Ottawa City Council has voted to hold a by-election in Rideau-Rockcliffe ward, to replace Tobi Nussbaum.
Nussbaum vacated his seat just a few months after being re-elected to become the new CEO of the National Capital Commission.
He told Newstalk 580 CFRA in December he would not be accepting any severance package from the City as a result of his decision to leave.
Councillors voted Wednesday to hold a by-election to replace him. The motion was carried.
Mayor Jim Watson said he felt, with so much time left in this current term of council, that a by-election was the most appropriate choice.
Councillors Mathieu Fleury and Jean Cloutier will deal with City Council issues on behalf of Rideau-Rockcliffe ward until a new councillor is chosen.
The City had two options to fill Nussbaum’s vacant seat: appoint a new councillor or hold a by-election.
Appointing someone would have required City Council to select a new candidate by April 1. However, as city staff pointed out in a report prepared for Wednesday’s council meeting, the Municipal Act, 2001 does not provide any specific procedures for appointing a new councillor, so staff would have had to first develop a process and submit it to Council for approval. Staff say this would have included advertisements, application forms, interviews of candidates at a separate council meeting and a voting process.
This would have had a “minimal cost” for advertising, according to staff.
However, staff had recommended a by-election, which Council approved.
The nomination period gets underway immediatey. Candidates will have until 2:00 p.m. March 1 to submit their nomination to run in the by-election.
Voting Day would be April 15, with one day of advance voting on April 5.
Staff estimate a by-election would cost $329,500. The money would come from the Tax Stabilization Reserve, which is used to fund municipal elections.
City of Ottawa