There appears to be no shortage of people interested in serving on Brighton council, with nine candidates officially vying for a vacant seat around the council table.
As previously reported, a seat was declared vacant last year following the passing of former Coun. Byron Faretis.
Council subsequently decided on an appointment process, calling for interested candidates to submit applications by Friday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m.
According to the Municipality of Brighton’s dedicated elections page, nine candidates are in the running.
An additional three candidates had earlier put their names forward but have since withdrawn their applications. Saturday, Jan. 18 (at 4:30 p.m.) marked the last day candidates had to withdraw applications.
The candidates include former members of council and have submitted bios.
At press deadline, the list was as follows:
- Steph Hails
- Laurie Caouette
- Mary McEwan
- Jake DeGroot
- Hannah MacAusland
- Joyce Cassin
- Mohamad (Mo) Khan
- Laura Knegt
- Doug Leblanc
The next step is a special council meeting dedicated to candidate presentations, which is set for this Friday, Jan. 24, starting at 9:30 a.m. The municipality has said that council may or may not make a decision at this meeting.
If no decision is made, a second special council meeting will be called for Monday, Jan. 27, at 5 p.m., when council’s choice should be confirmed.
At the Feb. 3 meeting, the new councillor is set to be officially appointed and take the oath of office. The councillor will serve for the remainder of the 2022-26 term.
As previously reported, in accordance with the Municipal Act, council has to fill the seat on or before Feb. 7, 2025.
We’ll have more on this story to come.
(Written by: Sarah Hyatt)
