Waterloo region council has an open seat. Here's how they might fill it

Waterloo regional council has a decision to make when it comes to filling former councillor Rob Deutschmann's seat.

Deutschmann vacated his seat in January to run as the Ontario Liberal candidate for Cambridge in the recently decided provincial election, losing to PC incumbent Brian Riddell.

After declaring the seat vacant on Jan. 29, regional council must decide how the seat is filled by Mar. 30. The choice is between appointing a new councillor to fill the seat or holding a by-election.

Option 1: Appointment

According to the Municipal Act of 2001, to be eligible for a council seat, the appointee must be a Canadian citizen above the age of 18 and they or their spouse must own property or rent in the Region of Waterloo.

Other than these eligibility requirements, the act has no requirements for how to fill the seat by appointment. 

The first appointment option, listed in a staff report, is for regional council to select a candidate from the 2022 municipal election. That's what happened in 2015 when the death of Kitchener regional Coun. Wayne Wettlaufer led to then-chair Ken Seiling appointing Elizabeth Clarke, who was runner-up in the 2014 election.

In the case of Deutschmann's Kitchener seat, Matt Rodrigues received the fifth highest vote percentage in the 2022 election, coming in about 400 votes shy of Deutschmann.

"Staff have contacted Mr. Rodrigues and he has indicated that he remains eligible and is willing to serve," the report said.

The second option is to appoint someone through an application process. This would open up a public option for any eligible candidates to submit an application. 

If council went with this option, a meeting would be held on Mar. 26 for applicants to present their case before a decision is made. The staff report says this option would cost about $5,000, which would be covered by the election reserve fund.

The third appointment option is to simply pick someone. Councillors could present nominations for any eligible individual at the council meeting on Mar. 19, where council members would pick from a list.

The report said this gives council the option to pick an applicant who meets desirable criteria, "such as, being committed to not running in 2026, providing a diverse voice to Council, or being able to get up to speed quickly."

Option 2: By-election

If Waterloo regional council decides against appointing a councillor, they would be required to call a by-election, which the staff report says would likely be between June 2 and June 30 this year.

The cost for a by-election would be approximately $800,000, according to the report.

If council decides to go the election route, the seat would remain open longer and it would cost far more than any of the other options.

Council will make a decision on how to fill the vacant seat at a council meeting Tuesday.