St. Catharines councillor steps away from Niagara Region Council seat
Published March 31, 2022 at 10:17 am
St. Catharines Regional Councillor George Darte stepped away from his Niagara Region seat quite suddenly last night.
The news likely caught many of his councilmates off-guard as he sent them an email, saying, “This is obviously something I take very seriously and am sorry that I am not able to go the full term.”
Adding it was a personal issue, he noted, “I shall ask you to respect my privacy for my reason to resign.”
Since there is more than six months left before the October 24 municipal election, there are now two options. Niagara Region will leave it to St. Catharines to decide as vacancies within the first three years of a four year term must be filled.
At the moment, Niagara Council is three and a half years into their term so vacancy is an option.
However, what seems far more likely is that St. Catharines Council will decide on a replacement as most consider that six months-plus remaining to be too lengthy for a vacant seat and a byelection would be too costly at this late date.
When Regional Councillor Sandie Bellows passed away last year, St Catharines staff recommended that seventh-place finisher (the city sends six to the region) Mike Britton be appointed the seat. When interviewed by staff, Britton was more than willing.
Britton had actually finished eight in the regional race but when Jim Bradley ascended to the regional chair position, seventh place finisher Kelly Edgar automatically took the sixth St. Catharines seat at the region.
However, in a move that caught many off-guard, Council chose to instead send Ward 4’s Mat Siscoe to the seat, saying his regional experience would allow for an easy transition. Third-place finisher in the St. Patrick ward race Robin McPherson then took Siscoe’s local council seat.
So once again, St. Catharines is in the catbird seat, deciding who and how the replacement will be chosen.
While politics is as unpredictable as the stock market, it seems a likely that Britton might be chosen to run out the last six months.
When Ward 4’s Mat Siscoe was selected as a regional replacement for the late Sandie Bellows,
third-place finisher Robin McPherson, left, was selected to fill his local seat. While Mike Britton was St Catharines staff’s selection for the regional vacancy, he was passed over for Siscoe. Since George Darte has now vacated his seat, will Britton get his shot?