
By Rosalind Russell – Espanola council will be filling a vacancy by appointment and is reaching out to the public for letters of interest.
Sandra Hayden has resigned, so a motion to fill the vacancy was presented, but it also included a motion for a council vacancy policy.
However, Councillor Ken Duplessis says he is against the policy since he believes it should be up to future councils to make the decision for themselves.
CAO Joseph Burke says future councils can amend the policy as they see fit and clarified the options to fill any future vacancies, but councillors did not agree as presented.
Council then moved to have the motion split into two separate motions.
Council then agreed to fill the vacancy from the pool of applications within 60 days (by early June) and will make its final decision at a future meeting.
The policy motion was then dealt with separately, with the council amending it to include creating a committee, which would include the mayor and two other council members reviewing applications of interest.
Council approved the motion and adopted the policy.
If you are interested in applying, please submit a letter to express your interest, accompanied by a resume before 4:00 pm on April 29th, 2025, to Joseph Burke, Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk for the Town of Espanola at jburke@espanola.ca or in person at the Municipal Office at 100 Tudhope Street, Suite #2, Espanola.
Photo by Rosalind Russell