Trio of Niagara municipalities grapple with council vacancies

While the next official municipal election is over two years away, some Niagara Region residents will see themselves go to the polls much sooner. Three area municipalities have had to deal with council vacancies in recent months, with at least one—West Lincoln—declaring a byelection to fill the empty seat with voting slated for November 4th. 

Resignations this past week in Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake have those two municipalities faced with a decision on how to fill council vacancies.

The Municipal Act outlines the process for filling a vacancy.  Council must officially declare the seat vacant at its next meeting after the member’s resignation is submitted to the clerk, unless the vacancy is a result of death, where council’s declaration can occur two meetings after the member’s passing.

While a by-election must be called if the mayor’s chair becomes vacant, unless it is after March 31 in a municipal election year, councill can appoint any person who meets the definition of a “qualified elector” to fill a council vacancy. 

A qualified elector has to be at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen, a resident, owner of land or tenant in the local municipality, or their spouse, and not currently in prison. There is no requirement that the individual had to have previously run for municipal office. Nonetheless, it is common practice for councils to appoint runners-up from the previous municipal election, who have attained an appropriate percentage of votes, though the practice is not mandatory. 

Three Niagara Region municipalities are dealing with council vacancies left by the departures of, from left to right, Wayne Thompson (Niagara Falls); Terry Bell (West Lincoln) and Nick Ruller (Niagara-on-the-Lake).

(City of Niagara Falls/Terry Bell-X/Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake)

Council must decide on whether to make an appointment or pass a bylaw requiring a by-election within 60 days of declaring the vacancy.

Some municipalities have policies providing council with direction on how to fill the vacancy, though as evidenced last term in St. Catharines, councils do not always follow their policies when they may have issues with the potential replacement. Late last year, St. Catharines Council revised its Council Vacancy Policy in an effort to increase equity and diverse representation among council members.

If no policy exists, councils will look to previous precedent within their municipality. Often a staff report will outline the process and options available.

The End of a Political Era

At the September 10th Niagara Falls City Council meeting, after emerging from an hour and a half of closed door discussion, Mayor Jim Diodati announced, “We were previously notified by Councillor (Wayne) Thomson of his request to step down from City Council.” Thomson, the colourful and sometimes controversial figure, has been a mainstay in Niagara Falls politics, serving 44 years on council over the course of seven decades.

Thomson was first elected to Niagara Falls City Council as Alderman in 1969. He served in that capacity until 1978 when he successfully contested the position of mayor.

Two re-election campaigns followed, but his third term as mayor ended two years early with his resignation effective January 1, 1984. 

In late 1983, Thomson was mired in two controversies: a developer-paid trip to Switzerland, which he cancelled when news of the plan came to light, and a land deal involving his second wife and the owner of Marineland, John Holer. 

The original owner of the land had refused Holer’s entreaties to sell the property. Thomson’s wife purchased the property and then sold it seven months later to the theme park owner. 

Thomson’s relationship with John Holer would be a constant during his political career, often advocating on Marineland’s behalf and appearing in Ottawa to oppose the federal government’s efforts to pass the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act.

The official reason given for the resignation, at the time, was that Thomson had to decide whether to return to employment as a public health inspector—for which he had been on leave since becoming mayor. With the Region Municipality of Niagara taking over municipal health units in 1984, he would be ineligible to hold municipal office unless he resigned from his job. 

In 1991, Thomson would return to municipal politics, winning election as mayor. His popularity was such that in 1994 he was acclaimed to the position. During that same election, a non-binding ballot question saw a majority of the local electorate vote in favour of the possibility of a casino in the municipality. 

Although the Ontario government would initially by-pass Niagara Falls, allowing for casinos in Windsor and Rama, in late 1995, the lobbying efforts of Thomson and a “Yes” committee of community stakeholders, paid off with the announcement that the municipality would host the province’s third commercial casino location.

The introduction of casino gaming in Niagara Falls proved transformative to the community. While tourism had always been the municipality’s main economic driver, its impact had previously been limited to the summer months. Mayor Diodati gave credit to Thomson at the recent meeting for the current “skyline” of high-rise hotels that were built following the introduction of gaming in the community. 

Thomson remained one of the biggest proponents of the local tourism industry. At a council meeting in June he took exception with the City’s Official Plan consultant who indicated that an emerging theme of the initial public feedback was that there had been “too much focus on tourism-related matters in Niagara Falls”. “Why would you even say that?” demanded Thomson. 

Despite the success of the introduction of a casino, Thomson’s sometimes confrontational style proved his undoing in his second stint as Mayor. In 2002, he presided over a fractious council, dubbing those who aligned with his positions as the “A team” and denigrating his critics as the “B team”. He would soundly lose the 2003 mayoral race to Ted Salci, a well-known local real estate agent, who posed the first real challenge to Thomson since the latter’s return to local politics in 1991.

Thomson’s absence from Niagara Falls Council was short-lived. In the following municipal election, in 2006, he successfully ran for one of the eight councillor positions, winning re-election in four subsequent races. In the most recent election in 2022, he garnered enough votes to win the eighth and final council seat, a signal his support appears to have diminished over the years.

No reason was given for Thomson’s decision to resign, though he turns 85 years old later this month. Councillor Victor Pietrangelo noted challenges faced by the veteran councillor during the term: 

“It’s been a bit of a go, for him. He knows what he wants to say but...”, before trailing off to discuss the veteran politician’s commitment to the community.  

Despite having 60 days to decide, Mayor Diodati asked council to “waive procedural orders” to address the issue of the vacancy. He proceeded to read a prepared motion declaring the seat vacant, proposing that the position be filled by appointment and directing staff to reach out to the first runner-up from the last municipal election (and second runner-up, should the first decline). 

The motion was met without opposition or debate, indicating the matter had likely been discussed and vetted beforehand in the closed meeting of council. While the Municipal Act allows councils to have a meeting “closed to the public”, to receive legal advice, the common practice regarding council vacancies is to have a public-facing report, with any debate taking place before the public.

With a population of more than 94,000 and an at-large electoral system, a by-election would come with some cost. In addition, Niagara Falls has a well-established practice of filling vacancies with the runner up candidate from the previous municipal election. Most recently, in 2014, ninth place council finisher Shirley Fisher was appointed after Wayne Gates successfully won election as the Member of Provincial Parliament for the Niagara Falls riding.  

The runner up in the 2022 municipal election was Chris Dabrowski, who received 5,896 votes, less than 400 votes behind Wayne Thomson. Dabrowski served on Niagara Falls City Council for the 2018 to 2022 term.

Dabrowski, who is the president and cofounder of Niagara Falls Comic Con, indicated his willingness to fill the vacancy, posting on his social media that he is “excited to get back to working for the residents of Niagara Falls!” It is expected that Dabrowski will be sworn in at the outset of the next Niagara Falls City Council meeting on October 1st.

Mayor Diodati indicated that “an appropriate recognition” will happen at a future date for Wayne Thomson, who already has a municipal building bearing his name.

Special Council Meeting

Date: September 17 - 5:45 p.m. | Delegate | Full Agenda | Watch Live

Ruller embarks on a new chapter

Niagara-on-the-Lake sent out a media release on September 13th announcing that Councillor Nick Ruller was resigning his seat effective immediately after accepting the position of Fire Chief at the City of Brampton.

Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa thanked Ruller, on behalf of Town Council for his “experience, professionalism and enthusiasm for giving back to the Town.” 

“Serving the constituents of Niagara-on-the-Lake has been a privilege that I have not taken lightly,” Ruler stated in the press release.

Ruller had been a volunteer firefighter with the Town since 1998, subsequently serving as Deputy Fire Chief in 2017 and being promoted to Fire Chief in 2019. He resigned in February 2022 to become platoon chief in the City of Brampton, which allowed him to run for Council later that year. Ruller finished sixth with 3,318 votes, securing a seat on Niagara-on-the-Lake’s eight-member council.  

In his letter of resignation to the Town Clerk, dated September 11th, he noted that “the role of a municipal councillor is incredibly demanding, and with recent changes in my professional life, I will no longer be able to continue in this role.”

The Town has called a special meeting of Council for Tuesday, September 17 at 5:45 p.m. to formally declare the seat vacant. Unlike Niagara Falls, a public report is part of the special meeting agenda outlining the legislative authority and process for declaring vacancy. The report also indicates that staff will prepare a report for the next regularly scheduled meeting on September 24th, outlining the options to fill the vacant seat.

Similar to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake has an at-large electoral system, albeit for a much smaller population of approximately 19,000 residents. The Town’s most recent experience with a Council vacancy happened during the 2018 to 2022 Council term, when Councillor Stuart McCormack resigned on July 1, 2020. Sandra O’Connor, who had missed out on 8th place in the 2018 election by a mere 37 votes, was appointed in August of that year to fill the vacancy. Councillor O’Connor continues to sit on council.

The runner up in the 2022 municipal election was Allan Bisback, who finished with 2,831 votes, 66 votes behind eighth place finisher Maria Mavridis, Bisback served on Town Council from 2018 to 2022.

The staff report can be read here.

A second candidate in West Lincoln by-election signs up

On June 24th, after receiving a public staff report, West Lincoln Council formally declared vacant one of the two seats in Ward 3 (Smithville). Councillor Terry Bell had been absent from the meetings of council for three successive months without authorization, effectively vacating his seat, as per the Municipal Act. He had last attended Council on February 26th, but health issues led to his extended absence.

At the Township Council’s following meeting in July, staff had prepared a report on the various options for filling the vacancy. West Lincoln had recent experience filling vacancies by both by-election and appointment of the runner-up in the previous election.

In 2016, a Ward 3 vacancy was filled by conducting a by-election in which, current West Lincoln Mayor Cheryl Ganann was the successful candidate.  In 2020, due to pandemic restrictions, council decided the most appropriate course of action to fill a vacancy of a Ward 2 (Gainsborough) seat was to appoint the runner-up from the previous election, Shelley Ann Bradaric, who was within 50 votes of the successful candidate. Councillor Bradaric continues to sit on West Lincoln Council.

With the closest runner-up in the 2022 municipal election almost one thousand votes behind Bell, who received 1,671 votes, council decided at its July meeting, with more than two years remaining in the term, a by-election was the appropriate way to find a replacement.

A formal bylaw declaring the by-election was passed at the August 12th meeting, with nominations opening the following day. It was not until the last week of August that the first candidate, Greg Maychak, came forward. On September 6th, a second candidate, Stefanie Bonazza, filed nomination papers, ensuring that Ward 3 residents will be going to the polls on November 4th.

Bonazza is a relative newcomer to West Lincoln, moving to the community from Hamilton approximately seven years ago. She lives with her husband, Joe, and two sons, who attend Saint Martin Elementary School. She and her husband looked at a few properties in Niagara, falling in love with the small town feel of Smithville. 

“You go to the grocery store and you see your neighbours and your kid’s friends…We really liked that. If I am fortunate to be on council, I hope to preserve what makes Smithville so great in terms of the community feel.”

Although Bonazza has no prior political experience, she has spent a decade in government relations, first at McMaster University, where she completed her Masters, and for the last number of years managing the municipal government relations practice for Alectra Utilities. She has had occasion to address municipal councils and sees the work that she does as complementary to the role of a councillor.

“A lot of my job is issues management at the utilities. I field issues from our 17 municipalities. I think it is really important to hear everyone's concerns and allow their voices to be heard.”

Bonazza’s current role has also allowed her to be involved with such business organizations as the Downtown Hamilton Chamber Committee, Brampton Board of Trade and Vaughan Chamber of Commerce. Closer to home, she recently joined the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce Women in Niagara Council; helped coach her five-year-old son’s soccer team this past summer; and has been on the fundraising committee for her other son’s hockey team.  

“I’ve always been interested in municipal politics. It is the level of government closest to the people. When I saw the opening, I thought this was something where I can make a difference,” she told The Pointer. She added that if elected she hopes to advocate for safe communities, responsible development, and sustained investment in the municipality’s infrastructure.

Bonazza expects to begin campaigning in earnest after the close of nominations on September 20, 2024. She plans on going door-to-door with her “small army” of supporters. 

“It's really important to have people put a face to the name. So, I’ll be getting out, getting to as many doors as I can, talking with people and hearing what's on their minds.” 

At press time, a third candidate, Heather Gill, has filed for the Ward 3 vacancy. The Pointer will reach out to Ms. Gill to afford her the same opportunities as the other candidates. 

Note: The nomination period for candidates to file nomination papers closes Friday, September 20, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. 

West Lincoln’s By-Election page can be found here.   

Email: [email protected]

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