CORNWALL – Former Coun. Denis Carr will fill the vacant seat on Cornwall City Council to round out the term until the next municipal election.
Council voted 6-3 Monday night to pick the person who came in 11th in the 2018 municipal election.
In putting the motion forward, Coun. Dean Hollingsworth says it’s a “defensible position” that he was the “chosen one by the public” based on election results. Hollingsworth adds that even if the city were to send out applications, Carr would “still stack up very well” compared to any other candidates.
While he supported appointing the non-elected candidate, Coun. Eric Bergeron says “based on what we’ve done in the last 30 days, (we) should be considering option C (filling by appointment).” Council chose to appoint Glen Grant as mayor instead of picking the person who came in second for mayor in the last election.
Coun. Syd Gardiner noted that Denis Carr has the experience and doesn’t need to be trained to serve 15 months.
Those that voted for appointing Denis Carr were Couns. Syd Gardiner, Dean Hollingsworth, Elaine MacDonald, Todd Bennett, Eric Bergeron and Claude McIntosh.
Voting against it were Couns. Carilyne Hebert, Maurice Dupelle and Justin Towndale.
Carr will likely be sworn in at the first council meeting in September.