position. Councillors must decide whether another community member will take over the seat.