UPDATE: Thirty-Two Prospects For Vacant Council Seat In Barrie

Council chooses one next Monday night

July 5

There’s a long list of Barrie City Council wannabes. The deadline to apply to fill the vacant Ward Six seat passed at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. There are 32 names on the list to ride out the remainder of this term of council – a couple of former councillors among them. They’ll do the Q-n-A thing with the mayor and existing councillors next Monday night. One will get the nod to replace Michael Prowse at that meeting.

June 30

A list of those who have thus far applied for consideration can be found here.

June 26

Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman has called a special meeting of council, to take place the evening of July 10th, to choose who among the applicants will be appointed as Ward 6 Councillor.

June 21

So, you think you’d like to fill Michael Prowse’s shoes in Ward 6. Here’s what you need to know…

Applications and accompanying materials for this position are now being accepted by Legislative & Court Services Department. To be considered, a candidate must be:

  • a Canadian citizen
  • at least 18 years of age
  • a resident of the City of Barrie, or own or rent property in the City of Barrie (or the spouse of the owner or renter)
  • not legally prohibited from voting, or from holding municipal office

Interested applicants must file a Consent to Nominee form plus a Declaration of Qualification and provide identification showing name, signature and qualifying address within the City of Barrie in person by 4:30 p.m. on July 4, 2017 at Legislative & Court Services (1st floor City Hall, 70 Collier Street, Barrie). All forms must be signed before a Commissioner for Taking Affidavits to be valid.

Council will hold a special meeting (TBD) to hear from qualified applicants and vote for a candidate to fill the Ward 6 vacancy. This meeting will be open to the public.

Applicants are welcome to submit letters, biographies or related documents in support of their candidacy. All forms and documents submitted by the applicant are a matter of public record.

The successful applicant will serve the remainder of the 2014 – 2018 term of office that ends on November 30, 2018.

For more information about the appointment including application forms, visit barrie.ca/appointment.

June 19

It took some time, but City Hall has made up its mind on filling a vacant council seat. When it came time to ratify last week’s decision to fill the vacant Ward 6 council seat via by-election, a motion came up to fill it instead through appointment. Councillor Barry Ward wasn’t around for last week’s 5-4 vote in favour of by-election, but was first to speak at the ratification stage, proposing the appointment instead. Much debate later, and some minds were changed. Council voted 6 to 4 in favour of appointing someone to the seat. Mayor Jeff Lehman pointed out many Barrie residents got involved and expressed opinion on this one, adding emails to his office were 5-1 in favour of appointment.